Friday, May 6, 2011

"Thor" *** 1/2 Out of Four

I have been extremely ambivalent about Marvel Studios, and it's long term set-up for The Avengers: Iron Man was one of the best superhero films I've ever seen, and one of the most entertaining all around films of the 2000s.

To me, The Incredible Hulk as a colossal dud. I realize I'm in a minority for loving Ang Lee's misunderstood, underappreciated version (though not as small a minority if you look at film critics instead of internet geeks), but I found it to be a flimsy, uncompelling story with cardboard characters, mediocre (Edward Norton) to terrible (William Hurt/Tim Roth) performances, lackluster action, and bad CGI.

Iron Man 2  was a mixed bag. Highly entertaining, but seriously overcrowded to the point of almost completely failing to give the strong story and character arcs that made the first film so good. A big part of the problem was giving so much of the film over to set-up for The Avengers. I had seriously soured on the whole Avengers project, and, as much as I love Firefly, Joss Whedon's presence did not silence my fears. Whedon's last project, Dollhouse, was, to use Whedon's own vernacular, "all manner of stupid".

So, I approached Thor somewhat cautiously. I was also a little cautious about director Kenneth Branagh. I, like every other theatre person, was a big fan in his 90s Shakeespeare days. But his bigger, Hollywood projects have had a tendency to lose their way and drown in spectacle and excess. I was very much hoping for great work from him again. And, fortunately, I feel like I got it. Thor isn't perfect, but it's definitely on the upper tier of comic book movies. There is a lot of credit to go around for this, including to Marvel Studios, who I feel finally really hit their stride with combining set-up for The Avengers with making a satisfying all-around movie (it helps to really know what you're getting into this time. This definitely feels like a transitional set-up at times, but that's less jarring me to in a film that is not a direct sequel).

The cast is strong all around. Chris Hemsworth makes a terrific, convincingly and likeably portraying the character arc from selfish, spoiled brat-god to genuine hero (that's not a spoiler, the trailer tells you that). Tom Hiddleston, as Loki, is equally strong a villain. Anthony Hopkins has one of those performances that reminds me how great he can be if he is truly engaged in the material. And Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgaard seems to be having a lot of fun (and while both are talented, I don't know that i've ever seen either of them appear to be having fun in a film before).


For me, the lion's share of the credit goes to Branagh. It turns out this is an inspired match of director to material. Branagh gives a wonderful Sheakespearan flourish to the world of Norse mythology. How much he knew the Norse legends before the film I cannot say, but this is a man who knows mythology and storytelling very well. The story sticks very closely to the Joseph Campbell "Hero's Journey" archetype, and that's a wonderful choice in a movie about classic mythology. And the juxtaposition of the deliberate campy (think the 1980s Flash Gordon) but still epic presentation of Asgard (the world of the Norse gods), and the modern world, leads a very enjoyable fish-out-of-water story of the kind that was so popular in the 80s.

Where Thor does experience some weakness in an area that seems unlikely for both a comic book film, and for Kenneth Branagh: it's actually a little too short. I'm all for the restraint of making these sort of popcorn films under 2 hours, and more filmmakers need to learn how to do that. But with the epic scope Branagah is going for, and the extra weight of juggling the Avengers baggage, I felt the film could have used another 15 to 20 minutes to fully develop. It's not bursting at the seems like Iron Man 2 was. It just could feel a little more full rounded and nuanced with the added time. I also will have to wait until a second viewing to decided how bad the post-production conversion 3D was. The viewmaster effect was not nearly as bad as I worried, but the 3D was so overpoweringly dark that it decidedly detracted from the experience (but, in fairness, I was watching it on the worst 3D screen in town).   Thankfully, it's easily worth seeing a second time.

Thor is a rousing kickoff to blockbuster season, and a triumph for Branagh. It's well worth seeing if you enjoy mythology, comic books, Branagh, or any of the above.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you liked it. I was prepared to hate this (but of course had to see it regardless) and was pleasantly surprised. The actors were very good (even Natalie Portman didn't make me squirm) and the scenes on earth were particularly fun. Loki was brilliant, Anthony Hopkins was believable as a God. Poor Renee Russo though -- does she even have a name? And Thor's sidekicks were a bit predictable and not quite sparking and witty enough -- they could have been fresher rather than a retread of Shakespeare's mechanicals. It was a nice beginning.

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