Ah, another good film put out by marvel comics.
Good. Not great, but very, very, good.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the nose thunder-god (or at least the Marvel version of it). He gets tossed out of Asgard- the realm eternal- by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) after leading a failed invasion of sorts into the land of the frost giants. He is banished because Odin believes him to be lacking in wisdom and humility, and so he is cast out and sent to Earth, devoid of powers, in order to learn some life lessons. Thor’s trademark hammer, Mjolnir, is sent to earth as well. It contains an incantation so that only the worthy may weild it.
While Thor is exhiled, his father goes into Odin-sleep, and the trickster Loki assumes the throne. War with the frost giants seems imminent. Meanwhile, on Earth, Thor is trying to cope with the contemporary world. He gets tazered, hit by a car (twice) drugged by hospital staff, before eventually taken out for a nice breakfast by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her small band of friends. He learns that his hammer is nearby, but unfortunately is unable to lift it because he isn’t quite worthy enough yet.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. crew appears and stirs up some trouble by confiscating all of Jane Foster’s scientific research. They also put up a cordon around Thor’s hammer, which leads to a good confrontation scene where we get to watch Thor tear through an entire site of government agents.
Loki eventually sends ‘The Destroyer’- a giant killing machine- after Thor, and afterward a battle over the throne of Asgard ensues.
First, I have to say, the casting of this movie was perfect. Chris Hemsworth was perfect as Thor. He was just the right balance of muscle, charm, and acting ability. Tom Hiddleston played Loki flawlessly, showing the true affection he had for his brother, as well as the trickster that we’ve all come to know. He wasn’t evil for evil’s sake. He was a well rounded villian, and that’s important for any film. Anthony Hopkins was awesome as Odin (was there really any doubt?) but the real genius came in casting the Warriors Three. Fandrall, Volstagg, and Hogun the Grim were played by Josh Dallas, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano (try saying that three times fast) respectively. These were relatively minor roles in the film, purely supporting cast, but those characters are prevalent in the comics and are beloved by Thor comics fans everywhere. The folks who made this movie knew that, and they kept the characters true to form. Exceptionally well done.
The visual effects in this film were a little ‘iffy’ for me. Asgard is almost completely CGI’d, which is expected, but it almost gets to the point of CGI overload at certain points. It’s beautiful, and keeps to the comics, but it looks fake- even when it’s a real set, and that really hurts the suspension of disbelief as we’re moving through this ‘realm eternal’. Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, was a bit lack-luster and didn’t convey the power that it held in the comics. It looked lightweight and plastic, even when it was thumping frost giants or totalling Stan Lee’s truck.
The fight scenes were a little more boring than they should have been. There were points in the film that you could tell were supposed to be thrilling and suspensful, but weren’t. Why? Because Thor is an immortal thunder-god, that’s why. If you want to put him in danger it has to be from a credible threat. Early in the film we watch Thor take down an enormous frost giant by flying through it’s mouth and out the back of it’s head like some sort of flying human bullet. Very cool. But that sort of takes the zing out of things when he gets attacked later. I mean, who’s going to beat him really?
The deul between the mortal Thor and The Destroyer falls flat. Instead of obliterating his fragile mortal form with the giant beam of death that it’s been shooting at everything else, it simply backhands the thunder-god. He lays there in the dirt bleeding, Jane Foster cries as though there is actually an ioda of a chance that he’s really dead (which of course there isnt). Suddenly Mjolnir breaks loose and comes flying through the air, meets with Thor and replenishes his awesome powers. Two seconds later The Destroyer is dispatched and Thor is on his way home.
Very predictable fight scene with zero suspense, and two cop-outs within 15 mins.
Overall this was a very, very good film. As a fan of the comics I was pleased with the cast and the way the characters were portrayed, and the attention to detail that went into the costumes. I really think this film should have been longer. There was a lot of storyline jammed into a very short time slot, and as a result we got rushed battle sequences, minimal screen time for characters such as the Warriors Three, and little time to really dig in deep to Loki and figure out what makes him tick. Also there was a suprising lack of other characters from the comics, such as The Enchantress, Balder the Brave, Fenir, and the rock trolls.
There’s a lot to nitpick from a comic fan perspective, but as a film I think it does it’s job of simply being entertaining to watch. I wouldn’t have any problem dropping five bucks to rent it.