Thor Review

"Whoever wields this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." - Odin

As interesting as all of the Norse mythology is, the comic book arc of Thor never stood out to me all that much when I was younger. Especially my first introduction to him: you see, I was bought a package of three videos that featured old cartoons from when my parents were kids. There was Spiderman (which I was largely into at that time), with the old animation and classic theme song. I dug that a lot. The other two cartoons were of Namor The Submariner and Thor, both of whom I was still very uninterested in after viewing. Spiderman was a teenager, not only that but an everyday teenager who suddenly takes on the role of superhero after he makes a tragic mistake. Even as a kid and with such a cheesy cartoon that resonated with me. The stories involving Thor and Namor weren't anything like that. Namor was a king and a bit of an antihero who didn't seem to get involved in heroic affairs unless it immediately affected his people. Thor was a God who only seemed to be hanging out on earth to either court a mortal girl, stop less friendly vacationing deities, or just to amuse himself. Not very relatable. After watching the new Marvel film, Thor, he is still not very relatable, but it was still a good movie and I like the way his character is portrayed here.

This is another in a long list of superheroes I was really convinced couldn't be done. I'm starting to see that in a world where Hollywood is a dominant entity and technology has gone into a realm of real life science fiction, anything is possible moviewise. I realize this because I was very taken with the trailers for Thor in which the character is actually shown to be an arrogant brute of a god, earth is thrown into the mix of a celestial family fued, and Anthony Hopkins plays Odin (I was 8 watching that old cartoon and I knew then it would be him). Natalie Portman is also in the film, so there's a lot more incentive right there. Kat Dennings, too. Even more shocking than my interest in a Thor film is the fact that it is one of the better superhero movies Marvel has spawned. It's in the same class as the first Spiderman and the Iron Man films.

Here's the story (and forgive me, I am not familiar with the comic source material, so I don't know if it is true to that or anything): A long time ago Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his Asgardian army defeated the warring Frost Giants and pretty much made a deal that he wouldn't kill them all if they would remain in their ice world. That peace is kept until Odin's son and heir to the throne, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), responds to a mysterious threat from the Giants by laying siege on their homeworld. This reignites the war between the Giants and the Asgardians. For this, Odin banishes the ferocious Thor to earth so that he will learn humility. Meanwhile, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the god of mischief and Thor's younger brother starts making his play for the throne whilst discovering some dark secrets about his father's past and his own. Thor meanwhile must deal with being mortal on earth and becoming involved in the research of a science team led by astrophysicist and resident beauty Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), as well as the subject of interest for recurring SHIELD Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). While all of this epic family drama is going on upstairs with Loki and his agenda, the real fun of course is watching Thor's fish out of water story play out. He is a God from a world vastly beyond ours, so he is a little perturbed yet slightly amused at how simplistic the mortal world is. It becomes apparent though that with the threat of the Frost Giants, and Loki's dark plans for Asgard and his family, Thor had best work out whatever issues his father had meant for him to work out so that he can redeem himself and save the day.

The mythological aspect is what I really enjoyed about this movie. The special effects used for Asgard, and anything mystical really, were pretty damn cool. Asgard looks like a lush, luxurious, and majestic place that sort of acts like protector of the wellbeing of all dimensions and realms existing. Also the cavalier, Shakespearian quality of the characters there is rather refreshing as opposed to our long line of sad and tragic characters. With those previously mentioned qualities, when something bad happens to these characters it is worse because they are people who are used to being joyous and on top of the world or universe or whevever the hell Asgard is. Plus, I sort of enjoy how family exists even in the most divine mediums. The relationships between Thor, Loki, and Odin are all very well done. They are all gods, but they are still father and sons.

There is also the special effects aspect to the film, which I honestly thought would be terrible. But no, the special effects were pretty cool. I mean, sure, it's obviously CGI, but its a superhero movie; you kind of have to roll with it. Asgard is made to be a sprawling, majestic centerpiece of order in the universe and it looks it in the film. They aren't up in the clouds, but are more at an important pinpoint in the universe. They also guard an interdimensional bridge, that seems to be made of rushing rainbows (trust me, its cool). The world of the Frost Giants, which I am not even gonna try to spell, actually looked more organic, despite being a dark and lifeless place. I think that actually might have been a set too, glossed over with CGI. The Giants themselves looked freaky and intimidating in a way that wasn't really unbelievable. I mean, when there were gonna be Frost Giants, I basically thought we'd get some goofy Abominable Snowman rejects. But these guys are not to be trifled with. There is a sort of guardian of the Asgardians called The Destroyer that comes into play later, that is badass. The best effect for me has to be when Thor travels through the portal/rainbow bridge; it's like light speed for a god.

The acting was also good. Chris Hemsworth plays very well as the god of thunder, Thor. He shows you every reason why to like him, why not to like him, and why he's redeemed in your eyes. Thor here is a confident and charismatic God, but he's a flawed one too. Like the best of Marvel superheroes, Thor has to lose sometimes and grow up as a result. Hemsworth as Thor is also funny as hell; when The Avengers movie comes out I don't doubt that he and Iron Man will get along. An actor I am not familiar with, Tom Hiddleston, is very convincing and even powerful as Loki, even though I thought the god of mischief would be a little more mischievious. Hiddleston shows Loki not as the gleeful deity of chaos but more of a black sheep in his family who wants acceptance. Anthony Hopkins as Odin is freaking awesome. Why? Because he is Anthony Hopkins...as Odin! He's playing the two things we always knew he played best: a man with absolute power, and a dad. Natalie Portman ain't winning any oscars here, but she did well all the same as Jane Foster, because Portman is awesome. I felt Stellen Skarsgard and Kat Dennings were underused as Portman's entourage of scientists, astrological or political, but they were still fun because they are fun actors. Clark Gregg is cool as Coulson, as he was in the last two Iron Man movies. Jeremy Renner shows up for a second as Hawkeye, because we needed to segue him into The Avengers movie somehow. Rene Russo is in the movie as Odin's wife and Thor and Loki's mother, and she doesn't do much. It's sad because Rene Russo is a great actress who I haven't seen in anything in awhile. Idris Elba, even though he could probably be doing better things, is a badass as Heimdell, the keeper of the portal/rainbow bridge thing. I usually am not a fan of sidekicks or buddies that come into play for the hero, but this is an exception. Thor pals around with four other warriors from Asgard, and they work because they feel not only like his best friends, but like his family. They are all badasses too, in case you were wondering. So, I was thorougly impressed with the acting as well.

There is no real magic as to why Thor worked so well for me. Well, actually, this movie was directed by Kenneth Branagh, a literal Shakespearian actor, writer, and director. The kind of extreme drama presented in some Shakespeare is a bit reminiscent to the divine opera presented in this film. So yes, I think the movie worked so well because of Branagh's direction and the actors' performances. It just seems like a bit more effort was put into this one as opposed to superhero movies that rely more heavily on the effects. Effects and acting seemed to be on an even keel in Thor, and that's good. I think most people will enjoy it. It's dramatic, it's action packed, it's funny, it's a fun movie.

This has been a superhero review from Your Modest Guru. It's been awhile. Thanks for reading.