Way late review: Thor

If you had told me at the beginning of 2011 that, of the latest batch of superhero movies coming out in the summer, Thor would be the one I enjoyed the most I would have laughed. There is nothing about Thor as a character that interests me. He’s absurd to me, even by superhero standards. And the trailers for the movie seemed even more absurd. It seemed like it was taking itself so seriously. Thankfully I was wrong – for the most part.

The details behind the story of Thor are not all that important. There’s quite a twist of characters and subplots in the world of Asgard. None of them matter that much. The key was that the early scenes in Asgard were OK. Yes, they tended to go a bit overboard with the manufactured drama but none of it was overdrawn. The overall plot moved forward fast enough where we eventually we see Thor thrown down to earth as a mere man.

I enjoyed the fun natured take of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on earth. I liked Hemsworth’s character and had a fun time watching him interact in the foreign land Thor found himself in on Earth. The good natured back and forth between Thor and his friends on earth, including Natalie Portman, kept things light and entertaining. It had a bit of a Superman 3 movie feel to it at times, complete with attempts at slapstick humor.

I’d normally complain about the lack of a good villain, which Thor is guilty of, but there was too much fun to be had throughout. And that’s not even to mention Marvel’s obsession with making all these movies feed into The Avengers. With that said, I enjoyed the movie for what it was – a fun ride that never confuses itself for more than that.

[xrr rating=3.5/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHBnrJowBZE[/youtube]