Thor

The superhero movie has been a staple of the big budget studio blockbuster for a decade now. They always make it one of their tent pole movies; and even if it gets bad reviews the studio always gets their money back, and then some. Since movies like ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Iron Man,’ the bar is now so high it may not be possible to just crank these movies out. Unless you are looking to only use this plot as a jumping off point to a huge ensemble undertaking next year that already have fanboys excited in their pants. Then maybe it’s acceptable, maybe.

Marvel's newest addition in preparation for next year's ‘Avengers’ epic is ‘Thor.’ One of the more boring heroes in the Marvel Universe, the Norse God, much like others who share his mythology, are defined by what they oversee. The God of Thunder is a warrior who wields a powerful hammer, and that is about it. But he has always been a part of the Avengers so why not give him his own movie.

The story breaks down into two different narratives, one while Thor is on Asgard and one while on Earth. While they do overlap, they also seem to be fairly different in tone, which may well be explained by the stable of writers that worked on the script. While on Asgard he is set to take the throne until his father Odin realizes his son is an arrogant shit and banishes him to Earth. While on Earth he tries to adapt to his new life. There is a lot more to it, stuff involving a hammer and his brother but I don't like giving away too much in these reviews. And frankly the story is kind of all over the place with the objective of the movie changing every 20 minutes or so realizing they need to do something else.

I saw this movie in 2D and am glad I did, as there is rarely an instance I feel the need to shill out more money for a pair of glasses. That is until they re-release ‘Apocalypse Now’ into theaters in 3D. The computer generated worlds were very impressive, I wonder if they looked better in 3D or if it lost some of the sharp contrasts in the conversion. Asgard seems like a wonderful place to live especially with Anthony Hopkins as your leader, I don't think I would have a problem living under his rule. While I may have a problem living under the rule of Stringer Bell, I don't think I would have as much of a problem as these people did. But the stand out deity in the film is Loki.

Loki has always been kind of a dick, both in Norse mythology and in the Marvel Universe. Tom Hiddleston does a great job making him a little more complex than that. One of the very few things I knew about the Thor series was that Loki was not only Thor's arch-nemesis, but his half-brother. Hiddleston does a wonderful job capturing Loki's evil ways but also conveying the love he has for his family. The jealousy he feels for his older brother is something that siblings everywhere can relate to making this villain one of the few I have ever felt sympathetic for, an impressive piece of acting.

Hiddleton may have had the upper hand landing this role as he was working at the West End Stage with his future director Kenneth Branagh. It was an interesting choice having a director typically associated with Shakespeare to take on a superhero movie, but maybe considering the source material it wasn't that far off. Branagh takes what he is comfortable with and applies it to his blockbuster; 'Henry V' is about a young prince who goes to war while courting a girl from a different country, sounds a lot like what I was watching the other day.

Branagh was also essential in snagging Natalie Portman who was quoted as saying "I was just like Kenneth Branagh doing 'Thor' is super-weird, I've gotta do it." She, much like Hopkins, didn't add too much to the story except for a name on the poster. Her role was fun, but all she was asked to do was to look sexy-smart and to give her hero the googley eyes. Mission accomplished.

The best part of the Earth portion of the story was Chris Hemsworth. The lead didn't have too much going for him in the opening part of the story. He had his hammer and that was about it. He does his best as a god trying to fit into a mortal world; it is there you see glimpses of charm and charisma which is why he landed the role. Oden was right to banish his son, it definitely made Thor a better person, or at the very least, more interesting.

As a standalone movie it really is nothing but fluff. This is fine for an early summer flick to get us ready for the other blockbusters. It also helps build the anticipation for 'The Avengers.' While some people are getting sick of all the hype already I am not one of them, I mean come on it’s being directed by Joss Weadon. Hopefully the other superheroes of the summer will have a little bit more to say than Thor did. C