Thor: Critic Reviews

Pulls off something I wouldn't have thought possible: It restores the innocence to big-budget superhero mythmaking.

A howling turkey is at least something to laugh at, and maybe even something to see. But "Thor" is an example of the programmed triumph of commercial calculation over imagination.

A moderately entertaining film on which an immoderately large amount of time and money has been expended.

This is entertaining stuff, a serviceable summer movie and Asgard to be a good thing.

Branagh has knocked his film together with a terrific, freewheeling gusto. It has its tongue in its cheek and the fun is infectious. For all of its faults, Thor's never a bore.

Though it may not leave a lasting impression once the lights go up, Thor is lighthearted and thunderously good fun.

The effects are effective. The humor is humorous and just self-referential enough to let you know the film doesn't take itself too seriously.

"Thor'' shows the Marvel movie formula - amp up the laughs, deploy stars smartly, protect the franchise at all costs - at its most obvious and efficient. It gives mediocre a good name.

No matter how the filmmakers move Heaven and Earth, this comic-book adaptation looks cool but contains very little thunder.

If this is a harbinger of the season to come, may heaven and its suburbs help us.

The visuals are breathtaking without it, all swirling cosmic nebulae and mythic cityscapes of the Norse-god capital Asgard.

Nothing against the buff, blond God of Thunder, but Thor just doesn't have a built-in wow factor among the nongeek brigade.

[Kenneth Branagh's] Shakespearean chops add texture in scenes that require the care and feeding of literature's grander themes: pride, paternity and honor.

[It's] confusing because it's been getting reasonably favorable word of mouth despite the fact that it's as thoroughly a mediocre superhero movie as you'd care to imagine.

A giant notch up is Hiddleston, who'd make a good Edmund in King Lear: You register the chip on his shoulder rather than the villainy.

There is pleasure to be plundered from some of the battle scenes, especially when Thor is confronting ice monsters with blood-red eyes, and from the culture clash that resounds when he descends to present-day Earth...

The story might perhaps be adequate for an animated film for children, with Thor, Odin and the others played by piglets. In the arena of movies about comic book superheroes, it is a desolate vastation.

The last 25 minutes of "Thor" aren't much better than the first. But that hour in between - tasty, funny, robustly acted - more than compensates.

This is eminently missable, though the mosaic design of Asgard, Thor's mythical realm, is pretty cool.

All the requisite ingredients are wedged in: romance, redemption, a giant invincible robot. But it seems no one was paying attention to overall quality control.

"Thor" bridges the gap between high culture and low, between fanboys and mass moviegoers.

Essentially, when the movie comes down to Earth it's pretty good. But when it spends time across the universe -- and it spends a lot of time across the universe -- it's pure geek fare. Which may thrill geeks but leave others yawning.

Branagh is out for fun, and he finds it, in large doses.

Thor delivers the goods so long as butt is being kicked and family conflict is playing out in celestial dimensions, but is less thrilling during the Norse warrior god's rather brief banishment on Earth.

The ripping outer-space fights are the main attraction, and they're mostly entertaining, though not in a way that will make you feel good about yourself.