What is it about the new Thor movie that I love? I mean, as a movie, I would put it on a par with the first Iron Man… or the third spider man… or even the second fantastic four…. yet… somehow… i got more excited about this movie than all of them.
Ok, let’s cover the bases. first, thor is done well from a special effects standpoint. the cinematography, action, and images are all good. clean. high quality…. and relatively pleasing to look at. Asgard is beautiful and kudos to the people involved in making the scenes depicted in the outworlds. Second, from an acting standpoint, all those involved did a decent job. Chris Hemsworth nailed the role of a king to be / god / cocky bastard / naive / well intentioned / drunk / brute who loves fighting but with a heart of gold. The other guy… ugh forgot his name… that played Loki… did an amazing job as the second fiddle child everyone neglects who grows up to be the rationale / smart/ logical / NON fighter of the family… let’s remember this comes from viking lore… where the one that uses fists least is the one cast aside…. Third… the story was done decent enough. it fit.
The only real complain was that i wished there was MORE thor and special effects. more fighting. more action. honestly, i think this is due to budget constraints. throughout the movie you see scenes of Asgard and think “there goes another million $”…. so that would explain why the total time where Thor’s swinging his hammer and smashing enemies doesn’t amount to more than 10 min. Whereas the Iron Man 2 movie had almost 30 min of iron man screen time. (or so it felt… i haven’t bothered to calculate… or google it…. ) but… again.. it’s a small complaint and the narration and progresison of the story made up for this shortcoming in spades….
but why would i actually say Thor is a GREAT experience?
a few.
1) Watch Chris Hemsworth take off his shirt. yeah. A woman in the theater i was in screamed “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?!?!” I could HEAR women in the theater getting wet just watching him on screen. Why is this a big deal for me? I have LONG hated this recent trend of popularizing little angst, thin, scrawny, goth wannabe feminine pansies. It’s good to see a character on screen that takes presence with a solid jaw line, broad shoulders, a MAN’s chest… six pack.. .and hands that could cup a woman’s buttocks in one callous hardened palm… that’s a man. let’s keep the manly men sexy men coming superhero companies ! (Yeah, i’m looking at YOU Marvel and DC comics!) HULK SMASH… but Thor drops panties….
2) they did a PHENOMENAL job catering to the kids (no blood, yet there’s so much fun stuff.. monsters… fighting… action… slapstick comedy… colors… BRIGHT colors )….. yet developing a story that can really suck adults in. The dynamic between Thor, Loki, and Odin is phenomenal. You really get a feeling of the strife this family has had to deal with and the complexities they … even as gods… encounter….
3) Marvel Studios really set this movie up to be ready for the avengers. the iron man movies had these cameos and segways into the “avengers” initiative which will see the heros from the marvel house unite… but this movie… you actually could FEEL that the avengers are coming. Iron man had insignificant touches here and there (like using Captain America’s shield to prop an atom blaster tube)…. but Thor actually culminated with Hawkeye and direct actons that DEMANDED global recognition… beyond just one hero….You almost expected iron man to jump out at any moment… Let’s hope the Captain America movie keeps up the locomotion (even though it plays for a big part in world war 2 era)….point is the product got me excited to see more….
4) Marvel has a GREAT marketing engine that DC does not share. Marvel heros all have gizmos, costumes, gadgets that can be marketed and sold to kids. thor’s Hammer.. mjolnir… is a key example. What does DC have? batarangs? yeah… little black shiny ninja stars that can cut? let’s see parents buy those. No,…. the marvel house needs these accessories to branch and bring in the big $$$… which turns into revenue in which to pay artists and writers … for better stories… which, hopefully will turn into more good movies!
as a movie? thor’s a 3 / 5
as an experience? 4.5 / 5. yeah. it’s worth it.
