Didn't realize it would be a retelling of the first Thor movie but that's exactly what it was. One big meh. ( )

We first heard of this movie at the end of Iron Man 2, when the S.H.I.E.L.D agent drives out to a desert local to where a hammer fell from the sky. We've been seeing trailers since last fall. We went to see it tonight.The movie was way better than I had any right to expect. For a movie like this, it's hard to get a sense of how good the movie is going to be from the trailers. But generally this is the sort of movie we'll go to see unless the reviews are really bad. I didn't bother to read any review of this prior to going to see it because it looked like it would be fun. And it was great fun. Taking a quick look over at Rotten Tomatoes it looks like in general the movie is getting good reviews.

The movie also has some talent involved. It was directed by Kenneth Branagh. Natalie Portman plays 'that mortal woman', and Odin is played by Anthony Hopkins (although he doesn't have much to do beyond looking god-like). Chris Hemsworth plays Thor as sort of an all-powerful frat boy who comes to realize that with great power comes great responsibility (OK, that was corny). The only thing I've ever seen him in was the Star Trek re-boot where he played Captain Kirk's father. I had to look that up.

It's going to be a block-buster summer, if you like that sort of thing. We saw trailers for Conan the Barbarian (not sure a remake of this was needed, but we'll be there), Captain America, Green Lantern, X-Men:First Class, and Cowboys & Aliens. We're looking forward to them all. ( )

A Norse god from outer space is exiled to Earth

There's a section in the middle, for about 20 minutes, when it's a comedy. That part's kind of awesome. The rest is pretty dumb, but could have been a lot worse.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: D

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 1.9/4 ( )

(Contains spoilers) Thor was one of my favorite comic heroes when I was a kid, and I wasn't sure how he'd translate into a movie. I felt a little better when I heard who was directing. What a treat it turned out to be. True, Thor isn't even Thor for half the movie, but the scene where he's lying there lifeless, and then finally, the hammer he can no longer lift lifts him! Loved the cast too, especially Natalie, who I just wanted to grab. And here's hoping Tom Hiddleston has a long, cranky reign as Loki. For me this was the superhero movie most like a comic book come to life. ( )

Mythology