Movies: Thor

Score: *** out of *****

Long Story Short: Thor is a fun way to start off the summer, although it's pretty standard superhero faire. Hemsworth, as the title character, is mostly responsible for the enjoyable moments in this movie, while Portman's character unfortunately represents the ways in which it is also a bit sloppy and lazy. There are a few exciting action scenes, as well as moments to laugh, but also plenty of similar scenes that are less inspiring.

Well, the summer film season (my favorite of the year) is underway, and last week I saw the first major offering, Thor. To be honest, the trailers did not get me very excited about this one, but a very good score on Rotten Tomatoes (usually a good barometer) convinced me to go see it. This film is (yet another) Marvel superhero film, directed by Kenneth Branagh (better known for his acting) and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins.

The beginning of the film is used to give a background on the fantasy setting, in which Earth is just one of nine "realms," among which one can travel by wormhole. The two others of significance are Asgard (the good guys), led by King Odin (Hopkins); and Jotunheim (bad guys), filled with ice giants which tried to conquer Earth before Odin stopped them. Once this setting is established, we find that Thor (Hemsworth), Odin's son, is on the cusp of inheriting the throne of Asgard. However, following a small security breach by the ice giants, Thor angrily goes to Jotunheim with his four buddies. They kick some ice giant butt there for a little while, but this angers Odin, as it threatens the peace agreement between the two worlds. As punishment, he banishes his son from Asgard and sends him to Earth.

Thor is dropped in the middle of a desert, where a crew of scientists (led by Portman) find him; they have been studying a phenomena which is in fact the wormhole through which Thor arrives. Thor does his best to shake off the pesky humans and get to his hammer, through which he derives his power. However, a group called SHIELD (see: Iron Man 2) gets there first, but no one is able to remove the hammer from its resting site. Meanwhile, off in Asgard, the aging Odin falls ill, leaving Thor's brother in charge, a man with a mysterious past. A plot to destroy Asgard evolves, requiring Thor to move past his youthful pride and bloodlust to reclaim the power needed to save Asgard.

The performances are a bit hit-or-miss in this film. Chris Hemsworth does a great job as Thor, making his potentially-ridiculous character both realistic and likable. This is especially so as he brings his entitled, powerful, medieval attitude to Earth. Portman, however, is a dud in this film. It's not all her fault by any means, as she gets few good lines and her character has little sense of purpose/motivation. But mostly she just looks at Thor with a variety of expressions, from fear to desire to wonder and so on. Hopkins, unsurprisingly, is effective as King Odin, a proud but disappointed father. Tom Hiddleston plays Thor's brother, Loki, who is interesting at first but then grows more silly, both in the role he is given and his performance. Among the minor roles, Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting) does well as Portman's mentor.

Thor does well in some of the miscellaneous categories, but not consistently. The best action sequence comes near the beginning, when Thor and his buddies seek revenge in Jotunheim; the action is clever, and the CGI, while heavy, only bolsters the excitement. However, the battle at the climax is pretty ho-hum as far as action films go; and the main fight on Earth is poor to the point of wondering if anyone bothered trying to edit it at all. There is some good humor, once again, near the beginning of the film, and especially when Thor first gets to Earth. As the film goes along, however, further attempts at humor aren't nearly as successful.

***

Thor is an alright start to the summer film season. However, I'm mystified by the impressive rating it has on Rotten Tomatoes. I would much rather see The Green Hornet, a fresh take on superhero films, than this, a serviceable film but kind of same-old-same-old when it comes to this genre. As a last description of the film, there are two plots on Earth. One is about Portman and her fellow scientists; they keep vaguely talking about their "years" of research, but this whole aspect is just an excuse for Thor to interact with sympathetic humans. Meanwhile, SHIELD's involvement offers much more intrigue, but it's also given much less attention. Too bad. There are some nice elements to this film, but it's not a must-see. If you're looking to Netflix a superhero flick, get The Green Hornet instead.