THOR

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

THOR

Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Directed by Kennith Branagh

Rated PG-13

*

The first Big Superhero Movie of 2011 is out, making my geeky little superhero-loving heart soar. I was especially excited to see Thor after the huge volume of positive reviews.

Basic story: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), god of thunder and heir to the throne of Asgard, is exiled to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) for his arrogance and violent temper. There he meets scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and struggles to get by; at the same time in Asgard, Odin falls ill, leaving Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) on the throne. When Thor's friends try to clear his name, they uncover a secret: someone has been plotting to get Thor out of the way for a long time, and now plans to kill him while his body is mortal. Thor is helpless on Earth with no powers and no awareness that he's a target.

Thor, Odin, Loki

First, the good. The visuals, including the CGI, were awesome, with spectacular sets, costumes and images. Great acting, too; everyone was perfectly cast, and no one gave a bad performance. The script had a lot of humor and kept me laughing through most of the picture. Sibling rivalry between Thor and Loki powered much of the story, and I liked the way Loki's personality and motivation slowly came to light. He's much more interesting than most supervillains.

However, Thor suffered from too many storylines, all of which started out really interesting and never got to go anywhere. On Earth, Thor is humbled and made to see the error of his arrogance, but it happened so fast I didn't believe the transformation, though Hemsworth acted it well. He began a cute romance with Jane, but they leapt from "oh, you're hot" to "MADLY IN LOVE" in no time when the plot jumped forwards, so I again had trouble believing in the depth of their feelings. A war between the Asgardians and their old enemies the Frost Giants is introduced, but then the Frost Giants just sort of show up when the plot demands them, so I didn't know why I should care.

Some of the action scenes were also a bit cheesy. I think making fun of superhero action might have been the point,

Thor, Jane, Loki, Odin and Heimdall

but it didn't work, and I just felt silly watching some of it.

Overall, it seemed like Thor wanted to be a romance/family drama/consequences of war tragedy/comedy/superhero movie, and it couldn't combine them all. It started out so well on all fronts that if the writers had taken out just one of the subplots, I think the movie might have been able to juggle everything. As it was, many elements were left underdeveloped.

Thor is still a decent movie with a lot going for it. It's not the great movie it wanted to be, but it's a fun way to kill an afternoon. I look forward to seeing how the sequels turn out.

*

Review by Elizabeth Reuter