R o b P r o j e c t . c o m

I just rented the movie Thor, from Redbox,  for my older kids.  Here are my thoughts in case you haven’t seen it yet.

First off, I’m not really impressed with mythological stories at all, so watching Natalie Portman portray a physics genius was pretty hard to stomach. Oh, and the movie wasn’t spectacular either.

Actually, to be fair, as movies go this one wasn’t too bad. Action packed, great special effects.  The story line wasn’t altogether boring, the acting wasn’t amateur and it was pretty family friendly (not for small kids obviously).  I’ve seen much worse. But in the end it wasn’t what I would consider an “A” movie either.

What movies make my “A” list?  I’ll make a quick list for you below.

** Spoiler Alert **
My biggest (non-theological) problem with the movie Thor was the rushed character development.  This is not usually a problem for me. I typically don’t expect a ton of relationship building in action movies. But this one was a little too lean in that respect, even for me.

The main characters, the doctor (Natalie Portman) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) had known each other for only a few hours by the end of the movie. But I felt like I was being expected to have the same overwhelmingly sad feelings as I would if they had been sweethearts from childhood or married for 50 years and then forced to separate at the end. It didn’t work for me.

I’m thinking, OK – here you have this super-human person… thing, who has seen many worlds, other dimensions,  horrible battles, millions of adoring fans on thousands of galaxies, treachery, victory, humiliation on a huge scale, about to become king of the universe, etc.  And then he falls to earth, has breakfast and a small “fight for your life” adventure with a cute human scientists and he’s a completely changed person. He’s now in love, and will spend the rest of eternity trying to return to her. I just don’t buy it.

Hey, I know… have him held captive in a super-max prison and let her visit him every day for 5 years for her “research”. Then maybe he escapes somehow and THEN they have to ultimately part ways forever.  That would be more like it. I might may be able to buy into that one. At least then I would feel like they have both invested something into the relationship. There might be a genuine sense of loss.

Bottom line. If you’re going to make a love story, make a love story.  If it’s a battle story, fine.  But if you’re going to try to combine the two… put a little more effort into the character development. This one was just too big of a leap, too fast. I feel like we’re getting married on the first date.

Side Note: Remember the Julie Andrews character, Maria, in Sound of Music.  Wasn’t it truly and genuinely sad when she left the family to go back to her convent after being rejected and replaced by another woman (the rich but obviously unworthy Baroness Schraeder)? Now that was great character development. You would have to be a dead stump in the desert not to cry at that.

We recently also saw the films “Gladiator” and “Cars” again. Both of these movies did an outstanding job mixing adventure with romance.  In my opinion, we need a whole lot more movies that are well thought out masterpieces, and a whole lot less movies that are underdeveloped, like Thor.

Overall… Thor… probably worth watching.  I’m just glad I didn’t pay $10 per person to see it.

There’s my $.02

My top 11 movie list (as of this moment), not in order of importance

End of the Spear – Every Tribe Entertainment
Groundhog Day – Bill Murray
What About Bob – Bill Murray
Brave Heart – Mel Gibson
Die Hard – Bruce Willis
Cars – Disney
Tangled – Disney
Saving Private Ryan – Tom Hanks
Back to the Future (of course)
Star Wars – Lucas Films
Indiana Jones – Harrison Ford
Sound Of Music – Julie Andrews

(There are obviously others. But that’s a topic for another time.)