Clunky Sections makes this a Minor Addition to Superhero Genre

Rating: 5/10 (6 May 2011)

I will hand it to Kenneth Branagh, he knows how to put energy into a film. I was able to stay engaged for most of the action pieces, despite the horrific and clunky Earth scenes. A ragtag trio of scientists befriend the misplaced Thor, and nothing special happens as they seem to be stuck in a fake looking movie set that is supposed to resemble a small town in New Mexico.
Spoiler Alert:
It is no surprise the small town is destroyed in the big climax, cars flip through the air Michael Bay style, and buildings explode.
End Spoiler Alert.
Credit the producers for keeping this film in the tent pole mold, delivering the goods for a lesser hero than the other bigger comic book icons. However, for the Asgard world, there were some large crowd scenes, and rainbow bridge effects shots that looked blurred as though to cover how unfinished they looked.
I do not know the comic books, and judge this upon what new aspect this incarnation can bring to the screen. The cast is well versed, and the hero, Chris Hemsworth fits the uniform convincingly. The Earth scenes once again take a turn into B-movie territory, finding absolutely stupid material to waste time on. The story gets points for not getting too cliché, but loses major points for lapses in logic and unrealistic actions taken by major characters. Say for instance the government agent from SHIELD. He seems to have little security or authority to control anything. Nothing the government is doing, or Natalie Portman's physics experiment for that matter, is adequately explained.
Almost as if the Earth portion of the film was made by a different director, all the story and logic makes much more sense in Asgard land. Although there are character twists, there are few double or triple twists that spin out of control in other tent pole films. In fact, there is some resolution with the mythic characters that resonate with the audience. Credit that as well to the music soundtrack, fulfilling a much needed role in wall-to-wall operatic drama. But then there is the editing. It is sometimes a little too frantic, perhaps needing to take a breath more often.
There is a "Lord of the Rings" type battle that opens the movie and shows the different tricks the big hammer weapon can do. Alas, no other action scenes in the movie top this big battle, leaving me almost let down, but not actually feeling disappointed. But the fun hammer moves we are teased with in the first act, only briefly return in the third act, and it feels too little too late.
Despite the minor missteps in the premier of yet another possible superhero franchise, one must applaud the correct performances elicited by Branagh to pull off the mythical world. One only wishes Branagh was equally adept at eliciting down-to-Earth performances as well.