Review: Thor

Brief cyber-stalking of Chris Hemsworth reveals that he is 6'3'' (good), married (bad), was in a soap (bad), has a younger brother (good), who is 6'5'' (good) and dating Miley Cyrus (VERY bad). However, it takes no cyber-stalking whatsoever to know that he played the title character in the recently released Marvel superhero movie, Thor.

I've seen most (possibly all) of the previous Marvel films, because I have a little brother and I'm easily entertained, and I've always enjoyed them (with the exception of the 2003 Hulk). But I was particularly excited about this one, because it was directed by Kenneth Branagh. I mean, come on. Acclaimed Shakespearean actor/director making a Hollywood superhero movie? That had to be special.

And it was good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But it wasn't special.

The performances were all good (especially Tom Hiddleston's Loki), the one-liners were amusing, the visual effects were spectacular (the fictional city of Asgard was absolutely beautiful) and the plot was fine. But I was expecting this superhero movie to be a bit different, and it wasn't. I was disappointed for two reasons.

1. With Kenneth Branagh telling the story, I wanted there to be a bit more storytelling. I wanted less Michael-Bay-esque fight sequences and CGI mash-ups, and more dialogue, more character development, more depth. I was hoping Kenneth Branagh would resist falling into the trap of the big-budget Hollywood movie, but he didn't; he drowned the plot in CGI and forget to tell the story.

2. There wasn't much plot to drown. I wanted something clever. And by that I mean a plot a bit more substantial than a heroic but arrogant prince being exiled to Earth for behaving arrogantly, whereupon all hell breaks loose on his home planet and he becomes a better person by loving a stunningly beautiful physicist (I'm sure they exist. I've never seen one, but I'm sure they exist.), just in time to save the day on both Earth and Asgard. That story is fine. But there are absolutely no surprises. You'll have pegged the bad guy after two seconds of screen time, the ending is decided before it's begun and every single twist and turn comes as no surprise whatsoever. At one point I got very excited, because I THOUGHT something shocking had just happened, but it turned out I'd just misunderstood.

So overall, I enjoyed it. But it didn't deliver, for me, the extra dimensions I was hoping a director like Kenneth Branagh would bring.

Basic summary: an action-packed, visually stunning, fun and engaging movie worth watching with the family, but expect no surprises and you won't be disappointed.

Rating: * * * (good)