Thor Review

The summer movie season opened at midnight on May 6th with the release of Marvel's newest movie, Thor. Personally, I was expecting it to be somewhat lackluster in comparison to Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk and none of the trailers have given me any reason to believe that it would be as good as the upcoming Captain America either. However, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and quite satisfied by the God of Thunder's big screen debut.

Chris Hemsworth plays the title character and does a good job of bringing personality to the role. Usually when I think of Thor, I think of him at his most powerful and most noble. I tend to forget that he's only on Earth because he was arrogant and immature. This being an origin story, the audience is treated with an extremely powerful God who doesn't hesitate to show just how strong he is. Thor's love interest, Jane Foster, is played by Natalie Portman. I don't know how she filmed all of these movies we've seen her in lately but I'm not complaining. Jane is a young physicist with radical ideas about space, specifically wormholes. For a while her and her friends (Kat Dennings & Stellan Skarsgard) seem like they're going to be annoying in that 'all the human characters in Transformers' sort of way but they're handled well. Dennings is used for comic relief while Skarsgard serves to advance the plot in some places. The performances are solid all around but I have to give special applause to Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki. Loki's mischief grows throughout the movie as he becomes a more and more formidable opponent for his brother.

The story here isn't exactly what happens in the comics. Thor knows exactly who he is when he awakens on Earth and he has no plans of living a double life as a doctor. He struts around on Earth attempting to restore his powers to return home but the likes of Shield and Loki inhibit his success. Marvel's film studios know exactly what they're doing though and the story is in tact enough that fans should be satisfied. They even go ahead and tie in the finding of Mjolnir with the after-credits scene in Iron Man 2. One point of the film that I wasn't too keen on was the relationship of Jane's research to the magic of Asgard. It's tight enough to work in a comic setting but it isn't explained well enough for me to actually care in the movie. It felt like a waste. Because it's so undeveloped, it doesn't take up much of the movie, which is good. At only 114 minutes, Thor goes by fast. It never drags even when the story is being pulled along by minor characters like Thor's Asgardian allies. Some critics have called the plot unoriginal. It is simple, but they were limited to sticking close to a 1962 comic book series and I commend them for their achievement.

What Thor does best is make a story about gods, war, and science something relatable and accessible. Asgard and the Bifrost (Rainbow Bridge) and handled to well to be confusing. On a side note, Asgard is rendered beautifully. As a matter of fact, the entire fantasy world manages to be appropriate while remaining fantastic. SHIELD serves a large purpose without making this a SHIELD movie. We do, however, get a peak at Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in one scene. I also have to commend Branagh for having the final fight occur with real "human" characters and not robots or monsters like we've seen in other Marvel movies. Gods are brought down to our level and it makes combat that much more satisfying without having to be as physically brutal.

There's not much more I can say about Thor. If you're looking for it to disappoint you, prepare to be wrong in the best way possible. I'm rating it 2 New Dews, back by popular demand. Think of it as two thumbs up. Way up. Chyeah!