Thor (2011)

Kenneth Branagh had to have known that the the film adaptation of the Marvel Comics character "Thor" would be right up his alley as a director.  With a heavy background of Shakespeare (and Shakespeareanesque-like) acting and filmmaking credits on his resume, he was already used to telling highly dramatic stories featuring people in ridiculous costumes and, most importantly, making them work.  "Thor" works.

In case you didn't know, Marvel Studios has been attempting to blend all of their characters into one movie universe.  The big screen version of "The Avengers" (coming summer 2012, written and directed by Joss Whedon, and featuring Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk and Captain America all together) is their first major attempt at this.  "Thor" is step #4 to "The Avengers".  Here are the previous (and future) steps . . .


Iron Man (2008)

One of the best Marvel films to date, it revived the career of Robert Downey Jr and is just a hell of a lot of fun.  Ably directed by Jon Favreau, and perfectly cast all around, this story of a man seeking his redemption via a highly weaponized metal suit starts the new Marvel wave off with a bang.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr return in this fine sequel.  Not quite as good as the first one, primarily because it spends so much time setting the stage for the "expanded universe" that the core of the story gets a little short-shrifted, but nearly as much fun.  Plus, Sam Rockwell, um, rocks.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I like to watch this one third.  Why?  Because the events of this movie take place simultaneously with the storyline of "Iron Man 2", with a final scene that acts as a coda to the "Iron Man" duelogy.  A reboot of the 2003 Ang Lee film (a highly flawed but weirdly interesting take on the character, simply titled "Hulk"), this is a decent movie.  Directed by Louis Leterrier, it has more action, is more like the TV show from the 70's/80's, has Edward Norton as the main character (to be replaced in "The Avengers" by Mark Ruffalo - good move!), and includes plenty of "expanded universe" details.

Thor (2011)

Finally, I get around to reviewing this movie!  As good as "Iron Man", but with a different flavor.  Kenneth Branagh was a great choice for director, and it's safe to say Chris Hemsworth is now a major star.  And it's step #4 of 5.  Psyche!

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Coming in July, this is the final step before the Big Show.  Looks pretty good!

Enough with the trailers already!

So it turns out that the gods of Norse mythology were actually aliens that stopped by to say 'hi' to humanity, then ran back to their realm, the world of Asgard (pronounced Azzguard, not Assguard).  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are the sons of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king of Asgard.  When their enemies, the Frost Giants of Jotenheim, break into the super secret vault of Asgard to steal a powerful relic, Thor disobeys his dad's orders and leads a daring counterattack against the Frost Giants on their home turf.  Odin is so pissed off at his son's arrogance that he banishes both Thor and the mighty hammer of asskickery, Mjolnir, to the puny realm of Earth, where he falls into the hands of super smart Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her scientist buddies.  It turns out that brother Loki has a deep dark secret, and is trying to please his father and earn his place as heir apparent by any means necessary, including the banishing of bro and endangering the people of Earth.  Now Thor must learn to coexist with us puny mortals, while setting off on the path to redemption, hopefully earning the right to wield Mjolnir once again. . .

This could have been such a colossal train wreck in the wrong hands.  Merging the magical world of "Thor" with the more realistic sci-fi flavored worlds of the other Marvel characters was a stiff challenge, but by making the magical shenanigans "a more advanced kind of science that only appears as magic to mortal eyes" wisely brings it all together.  The costumes are still silly looking, but, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, a Shakesperienced director like Kenneth Branagh manages to make it all work by focusing on the acting and the character dynamics, charging them up with dramatic fury and stellar performances.  Distracting us, in a good way.

