MOVIE GUIDE: THOR

I’ve been heavily anticipating Thor since I heard it was coming out. I replayed the trailer dozens of times since it released at ComiCon last year. And after a year of waiting, I’m happy to say that I was rather pleased with Thor. There were several things that I really liked with Thor and a few minor things that I personally thought would have made a slight difference.

One thing I thought Marvel could have done better was give more of a back story on Thor. With him being an entirely new character and from another dimension, I thought it would have been nice to delve into his life a tad bit more. Even without it though, Kenneth Branagh (the director) did a good job explaining who Thor is. After I read the synopsis on Thor, and I read he was going to be selfish, I was apprehensive because Tony Stark (Ironman) already lays claim to being arrogant, selfish, among many other things. In the movie, Thor is banished from Asgard for being selfish and uncontrollable. Towards the end of the movie he suddenly becomes humble and doesn’t only think about himself. In my opinion, I don’t think I seen anything in the middle of the movie that taught Thor how to gain these traits. He was never shown how to think of other people. He was never given any lessons on humility. Nonetheless, I liked it. Another facet of the movie I didn’t care too much for was the ever present S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. They seemed to be the stereotypical government bitches that steps in when someone else discovered something before them. Another problem I had with S.H.I.E.L.D. is that they’re portrayed to be some super secret agency yet when Thor gets captured, he literally treated these agents like low level mall cops. I mean, if you’re a super agency, shouldn’t you at least get a hit or two in, even if you’re fighting a superhero. Ah well.

One aspect of Thor I was really delighted with was the depiction of Asgard. In most movies, when it comes to creating another world, Hollywood has more misses than hits. In Thor, they definitely had a hit. Asgard was grand and regal, yet isolated and tranquil. It was a great opposite to small town New Mexico when everyone was on earth.

I really liked the actors that were cast. I don’t really like to have big named actors because I think I see them more than I see the character they’re portraying, i.e. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. In the movie, there’s a shot of Chris Hemsworth (Thor) without his shirt on and I was amazed at that guy’s body; this dude was stacked. Natalie Portman to me always had that girl next door look so I thought she was great. The one person I would have liked to see more of was Idris Elba’s character, Heimdall. I think he was literally the biggest character, even bigger than Thor. Hopefully he’ll be brought back in later installments.

The fight sequences didn’t disappoint one bit. A lot of movies are leaning towards the short movements a la Jason Bourne. Thor on the other hand gave you what you’d expect from a God of thunder; huge heavy handed strikes that would level any mortal if hit. The weapons that were used by Thor’s mercenaries were also nice. Each of them featured the typical Viking style weapons but used them in new manner.

Other than a few changes to the storyline, I really enjoyed what Thor had to offer. There was a lot of action and adventure. We seen the 3D version which I don’t think would be that different from the 2D version but it was entertaining. It’s a movie I’d highly recommend especially if you’re looking forward to the Avengers coming out next year. And again, as Marvel does, the ending of the movie does contain a bit of a surprise to those who’d follow. I think it’s worth it as it pertains to the story line of Captain America.