Thor
I don't know how Taika Waititi came to direct Thor: Ragnarok, but if he took this first film as any inspiration, it's easy to see how he found the comic aspects the most alluring. Chris Hemsworth plays this foreigner in a new land type of role in such an earnest and fun way; I don't think I'd enjoy this film much at all with someone lesser suited to Thor. I remember seeing it in theater and being right with him when, by expressing his joy at tasting coffee in this New Mexican diner, he smashes the cup into the floor and demands, "Another!" Maybe I'm weird, but this goofy, at-times over the top way of playing this character, with the irony involved as us viewers know what is happening, but none of the humans onscreen do, is a riot to me.
And yet, I was questioning whether this was a good movie or not throughout. The opening fight sequence in Jotunheim is standard spectacle, not done for interesting motivation, rather by the numbers, and boring (in the bad way). There's the overuse (or use at all) of the Dutch angle, which is of course deployed any time we're seeing something that could upset the balance of power and general good intentions of most of the players in the film. The Loki angle. As if I needed a visual cue to alert me to the fact that a bad person is doing/about to do bad things. The music sounds just like music in a blockbuster. I know there are some distinct blockbuster scores done by some very talented musicians. I am particularly moved by John Williams' work on Jurassic Park, for one, but there are so many more examples. The music in Thor just seems generic, predictable in its moments of grandeur and its moments of innocence. I can hum to you the theme of Jurassic Park, but I just watched Thor and can remember no melody in that score. Mostly, I don't think Branagh has a ton of vision for this film. I know he didn't write it, but he directed some fairly sterile moments of melodrama, which I thought he'd be good at. Fortunately, Portman shines through just enough to make the thing work. And while Hemsworth is put in good situations to be funny, he also had a few fight sequences that just made me shrug. There's really no magic outside of the magnetic pull of the stars here. And that's, more or less, good enough for me.
Post-credit, of course, they try to draw you further into the universe. Thor will return with The Avengers! Saw the first two, count me out on going back to any. Too many egos for one screen, no matter how big.
Not really looking forward to Thor: The Dark World, but I want to complete the trio. If I can get a laugh and see Thor fly around with the hammer, the fan in me may well be satisfied. It will hit the mark of decent diversion.
BTW, I watched the first two Taika Waititi mockumentaries, Team Thor, and I laughed so much, so hard. Any chance Thor: Love and Thunder could go that route? I should say, dude is a terrible roommate, but what are you going to do? You live with Thor! Let Thor Thor!