Thor

Thor, Marvel's Mighty God of Thunder finally hits the big screen. I should say it finally hitted the big screen on May 6, 2011. Again, I'm a bit late on the reviews but, if you haven't already seen Thor, I recommend checking it out when it comes out on disk. A lot of people compares it to the first Iron Man movie since Thor seems to be the 2nd watchable Marvel produced movie (not wanting to acknowledge Iron Man 2). Thor is not just watchable. It is also fun, aesthetically pleasing and at points deep. I was worried at first that Thor will be another Iron Man knock off when watching the trailers. There were one-liners in the trailers that made Thor seem more like a smart ass than the arrogant Norse God. Also, after reading about how the Asgardians were treated as aliens really worried me. Especially after how Iron Man 2 was rushed out to be so formulaic and boring. I guess under Kenneth Branagh's direction, J. Michael Straczynski's and Mark Protoevich's screenplay things worked out. The material was kept as close to Marvel's cannon as much as possible. In fact, the way the Asgaridians were handled reminded me of Jack Kirby's take on the Norse Gods and even DC's New Gods. The way the Asgardians traveled in this movie using the Bifrost reminded me of the Boom Tubes that the New Gods used. It looked really cool. There were a few awe inspiring scenes in Thor. The one that sticks out the most for me is when Thor and his small army rides across the Rainbow Bridge in Asgard on his way to fight the Frost Giants. Asgard was a very good looking set. I'm not sure how much of it was CGi. Thor was a super arrogant ass in the beginning of the movie to the point where it almost got him and his friends killed. It is because of this Odin (Anthony Hopkins) strips him of Mjolnir and kicks him out of Asgard and down to earth powerless. While in the background, with Thor out of the way, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) plots to become the Ruler of Asgard. On earth, powerless but still having some supernatural arrogance and strength, Thor bumps into a crew of scientists searching for Extra Terrestrials. At first they think that Thor is an alien but the movie shifted towards the Norse legends more, which made me happy. Honestly, I think the scientists can be replaced by any actor and the movie would not suffer. Two of them has some star power being Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard. The third scientist or rather assistant is played by Kat Dennings. With that said, portraying Thor, Chris Hemsworth does a great job being the asshole Asgardian who learns the ways of humility. He was almost overshadowed by Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Living under Thor's boastful shadow and personal tragedy, Tom Hiddleston's Loki is tormented with choosing between what benefits him and doing the right thing. Of course, he wouldn't be the villain of the movie if we agreed with him. Thor is very entertaining movie which follows some formula. The love interest and the hero losing his powers for example but both of the these things were handled well. I guess a love interest is a way for an immortal to grow an attachment to a lesser realm. I said earlier that Natalie Portman is replaceable but, her presence is definitely more than welcome and she's a fine actor (same goes for a certain prequel trilogy). Chris Hemsworth charismatic performance made up for the low key action of a depowered hero. Also, even without Mjolnir, Thor didn't just moped around the whole time, he still had his fighting abilities, strength and heroism. The lead up to Thor getting Mjolnir back was pretty rewarding. Be sure to stay during the credits for a hint of more Loki and Stellan Skarsgard in the upcoming Avengers movie. Check out Thor. There are some artistic liberties towards the Mighty Marvel Hero but in my opinion they are not glaring travesties. This is definitely the best Thor rendition Thor-Trailer RATING: 3/5