THOR
RYAN: Academy Award Natalie Portman’s latest movie is Thor, though she’s not the main selling point. This is the first major blockbuster of the year, people!
CAROLINE: Yes, it’s kicking off the summer season and setting the stage for the forthcoming Avengers movie from Marvel.
RYAN: I’m looking forward to that one because it’ll have Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, along with Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk and many others. But for some reason, I’m not really on the Thor train. It’s certainly not the worst movie we’ve seen, but I just didn’t care about it that much.
CAROLINE: Neither did I. There’s a lot of Norse myth that takes up almost half the movie, and I was so not interested. If Natalie Portman weren’t in it, I don’t know what I would have done. She looks gorgeous too.
RYAN: Science fiction is one of my favorite genres and this movie depicts life off of Earth, so theoretically that should have interested me. But other than the cool visuals of outer space, I really didn’t care much about the story.
CAROLINE: There are some cool special effects for sure, and scenes that will make you gasp. But the 3D is sorely lacking. I’m not sure why they even bothered; probably just to jack up ticket prices. And I know as a non-comic book fan and a woman, I’m not really the target audience for this movie; but I loved the first Iron Man, so I know these kinds of movies can be made to appeal to a wider audience. Thor didn’t do it for me though.
RYAN: Iron Man has some truly great action, and this one has mostly just fighting scenes. I’m over all the confrontation. And the guy who plays Thor, Chris Hemsworth, is no great actor. He was clearly cast for his shape and size, which LBH, is pretty impressive.
CAROLINE: I hated his dyed eyebrows, but his body was kind of insane.
RYAN: I was so surprised to see Rene Russo in this! Welcome back to Hollywood, honey. Anthony Hopkins plays Thor’s father and he’s regal as usual.
CAROLINE: There’s also Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård as Natalie’s scientist sidekicks, and they provided some comic relief. But this movie didn’t ignite the way Iron Man did. I didn’t feel the same excitement. The audience was cheering a lot though, and I’m sure people will want to see it.
RYAN: I love the director of this movie, Kenneth Branagh. I’m just not on the Thor train. I guess I don’t care enough about the character.
CAROLINE: Honestly, I was bored at times. Luckily, it’s only about an hour and 45 minutes long.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: It’s great visually; cool effects, awesome costumes and makeup, etc. I enjoyed aspects of it and it’s not terrible by any means. If you’re inclined to see it, you should do so on the big screen since it’s a blockbuster. But I could have very easily skipped this movie.
CAROLINE: There’s a bit of a love story which is good for the girls, but I just wasn’t that into this movie. It never took off for me, and I think a lot of the problem was all the back story. I’m sure it’ll be a huge hit though; it just wasn’t for me.
— RATING —
