Thor

**
Dir. Kenneth Branagh

Well, this has been a blockbuster summer, and I wanted to start my reviews by going back to the first big box office hit.

Director Kenneth Branagh (who Harry Potter fans know better as Gilderoy Lockheart) takes the god of thunder and one of the legendary Avengers to the big screen. Yet while there are good aspects of it, Marvel has done better work in the past.

The story is too formulated to really engage viewers, and the script contains some poorly written dialogue.  Destined to one day rule the kingdom of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is at the beginning a hot-headed heir and warrior, eagerly awaiting to strike down the vicious Frost Giants, and unheeding of his father's instruction. Upon launching an attack on his enemies without consent, the god of thunder is banished to Earth by Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and stripped of all his powers. The only way he can redeem the throne is by proving himself worthy of it; all the while his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is busy plotting his siege of the kingdom.

From a cinematic standpoint, it's decent but not anything great. Branagh is a solid visual storyteller, as demonstrated by his version of Hamlet; but this one relies too heavily on CGI to the point where viewers feel like they're in a video game. The action sequences are unoriginal and overtly digitized. While there are some really good shots overlooking Asgard, the Hollywood components of this film overshadow anything good about it.

What made other Marvel movies like Iron Man and Spider-Man some of the better comic book movies was their emphasis on classic mythology, and their ability to deliver a story with solid character development. Thor was made on the premise of bringing in big bucks to the box office, and fails at really evoking the imaginative spirits of audiences young and old.