Thor.
Thor stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, and it also has Frost Giants, Sif, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three. So there is a lot of characters in this film!
Thor is banished to Midgard (Earth) because he disobeyed Odin (his father) and must learn humility. After he learns it, he can go back – I hope that’s not a spoiler, as it’s pretty obvious! In any case, the opening of this film, directed by Kenneth Branagh, shows Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three attacking the Frost Giants (Asgard’s mortal enemies), and this part is easily the best in the movie. That entire 15 mins in the beginning is so awesome. If the entire movie was in Asgard, this would be 5 stars without question.
Of course Thor has to be banished, so we get almost an hour of him on Earth with no powers. He can still fight, cause he’s a big guy but he doesn’t have Mjolnir (his hammer), but what can you do. The cool thing is that no one can pick up the hammer, including Thor, unless they are worthy. So S.H.I.E.L.D. ends up building it’s base AROUND the hammer, but before that, we get a fun little Excalibur type montage of random people trying to lift it! At one point a trucker tries to yank it out with his truck (cameo by Stan the man Lee).
So Thor is banished and meets 3 people, Jane Foster (from the comics – but she is a scientist here) and 2 others. The annoying facebook girl, who only had 3 annoying lines, so actually wasn’t too bad, and the older man of the group, who knows about Norse Mythology and thinks Thor is a wack-job.
These parts are intertwined with Loki doing his thing on Asgard. So this hour is tolerable, since we get a lot of Asgard stuff with Loki.
So there is this hour where Thor is banished, and before you get all pissed off, let me assure you that in the comics Thor was also banished to Earth and while there he was trapped in the human form of Donald Blake, so at least in this movie he is still Thor (Hemsworth) and they have toned down his Shakespearian speak – a wise choice as they sort of over-used it in the comics, but he still says cool old English words, which I liked. And I have to say that Hemsworth was just great in this role. I mean I really believed he was the Marvel Universe Thor. Also, Loki was very accurate to the comics, and frankly was the best thing in this movie.
Loki was done so well in fact that I would have to say he is one of the top comic book character adaptations! His scheming and ultimate plan is so wicked, that you wont see it coming. You think you know what he is planning but you don’t! I am so happy that he is the villain in Avengers.
The action was great too! You could see it all, and the fights were pretty darn cool – although slightly short for me, but still awesome. The Destroyer Armor is SICK!!!!!!!!!! And Asgard itself is a wonder of fantasy and technology. I also love the portrayal of Bifrost – the Rainbow Bridget that connects the worlds. It’s a clear energy bridge that is guarded by Heimdall (who is in the top 3 best things about this movie!), and when you get transported you see a rainbow energy effect. A great way to visualize this, as I never got how Bifrost would actually physically work.
So bottom line, this movie is wicked. I have collected Thor comics for a long time, and I have also read a lot of Norse Mythology (I always wear Thor’s Mjolnir symbol around my neck) and Kenneth Branagh has really brought this to life with great results.
You see Kenneth is a FILM MAKER and story teller. He researches the character and comes up with wicked stuff, like using the Warriors Three – they were great! And he totally nailed Thor and Loki, plus he made the mortal stuff cool too! BTW – I loved the Donald Blake reference – WHICH NO ONE in the theatre got, but whatever, people just don’t know older comics.
When you do a comic book movie, you better get a good film maker, Donner, Branagh, or get a fan, Raimi, don’t get Bryan Singer who made one good movie that was a drama and had a trick ending (without which would have produced an average movie). Lets get some talent working on these films.
Oh, I feel I should mention my only problem with this movie – it’s a major one to me, Thor only wears his helmet for ONE MINUTE in the beginning. Loki wears his horns a lot and every time he fights he has them. I would expect Thor to wear his battle helmet! I mean Hemsworth actually looked cool in the helmet, which makes it baffling as to why he didn’t just always wear it when fighting. And you could see his face and stuff, not like Iron Man and Spiderman (who sometimes thing they look better without their masks) Whatever, it’s a major thing for me, since it’s part of who Thor is!
There is also a cameo and stuff in the end credits, so don’t check out early on this one. And the cameo which is so stupid I wont even mention it, if you know nothing about comics you wont get it anyway, so forget about it.
In any case, this is a must must see and own, and oh yeah don’t you DARE SEE THIS IN 3D.
It was the worst 3D I ever saw in my life, and I am ashamed I paid for it. In fact, this movie has now made me realize that the ONLY tolerable 3D is IMAX 3D.
Otherwise I will not see anything else in 3D.
4.5/5 (I reserve the right to make this 5/5 after I get over the helmet thing)
J-Man.
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