The superhero genre has shot to the forefront of modern day cinema over the past decade and this year certainly isn’t going to put a stop to that trend.
In 2011 there will be Thor, Captain America, X-Men: First Class and The Green Lantern. Thor was released first, outside of the summer blockbuster period, which was strange as it had the look and feel of a summer hit. The CGI, the action, the thumping music, Anthony Hopkins; what more could it need?
Well what it did lack was a headline actor, so an early release was given to it so as not to step on Captain America’s toes. Was it any good? Well it was actually, given that it looks incredibly tacky and over-dramatic from first-glance. Actor Chris Hemsworth of Home and Away plays Thor, yes of Home and Away you didn’t read that wrong.
To be fair to him he does a really good job of it, in fact he does very little wrong at all. He may look a little out of place during the Avengers movie stood with Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans, but still, his performance here means he deserves to be rubbing their shoulders with his.
Natalie Portman is also in this movie as the inevitable love interest. She doesn’t do anything wrong, but you do get the feeling this is the easiest movie she’s ever worked on. Nothing is difficult for her here and she relatively goes through the motions and that’s all. It seems not even Portman can turn down a role in a superhero flick. Anthony Hopkins plays Thor’s father, a kind of Zeus-esque character who is all powerful, very wise and knows what he’s doing at all times even when he clearly doesn’t. None of the actors here are poor at all.
This movie is a little new for Marvel movies in that, well, Thor is a God. No really, a full-on God, not even demi-God! This must, by all accounts, make him the most powerful superhero of the lot? I’m a little unsure because as it appears Thor can die which confuses the hell out of me. Where does a God go when he dies? The VIP section of heaven? Robot heaven from Transformers 2? Jupiter? And what if they've been evil? Do they go to Earth? or straight to hell? i must know!
Anyway, no matter, the film is about Thor: the God of Thunder, and his brother Loki: the God of mischief, who are both growing up towards being King of…the Gods I guess. They live in a land called Asgard and they must defend it against the ice people (I‘m sure they have a name but I‘ll be darned if I can remember it). As it so happens the ice people have been defeated in battle and have lost their source of power to Asgard, leaving them powerless to mount any attack.
At the beginning we see Thor as an arrogant God who thinks he can smash and pummel his way to victory. He is about to be crowned King when all of a sudden some ice people invade but are easily thwarted. Obviously Thor believes they should all go and hit the ice people head-on, killing them all with no mercy. His father tells him he cannot do that and Thor gets all angry and bands together his merry men and they go to Iceland to destroy them.
Only they don’t, and in starting a fight with them down the frozen foods isle, they’ve started a full-blown war. Hopkins is not happy and banishes Thor to Earth and taking away his trusty hammer, saying only the worthy may wield it. Corny I know.
The time Thor spends on Earth is actually quite fun. Obviously he sees things as new and we do see some genuinely hilarious moments like the part where he asks a pet-store owner for a dog big enough to ride. Many a fun moment is had as Thor attempts to adapt to his new surroundings.
SHIELD are on Earth too, remember them? The guys from all the other ‘Avenger’ build-up movies. They find Thor’s hammer and attempt to take it, but they cannot as it‘s just wedged into the rock far too much. Thor being Thor decides to go and get it back, breaking into the compound, beating the crap out of anyone in his path and grabbing the hammer. But Thor isn’t a God any longer and of course he isn’t worthy so he cant lift his precious hammer either.
Now I should mention that in this scene we get a brief showing of Hawkeye. At the time I didn’t know this, you just see Jeremy Renner take a crossbow and wait for the command that never comes to shoot Thor. I thought he was just a randomer and he was using a crossbow for the stealth, and at the time I was thinking what a waste of Jeremy Renner’s talent that was; but I’m guessing he’ll be back in some other movie yet to come.
Anyway, while Thor is larking about on Earth, things turn sinister up in the Gods. In one of the most unsurprising twists ever seen, it turns out Loki is a villain. This really isn’t a spoiler, you will figure this out in the first ten minutes of the movie. It really is so obvious he’s the villain, he’s the second in line to the throne for crying out loud! He might as well of had a red lightsaber.
Guess who’s the only person who can stop Loki? Yep, it’s Thor, and what’s he up to? Well not very much at this point until his band of mates from earlier come down to Earth to bring him back to stop his evil brother. Thor explains the obvious in that he isn’t a God any longer and while this is all happening an enraged Loki decides to send a giant robot down to Earth to kill the estranged God of Thunder.
Said giant robot brings a reign of terror to the small town, destroying anything and everything on its way to its intended target. Thor isn’t a God and has no chance against it, so his friends attempt to subdue it. They fail and it looks like the end for Thor and the town. At this point Thor makes the boldly unselfish move and negotiates with the robot to kill him and spare the town. It kills him.
Enter the corniest moment of the movie. Thor comes back to life because he is now seen as worthy! His hammer flies from the earth to his hand and the God of Thunder is back! The robot doesn’t last long.
The main thing I didn’t like much in this movie was the way Thor goes from being a ruthless, arrogant, bigot - to being a wise, caring and compassionate individual in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t seem to make sense how he can change so much, quite literally from one extreme to the other.
But that being said, I think Thor is actually a very good movie considering I expected little from it. I wasn’t too sure about him as a character as he’s literally a God, but after seeing this I’m actually quite glad he’s part of the Avengers. I’m looking forward to the banter between him and Tony Stark for example.
Considering Thor is seen as one of the peripheral members of the Avengers, this movie stands alone quite well. I’m going to give it three stars, but it’s a high three. It just misses out on four because in the end it isn’t anything jaw-dropping and enchanting, but it is a genuinely funny film, a rarity for Marvel movies, and it has character about it if you can see past the tackiness of the setting.
Final verdict: 3 Stars. A fun, if predictable jaunt that provides Marvel with a foothold towards greater things.
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