Comments on: “Thor” passable, but revels in its mediocrity

By: kimelodic

kimelodic — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:38:49 +0000

I usually like the comic based action films, but this one fell short for me… way short.

“..Natalie Portman, who in this film collects a paycheck in the most pathetic and embarrassing manner possible as a wholly unbelievable pixie physicist, phoning in a performance so distractingly pedestrian at times that I nearly groaned.” – I did groan. Loudly. Rolled my eyes and sighed quiet a few times as well.

By: ebs123

ebs123 — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:38:33 +0000

I did not see the movie but I think that its purpose is to set up a back story for the Avengers movie.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:20:13 +0000

I loved this movie – enough that I’ve already seen it twice in the theater. I’ll admit – there is a certain quality of the film that appeals to me that maybe doesn’t appeal to you.

But I’m also a fan of comics and the movies based on them, and the only complaint I had about this movie is the same one I’ve had about others – it felt like they tried to squeeze too much of a 50+ year old story into one movie.

By: Kevin Marshall

Kevin Marshall — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:10:57 +0000

Steve - Really good point re: the romance angle and something I was going to touch on, but didn’t because I wanted to focus on the movie rather than writing a treatise on comic book movies. That said, in short: you’re absolutely right. In “Batman Begins” the romantic sub-plot really weighed that movie down, and it did in this as well (though I don’t think the two are comparable in terms of quality and execution). What made “The Dark Knight” the better Batman film was not just the addition of some great cast members, but also the fact that it wasn’t distracted by traditional and sexist notions of what appeals to the female demographic. It seemed almost silly to shoe-horn it into “Batman Begins” and even sillier in “Thor.” It is worth noting as well that the first “Iron Man” had the tension between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, but did not develop into a full-on romantic sub-plot and was all the better for it.

Other areas I left out because they really didn’t factor into the review/make it a better film: I didn’t love the costumes, but it was going to be very hard not to make them appear ridiculous and I do commend them for not crossing that line. The scenery was fantastic in the throne room and especially the Rainbrow Bridge. Idris Elba was such a great choice as Heimdall and with his placement and costume was hands down the most visually stunning aspect of the film. Going back to scenery, however, the choice of a small New Mexico town was a lazy counterpoint to Asgard and really dragged the film down with what felt like goofy interludes with characters that had no right being on the set of “The Last Picture Show.”

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:50:16 +0000

I loved the scenery, costumes, and acting of this film. Thor and his universe felt more like Flash Gordon than Superman, and that’s a good thing. I think the love story was the only truly mediocre part of this movie, actually. Owe it to the fact that all superhero movies now seem obliged to include a romantic subplot, the highly esteemed Dark Knight film included. When a superhero movie can be confident enough in its characters and its story that it doesn’t need to try to go after all audiences at once, that’s when great films will be made instead of merely good superhero films. Instead of throwing in a love story “for the ladies,” they should just focus on making good characters and focused stories. Because ladies like those things, too. They would have enjoyed a story about a two brothers vying for the attention of their father if it was well-told, whether Thor was making kissy time with Natalie Portman or not. And I wouldn’t say Portman’s performance was terrible per se, because if it was terrible, I probably would have remembered something about it.

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:26:56 +0000

What a shocker! I didn’t think it would live up to recent comic book movies based on the previews and Natalie Portman. LOVED “Watchmen” and even “Iron Man”.