"Thor", the mighty hammer of mediocrity

Thor

Another superhero movie seen this week. Well, after enjoying "X-Men: First Class" I thought it wasn't a bad option to watch (you know, that sort of days when you don't want something really dense or affecting). But "Thor" was a bad choice. What a lame, mediocre, lifeless and silly film is.

Thor, the superhero, was one of my favourites comics as a kid. I guess I liked the mythological part, the story of Asgard and the ambivalence of Thor's brother, Loki. So, when I read Kenneth Branagh was directing, first I was scared of the result (not a fan precisely) but then I become curious to see what could happen, and if his Shakesperian "touch" would explore the Asgard kingdom side. But sadly, my impression watching "Thor" is that Branagh simply didn't give a damn about the film.

Because honestly, this film is just dumb. First we have the Asgardian part, where we can see Thor's (played by Chris Hemsworth) arrogance and Loki's dubious behaviour. It could have been interesting, but is full of clichés and there's zero depth in the characters, with a special, tragic mention to Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins. But that part is bearable, compared with what comes next.

Then, Thor is punished due to his behaviour and banished to Earth. And all the story from that moment on is ridiculous. Thor, in Asgard a muscular violent warlord, becomes, all of a sudden, a nordic gentleman, humble, non-aggressive and perfectly aware of where he is. Natalie Portman (I can't understand how, after playing "Black Swan", she accepted this insipid role) would be a pretty good reason for such a change... if you take the time to develop that on screen.

As I was watching, I started to have the impression that maybe Branagh and co. wanted to joke about the superhero world and point out how grotesque it is. That would help me to understand the existence of Thor's friends (pathetic), the Marvel references and all the interaction with human characters on the film. Well, thinking that the movie shifts to total disaster to a watchable nonsense. But that would be a weak and false excuse to try save this film (as many critics highlight it as a refreshing, kitsch and ironic entertainment). "Thor" goes nowhere, with an atrocious amount of scenes that seem random, disconnected, or just unnecessary. That's the word. They didn't care about the movie, so there was no need for it. 

SCORE: 3,5/10