09 May 2011

Thor (2011)

Welcome to superhero summer! Actually every summer is superhero summer now, which is just fine by me. I can't say that I read much Thor growing up but he was an Avenger so I knew the basics. Then again, I had no idea who Jane Foster was so clearly I lost geek cred there. Speaking of Foster, Natalie Portman has long been number one on my list of actresses but she really adds nothing to this movie. In fact, I'd love to not have my Natalie in any big budget stuff at all. With this movie she's entirely miscast and her storyline is a drag. Kat Dennings, on the other hand, is fantastic. More Kat Dennings please!

Overall though, Thor was quite enjoyable. The visuals are awesome, the action not bad (kinda choppy), a smattering of good lines, and a few notches below Iron Man but a perfect way to start off the blockbuster season. The real find of Thor is Chris Hemsworth. For a huge muscle bound unknown, he's an excellent actor and really brings some nice dimensions to Asgard's favorite son. If Hemsworth had just been a Paul Walker-esque dud, this entire movie would have stunk. Instead Hemsworth is really charismatic and quite believable as a Norse god. All this plus I finally know how to pronounce Mjolnir, which was not exactly how I had imagined it growing up. "Mew mew?"