Thor Review

Background: Before I get started, let me say that I've never really read Thor or had much interest in his character past The Avengers. I only started reading the book when J. Michael Straczynski started writing the book. I enjoyed his run and have been keeping up with the book ever since, slowly getting to know the characters of the franchise and having a bit more appreciation for them! So, going into this movie, I liked the character, but had no expectations of things I wanted to see or how characters should be represented. *Warning: Spoilers

The Good: I really liked the look of this film! It looks beautiful! The look and feel of Asgard and Earth are polar opposites. Asgard is elegantly designed. Things like the Rainbow Bridge look far cooler than they have any right to! The kingdom of the Gods looks amazing and I wanted to spend more time there than we were allowed! On the other hand, Earth (specifically a small town in New Mexico) feels smaller and quaint in comparison. That helps to emphasize what a sharp change this is for Thor and what he's use to.

As for the actors, they were all fantastic! I loved Chris Helmsworth as Thor! Despite some apprehensions about him being too small to play Thor, he made up for it with the presence and charisma! Tom Hiddleston's Loki is phenomenal! He damn near steals every scene he's in! He plays his manipulations so subtly at the beginning that its easy to see why the characters fall for his setups. The relationship between Thor & Loki is the foundation of this movie and it works remarkably well. Despite the anger and fighting, you can still see that brotherly love between them. Even at the end, Thor mourns for his brother. The more we can see these two characters & actors together, the better!

Concerning the other characters, Anthony Hopkins is superb as Odin. I really don't know how anyone else could have pulled it off as perfectly as him! The Warriors 3 and Lady Sif were also well played and I really wanted to see more of them. Hopefully, if a sequel is made, these four will get more screen time. On Earth, we have Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her two companions. They're well played, despite having much smaller and less exciting roles than some of the other characters. Thor's link to Earth and the root of his growth comes from Foster. Natalie plays the part very well and she has far more natural chemistry with Helmsworth than she did with Hayden in "Star Wars." Agent Coulson from the Iron Man movies returns here with a larger part than he's previously had. Its nice to see more of him considering this is his third film.

As for the story itself, I thought it was very well done! It did a very good job of introducing all these elements to a new viewer. I had no problem keeping up with everything they were discussing from Asgard, to Frost Giants to the Rainbow Bridge, etc. Thor goes through a great character arc of being a brash, arrogant prince to being a humbled, heroic warrior. It works well and never does Thor come off as unlikeable, even when he's mouthing off to Odin in the beginning. By the time he gets to Earth, we get a bit of comedy as Thor adjusts to life and new things. It plays very well and is some of the most entertaining bits in the movie. Thor's trek through the SHIELD compound is pretty impressive and the moment where he goes to pick up his hammer is pretty intense! Its well done and features a cool cameo from "Hawkeye" Clint Barton. Can't wait to see more of him in The Avengers!
 

Loki's ascension to the Throne is an interesting one. You can tell there are events that occur that he never expected, like Thor's banishment or Odin falling into the odin-sleep. He does his best to take advantage of the opportunities and his ambitions grow as his power does. When the Warriors Three arrive on Earth, closely followed by The Destroyer, I felt ready to see Thor get his power back. Its the one point in the film where the two worlds we've seen get combined. Asgardians battling on Earth. Its a cool fight and certainly seems more out of place than when we saw them in Asgard or on the Frost Giant planet. There's a really cool effect where The Destroyer completely turns around while standing still. When Thor finally revives and gets his full power back, it looks great. I was glad to see him in full gear again and more than ready to see him return home to kick some ass!

The final battle is a good one! Thor is in full glory and a much smarter fighter than he was at the beginning of the movie. Loki finally gets to cut loose and we can see that he stands pretty equal to Thor in a lot of ways. The duplicates were really cool and the destruction of the Rainbow bridge looked great! And still at the end, Thor's attempt to save Loki helped adds to show how much he still cares for his brother. 

We're left with almost a sad ending, but an optimistic one. Thor is cut off from Earth and Jane, seeming never to see her again. If we didn't know he was appearing in The Avengers, this would be far more tragic and be a fairly sad note for the movie's end. But, instead, I look forward to seeing how he returns and the reunion between him and Jane. 

Like all Marvel studio movies, there's a little scene at the end of the credits. I still can't believe how many people walked out of the theater without seeing it. Its a bit more detailed than the scenes we've seen after the credits of Iron Man 1 & 2. This one links us both to Captain America and the next year's Avengers movie! The introduction of the Cosmic Cube was awesome! And Loki watching & controlling Selvig was creepy and cool! Can not wait to see Loki vs. The Avengers!!

The Bad: I don't really have much to say on the bad! One thing I will say was disappointing was how they seemed to shy away from referring to Thor, Loki, Odin, and the others as Gods. The movie posters are happy to proclaim them "God of Thunder", "God of Mischief", etc. But, the movie barely notes it. We see Jane and her friends discuss how Vikings would see them as deities, but that's about it. Instead of having them try to explain how they weren't real gods, I'd rather have seen Thor proclaiming himself the God of Thunder in battle. Not a big gripe, but soemthing I did notice. 

I also wish they had used those great helmets more! We only see Thor wearing his helmet at the very beginning, and once he takes it off, we never see it again. What a shame! It looks so cool!! Loki wears his helmet a bit more, but still takes it off often. I thought they did a great job with the design and look of the helmets and wanted to see more of them!

 

Final Word: Marvel hit another homerun with Thor! It was fantastic and felt very different from any other super hero movie we've seen in recent years. With Iron Man being established as a modern technology character, Thor as a mythology fantasy character, and Captain America as a World War 2 soldier, it's going to be very interesting to see these characters interact next year in Avengers. But all that aside, Thor was just a fun movie. It was a good plot, had some great effects, and was carried by some brilliant actors. I will definitely be seeing this again before it leaves theaters. I've heard some grumblings that the 3D effects aren't that great. I saw the 2D version and was quite pleased.Check it out and enjoy the ride!