Sleepy Operatic Second Installment

Rating: 4/10 (23 March 2014)

Of all the current Marvel super heroes who enjoy their own solo films, Thor is my least favourite. I remember going through the whole Greek mythology in grade school and never could get into it. The other turn-off is the focus on yucking it up with the younger characters. Leave the goofy relationship material to television shows. Then there is the decision to turn the great Stellan Skarsgard (I remember him back in "Hunt For Red October") into a humiliating clown character. As an audience member, I was embarrassed for such a high brow film to stoop to such broad comedy gags.
There is considerable amount of time spent on other planets to setup all the rivalries and bad guys. The film lacks any punch, as it goes through the confrontations, it all plays out like an extended stage opera. The characters are in their grandiose outfits making grandiose pronouncements. All against large backdrops (yes you can tell it's all CGI). Anthony Hopkins is getting on in his age and his performance lacks fire. Tom Hiddleston, the great baddie from The Avengers, is literally sitting on the sidelines for the whole film.
About an hour into watching it on DVD for the second time (the first time I saw it in the theatre I fell asleep three times), I realised the main problem with this movie is the sappy music. The soundtrack is the most boring generic underscoring I have heard in a long time. The music lacks any stingers to grab the audience, no depth in it's arrangements. It is amazing how just one aspect of a film can help kill it. Even when things pick up in the third act as London is ground zero for the big alien invasion. The production values are definitely there (although the 170 million price tag seems a bit much). The direction and editing is also just there, no flare or real energy in the story's momentum.
Even though it clocks in at 1 hour 52 minutes, I swear it felt over two hours. I would still recommend this minor installment in the Marvel family of films, but not if you're sleepy.