JayRo Watches Movies: Thor

Yesterday, I talked about the theory of the summer popcorn movie. Last night I saw the prototypical popcorn movie in Thor.

Thor's the retelling of the comic book superhero from Marvel. It's not so much of an origin story as it is an introduction story. Taken on it's own, it is a fine film. It's not going to win any Oscars, but it is a step above a normal action film.

It tells the story of how Thor became the great god that he is today, and his growth from a powerful warrior, to a more worldly god. Through it, Thor is also thrown to Earth as a mortal, left to learn humility and other methods beyond fighting to solve conflict. Luckily for him, he meets Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) and her friends.

The strength of the film is actually the fish out of water scenes on Earth. Between Thor's lack of understanding of regular human interactions and everybody else's reaction to Thor, it is comedic gold.

There is also a fair bit of intrigue in Asgard, where most of the film's gravitas comes from. Kenneth Branaugh draws from his Shakespearian background to lenda fair bit of credence and value to these scenes. It does break down at times, especially when it comes to trying to determine Loki's intentions through his various actions. That is more of a weakness of the story than it is the fault of Branaugh or the actors.

A special mention for Chris Hemsworth, who does a great job in playing Thor. He seemed to know which notes he needed to hit in a role which could have easily given way to extreme overacting in the wrong hands.

A solid thumbs up and watch it for Thor.

On the Mike Croft "Go" rating system, this scores a 2.
For the "Avengers" movies the rankings are as follows:

Iron Man
Thor
Iron Man 2
Hulk

Note: There iso another setup for the upcoming movie version of "The Avengers" in this movie. Stay until the end of the credits (much like every other Marvel movie)