Saturday 30 April 2011

Thor 2011

Yet another film that does not deserve a real review!

I went to see a comic book superhero film, based on a Norse myth, so I expected plenty of computer-generated sets and dramatic dialogue, along with some good old-fashioned 'kapow'. What I did not expect was the Asgard scenes to be so unnecessarily theatrical in a Shakespearean style (never forget your roots Kenneth Branagh, even when you should), the earthly romance to be so trite and the comedy in the God-meets-humans scenes to be so forced. Watching Thor was like watching 3 scrambled films - the Asgard scenes were shot in a slight Tron: Legacy (2010) crossed with Troy (2004) manner; the Earth scenes were shot in a War of the Worlds (2005) crossed with Iron Man (2008) manner; and Thor's time with the humans had the farcical feel of a Coming to America (1998)! If I don't sound impressed, it's because I really am not. I didn't put up with the constant drone of comic book geeks for months, to receive this half-baked attempt as consolation. And I'm getting especially tired of being told that this film leads to the next big series of films (heard it when The Incredible Hulk, 2008, came out, heard it again when Iron Man 2, 2010, came out and heard it yet again when Thor came out). I wish they'd concentrate on making one decent film at a time and quit worrying about launching the next big thing - at least then I'd remember not to get excited when Jeremy Renner shows up for one scene, which is supposed to be the introduction to his character in The Avengers film (2012).