Sleepwriting !

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2012)

I know that you know sleepwalking. Now welcome to a new illness that you can learn about, rather live, through today's Hollywood blockbusters. Eagar to understand? Well, (Thor) gives you a good chance!
There are many fine elements in this movie. The Australian Chris Hemsworth is a powerful newcomer that Hollywood must feel lucky to have. He has the looks and the talent. I hope seeing him in more dramatic roles. Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins are always a delight, even if have nothing serious to do (or - as in here - have nothing at all!). The interiors of that spatial Asgard were cleverly designed; I loved the metal floors and walls, instead of Norse usual buildings. Some sequences were very well-made such as Thor's try to retrieve his hammer, Mjolnir, from the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. The comic sense is there with truly lovable lines. The music moved me. And I was astonished when I knew that the closing credits sequence was based on images from the Hubble Space Telescope and took 18 months to create!
Director Kenneth Branagh, a William Shakespeare's old lover, conceptualized this movie as a Norse/comic-book twist on 2 Shakespeare's plays. Firstly (Henry V), which was about a young king who underwent trials, fighting a war, courting a girl from another land, trying to live up to the example set by his father the king. Secondly (King Lear), where one prince, due to being jealous of his brother, tricks his father for exiling that brother. These Shakespearean echoes distinguished the movie, representing a serious mark that many superhero movies lack.
Nevertheless, that script wasn't all perfect. While it had established logic and Shakespearean skies in the first half, it went dumb, or crazy, in the second half: Thor is an arrogant hot-headed and uproarious, then he's humble wise and calm? How that happened?! Loki invites the kingdom's enemy to kill his father, just to rescue the latter on the nick of time, so he may be close to his father. OK. The thing that isn't remotely OK is that why in God's name Loki goes to destroy the entire human race in no time after that?? Thor is sorry for destroying the bridge that was connecting his world with his love's world, while Loki was traveling from that world to this world, so easily, without needing that bridge! And I have to admit, as someone in IMDb referred before: Thor's 4 friends turned out to be nothing but idiots!
It needed 6 people to be written?? I know truly big epics that didn't need half of that number. And according to their work, it's clear that they were sober at first, then went sleepwriting all along! Actually most of the American blockbusters lately don't have good scriptwriting, or good scriptwriting that lasts till the end. The script, in general, became the hardest, the rarest, or - in best cases - the least taken care of element. So why is that? Do the movie makers think that putting nice looking stars, dazzling images, 3D, speedy pace, and roaring sound effects will make the viewers forget about the story? Is it a Hollywood writers' crisis, where good writing became scarce? Is it hastiness? Or is it frankly a new faith that "writing" isn't that important in the first place?!
Over and above, the CGI felt sometimes cheap. The look of Asgard's exteriors didn't impress me at all. The monstrous "Destroyer" wasn't scary, maybe funny. The Bifröst bridge came out as something that belongs to a 1970s Disco. And you read that the movie's budget was 150 million dollars? Where did it go?!! Speaking about funny, the Asgard crown was so laughable, especially in the serious parts. Branagh enjoyed the oblique cadres for more than enough. He repeated it with no dramatic intention whatsoever, most probably to seem cool or hip. I suppose he saw it a lot in contemporary music videos, thus decided to shoot many many moments with oblique camera to attract the young viewers. Though I know one thing; while being a young viewer myself, that caused me an oblique head for some time after the viewing!
(Thor) is a mix of fantasy, sci-fi, action, with a bit of comedy and romance. It has unusual atmosphere, potential drama, and good acting that you can't find in late superhero movies like Superman, Spider-man, or Iron Man. For the first half, it runs beautifully, hitting the mark, being entertaining to the max. However, in the second half, things weren't as solid. Again, and again, and again, the script is the treasure box, and the scriptwriter is the one who has the key of it, or has not. Compare the movie's 2 halves, rather the old Hollywood to the recent one, to know that sleepwriting became a new illness, or - in fact - a new vogue in today's Hollywood!