Thor 2011 Movie Review

Thor (2011) Movie Review

The Short:
It's really, really good. 3 to 3.5 out of 5 Mjolnirs.
Good acting, has a "godly" epic feel to it and a good introduction to Thor for those not in the know. It's not square with either the "regular" Marvel books nor the "Ultimate" line (Thank God for that) and there are nitpicks but only for the more hardcore fans.


The Long: (Our usual SPOILERS tag goes here. Don't read unless you want the movie spoiled for you.)
Don't worry, this won't be as long as my review of "Star Trek" from 2009.
Story of Thor, former Norse god of thunder turned super hero. Thor is a headstrong young godling who is about to become king of Asgard (home of the Norse gods). Somebody (it's REALLY not hard to figure out who) helps some Frost Giants sneak in and almost steal a treasure (The Casket of Winters for those that might know what it is). The giants get stopped, Thor gets angry because Odin (his father) won't attack the giants back. Thor and friends invade, actually do quite a bit of damage before being hauled out by Odin. Because Thor won't give it up and has broken a peace treaty, Odin sends him to Earth (aka "Midgard") without his powers and magic hammer. Thor is rightly played as an arrogant jerk @$$ who just wants to eat, drink and bust heads. He's arrogant, short of temper and ready for a fight. So he arrives on Earth and learns some lessons. Odin falls into the Odin Sleep (which rejuvenates his power, something I don't think was ever mentioned in the movie) and Loki learns he's not Odin's actual son and assumes the throne. Thor's friends eventually come to Earth to bring him back and Loki sends the Destroyer (big metal Iron man looking thing) to kill Thor. Eventually, Thor gets his powers back, defeats the Destroyer, makes it back to Asgard, defeats Loki, wakes big daddy Odin up and saves the day (like you didn't see that one coming LOL)
We have some really good acting here. I was very much afraid and disappointed with the role of Odin was taken from Brian Blessed and given Anthony Hopkins. (what? upset when given to an Oscar winner from somebody you've never heard of?) Blessed was one of two actors I mentally cast as Odin (ironically, my other choice Stellan Skarsgard, is also in the movie as Jayne Foster's mentor). Hopkins however, actually does some acting here, gets a padded suit and some inserts. And damned if he doesn't pull it off. Hemworth (who played Captain Kirk's father in the 09 Trek movie and my choice to actually play Kirk in that movie) does a fine job of Thor, even without his Asgardian-speak. He goes from arrogant boy to sad teenager to wiser but slightly sadder man all in about 2 hours. Natalie Portman is fine as Jane Foster, who is now a theoretical physicist (and finally looks like a grown woman rather than a 12 year old). Loki actually underplayed by Tom Hiddleson for the most part. As the movie progresses, we see more yelling and carrying on like we would expect from a whiny little girl like Loki but he never does the total "over the top" bit.
Asgard looked much better than I thought it would. The Rainbow Bridge actually looks like one, even with the weird "observatory" thing at the end of it. We get to see some great things in short bits, Gungnir, Slepnir, something from the post credit scene that should make Marvel comics fans happy. Gee, I wonder who that guy who grabs a bow and answers to "Barton" is...??? Hmmm.... We get some set up for the coming Avengers movie which thankfully doesn't adversely affect this movie. Two great cameos (Stan Lee & Walt Simonson YEAH Simonson! They got that one right) and one.. well see below. It's actually pretty family friendly for the most part. All those swords, daggers and hammers flying around and I don't recall that much blood flowing from the wounds (though some on the people who were fighting). Oh, and the guy playing Laufey (king of the frost giants) does really good also, very creepy. Mean but understandable, I thought. And we get pronunciations of lots of Norse things that are rather hard to pronounce (I'll still continue to pronounce Mjolnir as Moe-yawn-er rather than Mowl-yer. Habit) And while it's not the Mjolnir I would have used, it's pretty darn close. (one of the few characters that getting his weapon right is more important that the uniform, I guess).

Now, we go to the things I didn't like. LOL Don't worry, I'm actually going to do this quickly.
Odin didn't loose his eye fighting with frost giants (as if a lowly giant could take Odin's eye), Loki knew he wasn't Odin's son from quite early, where was Baldar (sequel I guess). And while I would like to have seen Skurge and the Enchantress, it would have been too many characters. One cameo by the "writer" of the worst run on Thor ever! (Tell me, was Roy Thomas busy? Tom DeFalco? Ron Frenz? Dan Jurgens? Heck, JRjr? All people who did more and did it better than that hack who's name I will not mention.) I hate, hate, hate Nick Fury being replaced by Samuel L Jackson. Just change the name or better yet, get somebody who was cool a decade ago and is now best know for crap like "Snakes on a Plane". (I've just been over SLJ for a long time now. You may love it and enjoy it for me if you do) And why does Hogun's accent reminded me of the old "Excuse Please" Charlie Chan movies. The guy playing him did ok with what he had but there wasn't much.
Yeah, most of if not all of these go under the heading of "nit picking" and I know that. It's why I didn't go on and on about them. I've found that going into a movie you hope to like with NO expectations is the best way to enjoy it. For me, if nothing else, that works.

PS: One thing or rather person, I would love to see in the Avengers movie is Henry Peter Gyrich. If you know who he is, you'll understand. If not, don't worry about it.