For once I get to see a Natalie film before most North American visitors to this site. If Thor had opened here after the US, I probably wouldn’t have rushed out to see it as soon as possible. But considering how rare it is for us to get a big film before a domestic release, I had to jump at the chance.
My thoughts will have some minor spoilers but I will stay away from big details and provide warning if I do tread to close to more serious spoilers.
Rachel left a comment to my post last night asking if Thor lives up to the hype. I think it’s important to have reasonable expectations (no expectations being best) for films and Thor is no exception. But let’s look closely at this so called Thor hype.
The film is currently on 91% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, which is hugely impressive. I believe the number will come down and probably settle in the low to mid 80’s, but even now you can still see a bit of a warning sign for getting too hyped for the film. That warning is in the form of the review average, which is 6.9 out of 10. The fresh rating tells us a lot of people at least like or would recommend the film. The average rating tells us that the people who like it aren’t exactly doing cartwheels.
For instance, Black Swan was 88% fresh but had an average rating of 8.2. V for Vendetta was only 73% positive but it’s average rating was very similar to Thor with 6.8.
So, to answer Rachel, for me the film is closer to it’s average rating than it’s fresh rating. Going in expecting one of the best blockbuster films in years might result in disappointment. Go in expecting a pretty good fun time and you should be alright.
I think the biggest surprise for me was how silly but fun the Earth stuff was. I was constantly hammering the “funny” promotional clips here on the site, but in the context of the film they worked pretty well and the humour was most welcome. I wasn’t buckled over in stitches, but it created a light fun mood that was needed after the more serious Asgard scenes.
I thought Natalie was really enjoyable in the role, a role that really gives her next to nothing to work with, but she’s charming and fun and beautiful and even though there’s no real reason I should, I kinda went along with the romantic arc, mainly down to Hemsworth and Natalie just being so damn likable. You want them to be together for that reason alone.
I thought Hopkins really brought the required seriousness for Odin. Loki was a very interesting villain. The Destroyer seemed boring on paper but the design and execution kinda worked for me. Kat and Stellan were fun side kicks. Best of all was Idris Elba as Heimdall – the guy just owns every scene he’s in.
I thought the action scenes were decent but nothing amazing (the 3D might have hurt in that regard). Asgard was beautifully designed, not just the city and the bridge but the night skies look incredible.
On the negative end, it definitely can feel a bit silly at times and the Warriors Three are just ridiculous. I couldn’t take them seriously at all. With characters like that you need to give them a lot of screen time so we can buy into it and fall for them as characters. However they don’t get that time and I was kind of cringing every time they showed up.
I also felt as though they were always going to have a hard time with this story. There was never going to be enough time to make Thor’s change of heart feel anything but rushed. Credit again to Hemsworth who does the most that he can with that hectic time crunch.
Ultimately, I had a pretty good time with the film. I was tempted to give it a 7 but I think it falls just slightly short of that.
6/10
SPOILER PS…
I still don’t think Natalie will be in The Avengers but I can now say I wouldn’t be surprised to see a cameo either. Thor leaves her on Earth and doesn’t come back. It’s hard to imagine that such an important person in Thor’s life would be ignored when he does come back (I’m assuming) for The Avengers.
Also, can anyone tell me what happened after the credits? I didn’t feel like waiting for the standard Marvel tease at the very end.