But it would all be for naught if the actor who played "Thor" was a dud.  Chris Hemsworth is not a dud.  He brings his "A" game to the movie, going from brazen braggart, to ass-kicking God of Thunder, to charming romantic, to defeated wreck, to silly bumbler, to noble leader.  I think Mr. Hemsworth has the aptitude to work within any movie genre.  He's come a long way from playing Captain Kirk's dad in the opening scene of "Star Trek" (2009).  He's a star.  Then there's this Tom Hiddleston guy, as Loki.  Where did this dude come from?  Loki is the classic trickster, a villain who's only acting villainous because he thinks he's right.  And he's fun to watch.  It was imperative that they cast someone talented in this role, because Loki is also the main villain in "The Avengers".  Thankfully, the pooch remains unscrewed.

And Natalie Portman.  After finally proving herself to be major star material, she takes the part of Jane, which appears to be nothing more than a variation of the typical "Girlfriend" role, and you know what?  It's still pretty much the "Girlfriend" role.  That doesn't stop her, though.  She still manages to steal the show quite a few times, despite being a puny (but cute) mortal.  And the supporting cast is littered with great character actors, some of whom have appeared before (like Agent Coulson), some of whom are exclusive to "Thor" (like Lady Sif and the Warriors Three - all great!), and some who we'll be seeing more of in the near future (Hawkeye, Stellan Skarsgard as Dr. Selvig).  Some fans seem to be pissed that the character of Heimdall (gatekeeper of the Bifrost, a.k.a. the, um,  "Rainbow Bridge") is played by a black actor named Idris Elba. 

"What?  There were no black people in Norse mythology!  Rabble, rabble, rabble!!"

They're freakin' aliens, people.  Get over it.

Thankfully, "Thor" follows the pattern of "Iron Man" more than it does "Iron Man 2".  That is, it concentrates more on telling a self-contained story rather than setting up sequels and follow-ups.  Make no mistake, however, there are still plenty of tie-ins with the other Marvel characters.  And, like the "Iron Man" movies, there is a special bonus scene which appears after the end credits, setting up "The Avengers" in a direct fashion.  Neat.

Speaking of the ending, the actual ending of "Thor" kind of surprised me.  It didn't finish off where I expected it to.  That's all I will say about that.

Now for the Cons.  The special effects are mostly great, but get a little dodgy here and there.  And Kenneth Branagh is not a great director of action sequences.  I suspect that, just like Jon Favreau did for the "Iron Man" movies, he let the more experienced people in the CGI department work out the action scenes for him.  But effects people aren't necessarily good storytellers, and the action always needs to further the story in a very concise and propellant way, not merely be a "show reel" for the special effects company (ahem, Transformers, ahem).  Nevertheless, there are still a couple of "hell yeah" action moments in the film.

The musical score is also quite unmemorable.  Not bad, just there.  You will not be humming a "Thor Theme" when walking out of the theater.  There is a great song by the Foo Fighters over the end credits, though.  That sort of makes up for the lack of score.

Can't forget the the 3-D!  "Thor" was not shot in 3-D, it was converted after the fact.  Usually this results in crappy 3-D, but they did a decent quality job here.  I just felt that the 3-D was unneeded.  It did nothing to enhance the overall experience.  Eh.

"Thor" Fun Facts:  J. Michael Straczynski worked primarily on the script for "Thor".  He was the guy who created and wrote the T.V. series "Babylon 5", a show I'm rather fond of.  Look for his cameo appearance in the same scene as legendary Marvel maven Stan Lee.  And the aforementioned Joss Whedon, writer and director of "The Avengers", also did uncredited script polishes on this, "Iron Man 2", and "Captain America: The First Avenger" in an effort to make all these movies feel sort of alike.  Whedon fans can have fun trying to pick out the lines of dialogue he wrote (hint: the funniest moments in theses movies are most likely his).  In case you don't know, he created and wrote T.V. shows like "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Firefly", and "Dollhouse".  He also made the movie "Serenity", won an Oscar for "Toy Story", wrote countless Marvel comics over the years, and did script polishes on everything from "Speed" to "Twister" to "X-Men".

In the end, "Thor" is great.  So far, the summer movie season of 2011 is off to a great start, with both this movie and "Fast Five" entertaining the masses (and me) with mucho aplomb.  I would pay hard earned cash to see both of these movies again in theaters.