Summer Fluff

Rating: 5/10 (12 June 2011)

Marvel again kicks off the summer movie season, this year with the sometimes entertaining, but often flawed Thor. Director Kenneth Branagh, who is known for making movies with dopey dialogue and abundant overacting, reigns in the excesses of his self indulgent projects for this blockbuster, but the movie is still just so cheesy.
The film spends a lot of time in Asgard, the planet/dimension/afterlife that Thor lives in. Here he is about to become king, but the castle is almost invaded by the bad guys with the very original name of "Ice Giants". The king decides to let this go, but Thor takes his friends—a group of Gimli and Robin Hood lookalikes—into the ice giants' world to fight. For his foolish actions, Thor is banished to earth and stripped of his power. But he can get it back if he is redeemedor something.
For the rest of the movie, Thor is trying to get back home, while his brother—who just-so-happens to be an adopted Ice Giant—takes control of the kingdom and starts being evil. Not that any of his friends ever gave him a chance to be anything else. The problem with this movie is that the plot is painfully formulaic, and the "twists" they throw in are so predictable it is insulting. The fight scenes are always cool, but of course the final battle goes on for too long, complete with every cliché in the book. The only thing that keeps this from being a total train wreck are the actors and the computer animation.
Chris Hemsworth is wonderful as Thor, the arrogant being from another realm. Anthony Hopkins seems to at least be having fun as the worn down, but wise king. And of course, Natalie Portman does a wonderful job. The other actors are all fine, with one exception; Kat Dennings as Darcy is practically insufferable, cracking one humorless, flat joke after another. Luckily, she isn't in the movie that much.
The animation is the best this reviewer has seen in a long time. Thor's home world of Asgard is remarkable, especially during the night scenes. Not to mention the beautiful backgrounds of stars and space.
The movie tries to work in references to the other marvel movies, in order to try and make some sort of continuity for the upcoming Avengers, but in Thor, the references are only half thought out and as a result, awkward. They probably would be better if the other Marvel movies had starting doing it back when they were good, but it's the thought that counts.
Although the movie has some large flaws, including a poor plot and bloated fight scenes, it has good acting and characters; and if the day is hot enough, the theater dark enough, a movie like this will do alright.
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