The most remarkable thing about both of the Thor movies, and maybe even more about Thor: The Dark World, is that they are not terrible. They are entertaining, well-paced, well-directed action films filled with good acting and relatively coherent stories (even given that there are various monsters firing lasers at Norse gods in the new film.)
They make sense within themselves and that is about as much as you can ask for in a super hero movie. Hollywood seems to have gotten this down--for the most part. They play it basically straight throw in some humor. They never make the mistake of thinking they can make this any of the Batman movies. It is played serious but a great deal lighter than the caped crusader films. It isn't something you will think about after you see it? But you won't be bored watching it.
Seems like faint praise but only to those who do not attend many movies. Being entertaining all the way through is the exception not the rule. Thor has that going through it.
They make sense within themselves and that is about as much as you can ask for in a super hero movie. Hollywood seems to have gotten this down--for the most part. They play it basically straight throw in some humor. They never make the mistake of thinking they can make this any of the Batman movies. It is played serious but a great deal lighter than the caped crusader films. It isn't something you will think about after you see it? But you won't be bored watching it.
Seems like faint praise but only to those who do not attend many movies. Being entertaining all the way through is the exception not the rule. Thor has that going through it.
It is difficult to get too deeply into a movie like Thor: The Dark World because there is so little depth to it. There are evil elves who want to destroy everything and make the universe dark. Thor aims to stop this. This lack of detail, this lack of complication might actually be a strength of the movie. There is very little time spent talking about the goobledeygook science behind the evil elves and the physics of their schem and the less time doing that the better.
Just get the basics to line up and let Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston chew some scenery; they do it expertly. Director Alan Taylor has directed a number of episodes of cable television series; Game of Thrones, Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos, Deadwood and even Sex in the City. He knows how to move things along and seems to realize this isn't Shakespeare.
Of course Kenneth Branagh was successful making the first Thor movie by making a film with a Shakesperean feel. It was good for one film but Taylor was wise to move in another direction.
Thor is still in theaters but it won't be the end of the world if you see it on DVD.
Just get the basics to line up and let Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston chew some scenery; they do it expertly. Director Alan Taylor has directed a number of episodes of cable television series; Game of Thrones, Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos, Deadwood and even Sex in the City. He knows how to move things along and seems to realize this isn't Shakespeare.
Of course Kenneth Branagh was successful making the first Thor movie by making a film with a Shakesperean feel. It was good for one film but Taylor was wise to move in another direction.
Thor is still in theaters but it won't be the end of the world if you see it on DVD.
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