A Let Down of A Marvel Flick

Rating: 5/10 (11 May 2011)

D+ I'm not much of a Thor fan to begin with, but I was not against the project and was rather intrigued by it. The casting choices seemed very spot on, myself being particularly excited by the presence of Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman. Kudos to Idris Elba as well. However, the film opens with the annoying character played by Kat Dennings. Not only that but Portman's character was one I was completely unable to connect with. Then we go to Asgard and the visuals as expected are stunning. The lighting and wide range of colors was well done and all around beautiful. The mythology was very engaging and the choice of Tom Hiddleston as Loki was a damn good one. The elite "Warriors Three" look great from a distance but do little to nothing in the movie. There is not a single reason for me to go into them what so ever due to their lack of screen time and the fact that the majority of the time they were on screen the director treated them as over-redundant comic relief. The Ice Giants were very imposing and served well as antagonists. The battle with them was one of the film's few saving graces.
Then Thor is banished to our realm, Earth, and so begins the painful midsection of the film. And this I mind you is the longest section of the movie. The dialogue is corny and the script struggles to find any bit of memorable dialogue and character development. For the longest time I forgot I was watching a superhero flick and instead a badly staged comedy/sitcom. The director refused to take the material seriously at all, even as far as having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents poke fun at the Asgardian warriors as they stroll down the street and then smother the window of a restaurant like lost dogs. And the vast majority of the humor wasn't funny sadly. This wasn't "Iron Man" with its smart and quippy dialogue, this was so cliché it hurt to watch. Denning's character comment s on how hot Thor is, a predictable and very corny romance starts that just grated on my nerves throughout. None of the protagonists seem to take their roles seriously, which would be okay if this were a straight comedy. The villains are menacing enough but don't get enough screen time. I know I keep comparing it to the Iron Man films, but the way the comedy and action are spliced together only shows how badly director Kenneth Branagh tried to make a sh*t-stained copy of those films. I found myself yawning more than anything.
Destroyer was awesome in my opinion, making even further jokes out of the "Warriors three" without a fight at all. By the time Thor gets his hammer back I was beyond bored, and in usual Marvel fashion the writers try to throw a curve ball concerning the main villain and it's a decent one I'll admit but the end battle is too short to be breath-taking. In short there are a few colorful shots and nice monsters, but this is outweighed by corny dialogue, cheesy humor and story development that redefine boredom. I cannot recommend this my fellow fans.