I really enjoyed the Iron Man movies. No, the third wasn't really all that great, but it was fun. I liked Captain America, even though I'm not actually that big of a fan of the character. I did not like the Eric Bana Hulk movie, but I liked The Incredible Hulk movie that replaced it in the Avengers cannon. And yes, I really liked The Avengers.
The first Thor movie was fine. It wasn't spectacular, but it made sense in a weird magic way. I like movies that strive to make sense through the movie instead of confusing the viewers simply because it is possible to confuse them. but, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Thor, and the character pretty much hasn't changed since the end of the first movie. He tosses his hammer a lot, he mugs for the camera, and he dramatically hits people and things to great effect. With superheroes, it's hard to really expand on the character, and that is the exact reason that Tobey Maguire gave as to why he didn't want to do a fourth movie. It was TOTALLY not because the third movie sucked so bad.
Natalie Portman was a great actress when she was a kid. What happened to her? I mean, she turned into a very pretty woman, but the acting ability she demonstrated in Leon is just plain gone. She should stick to playing something like Kristen Stewart's sister or something. It could be called something like The Vanilla Sisters or Blank Slates.
Tom Hiddleston returns as Thor's brother and the god of lies, Loki. His character has actually seemed to evolve into a kind of strange guy that you kind of hope succeeds in his plans without doing too much damage or killing too many people. He's that guy you love to hate. The impish way he prods his brother and deals with being an outcast make you almost forget how he tried to destroy the world.
Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo are Thor's parents. Rene doesn't get much of a role, but she didn't in the other movies, either. Anthony shows up to prove acting chops as a god and moves on. I mean, the movie isn't about them, is it? What I fail to understand is that the great power that Odin wields never seems to come into play when the fate of all the realms is in the balance. It always falls to Thor. For that matter, where are the other Avengers?
Christopher Eccleston is new here, and he shows up to be this movie's villain. He wears gobs of makeup and consequently can't really be said to act, as his character is pretty stoic through the movie, anyway. It's still nice to see him, as I've always kind of liked him as an actor, and I don't really know why.
Acting was pretty good
Effects were very good
Story was meh
Directing was decent enough
Cinematography was very good
2.0/5