Thor

Synopsis:

A lot like Superman 2 where our hero loses his powers and we get to watch to  comedic antics of a man who until previously had god-like powers eat at Denny’s.

Favorite one-line review from a different critic:
“Entertaining and instantly forgettable.” – John Beifuss -

My Review:
Look, I wanted to like it.  I’m a fan of comic book movies.  There has been several hits that I have enjoyed including (but not limited to):
Batman, Scott Pilgrim, Blade, The Crow, Hellboy, Ghost World, Sin City, 300, Kick-Ass.

But let’s not forget that there have been several really, really bad comic book movies too:
Howard the Duck, Fantasic Four, Daredevil, Catwoman, Dick Tracy, TMNT, The Punisher, Shazaam, Steel

But there’s a huge gray area:
Hulk, Watchmen, Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Road to Perdition, History  of Violence.

Unfortunately, Thor falls into this gray area category for me.  The writer and director had a difficult task in front them.  They had to take a comic book hero that does not have the mass appeal of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the like.  It would be like trying to make an Aquaman or a Green Lantern movie (we’ll see how that works out).  And to me it felt like two completely different movies which neither one quite worked for me.

Let’s start with the director, Kenneth Branagh, best known for bringing Shakespeare to the big screen.  Think about the last great Branagh movie you liked that wasn’t based on a classic novel.  That’s what I thought.  So red flag number one, poor director choice.

Next let’s evaluate our star, Chris Hemsworth.  Name your favorite movie (not TV show) that he has starred in.  That’s what I thought.  I’m not saying he did a bad job, but he’s no Christian Bale.  And come Natalie Portman, are you that desperate for work.

So all and all it was a slightly entertaining film with some light chuckles and hammer smashed faces.  But it wasn’t enough to make me jump with joy.  Of course, I’m an extremely jaded movie watcher, so what do I know.

Note:  Does anyone else feel like these movies are just infomercials for the Avengers movie?

Rating:
4 out of 10

Suck Scale:
Sucks like a leech on an open wound.