Movie Review: Thor or “Damn; I wasn’t expecting Awesome.”

I am not going to pretend that I know a lot of Norse mythology. I’m a little better versed in that of the British Isles and the more general Anglo-Saxon stories. And Tolkien. I know a lot of Tolkien. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t know a bit about the Norse on a purely superficial level. And coming at Thor from that side, I cannot complain even a little bit.

When the pictures from the set started leaking last year, I was saddened. I don’t know anything about Marvel’s Thor. I didn’t even give him the Wikipedia treatment I’ve bestowed on the Bat-Family and the Green Lanterns. I wasn’t sure where the producers were planning on going with these horribly tacky golden costumes and the shoddy looking sets. How could any of that live up to the true Asgard of myth or even Marvel’s version, whatever that might be?

Because really. What is that? 

I am so happy to be wrong in this case. Thor was easily the best movie I’ve seen this year.  Easily.

From the start the film was just a rolling lightning storm of fun and good characters and sympathetic storylines lovingly crafted by a great team.

Forewarned is forearmed: The HMS Spoiler sails from here on out. Just a little, though. In this review, she barely leaves port (except at the end when I spoil a major plot point).

The movie opens with Natalie Portman and her loyal assistant Norah storm-chasing a crazy electrical discharge. They banter and drive a little crazy and otherwise show that they’re the scientists of this particular Avengers-origin flick, but it’s all entertaining. Then their Science-Land-Rover hits someone.

We flash back (after Portman flips the man over and he is a Hunka Hunka Burning Thor) to Asgard, the city of golden spiraling towers and backstory. With my tiny amount of Norse myth I recognized a lot of it (except maybe the treaty between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants…does that happen?) and was so happy with the subtle appearance of Huginn and Muninn that I didn’t even mind that Freya was slightly Hera-esque rather than her badass self.

Look at this crazy Coruscant-looking place of Beauty...

But that is a tiny, tiny nitpick when you consider how well the bond and general conflict was set-up in the span of just a few minutes. Thor: hot-headed older brother; Loki: more level-headed younger brother who is an excellent liar (‘cause that won’t come back to haunt us); The Warriors Three: A Dashing Swordsman, a Very Tall Dwarf, and a Ninja with a morning star; and Lady Sif: Best summed up by the quip made later in the morning when she is described as “Xena.”

Them Warriors 3

Sif in her badassery

Their relationships with each other, the easy camaraderie but deference to their superiors, the sense that this group of heroes had been into battle and into other mischief for years was conveyed in a few short scenes and the general greatness of the writing.

When Someone lets some frost giants in and spoils Thor’s coronation, his anger and retaliatory actions set up the main conflict. Thor, Loki, and the Warriros + Sif go to the Frost Giant’s world via the awesome wormhole-rainbow-bridge that is the Bifrost to “get answers.”

...it looks much cooler in the movie, I swear...

Right, Thor. I’d believe that if ya’ll weren’t armed to the teeth. As expected, pitched battle breaks out and I am so glad it does. Besides being excellently choreographed and beautifully shot, the fight scenes really serve to underscore what is going to be a big deal in a few scenes.

Thor is Amazing at being Thor. He wields Mjolnir with a strength and ease that erase any potential doubt anyone could have as to whether he deserves to wield it. The warriors and Sif and Loki are by no means slouches. They are each extremely proficient and obviously well suited to the tasks of battle. But Thor blows them all out of the water with ease. So when he is cast out of Asgard and stripped of his power for his lack of control and oh…starting a War, you really understand exactly what it is he is missing.

That short guy? It's Thor taking names.

Odin banishes Thor to Midgard (Earth…and the South Western desert apparently) where he is just a remarkably buff human. Odin also lays a gaes on Mjolnir (which he also tosses through the Birfrost) essentially Excalibur-ing it. “Only those worthy of kingship can draw this sword hammer from this stone,” etc.

We pick up the story when Natalie hits Thor with her Science Rover (an occurrence that will become a running gag, and yet, like pretty much everything in this movie, never gets annoying or old) and takes him to the hospital because he is wandering around the desert forsooth-ing and generally acting crazy.

Thor’s interactions with humanity are pretty darn funny. When he hears of a crater in the desert filled with a hammer-like thing, he immediately goes to a pet shop and demands a horse. Upon being told by the befuddled employee that they don’t have those there, just cats and dogs, Thor (all 6 foot something of him) demands one large enough to ride. It’s little things like that interaction and his smashing of mugs in the diner where he breakfasts that just really deliver the movie on little golden plates directly to your heart. Thor is adorable on top of being powerful and you really like him.

Plus look how cute he looks in his plaid and his trying to fit in to humanity. :)

What these moments also do is highlight how we as a society would be apt to view someone who claimed to be a superhero or a god – like a crazy person. Until Natalie fetches him from the hospital, Thor is strapped to a table and treated with great suspicion. He is dismissed as a nutjob by everyone, even Portman and her sidekicks, and I thought that was an interesting commentary on how we view Difference and the Exceptional: with derision and slight pandering. And fear. We don’t really want to acknowledge the possibility of something as alien as a Thor, and I thought the movie did a good job of showing that and then turning it on its head.

Poor crazy Giant Man.

My absolute favorite Favorite part of the movie, however is Thor and Loki’s relationship. With the exception of Iron Man and the Nolan Batmans, I haven’t really been impressed with the acting in a super-hero movie…ever. And even in Iron Man, that was more RDJ being his awesometastic self rather than really great, emotional acting.

But Thor…oh this movie. Let’s begin with Loki and his completely understandable fall from favored Asgardian to villain. It seems inevitable, but at the same time you feel so deeply for Loki and his plight. I turned to my brother at a certain point in the movie, thrilled because they had kept part of the myth I do remember: that Loki is a frost giant. And the revelation in this case is so poignant, mostly (I think) due to the wonderful acting of Tom Hiddleston who plays Loki with this underrated sadness that breaks you. 

Although they've done him such a disservice with this bug helmet...

You can see, in the few scenes they share, both the love and the brother-ness inherent in the two Asgardians. From the beginning when Loki goes with Thor and the warriors to the Frost Giant world, fighting with the more subtle magical arts rather than the brute force utilized by his companions, to the end when Loki visits Thor in the S.H.I.E.L.D jail, their love seeps through the screen.

 Loki’s story is almost as painful as Thor’s. An identity crisis is a painful thing but his is just… Once he learns of his gianty roots, Loki almost resigns himself to death. All of the years being the weaker son with the assurance that “he’s a proficient mage” never being enough when your brother is Thor.

You can almost see the years behind their relationships. The years Thor probably spent protecting his little brother. Thor who can break through mountains; Loki who could charm them into moving.

(I was apparently ficcing in my seat as I wrote those last two ‘graphs in my notes at the movie…)

But regardless of my interpretation, Loki and Thor’s relationship is moving and it really hurts. And when Thor reaches Mjolnir the first time (after it’s been surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D stuff and Hawkeye makes an appearance) his collapse as he realizes that he very probably will never go home is the stuff sad cowboy songs are made of.

Look at this sad cowboy. *tear*

I was ridiculously impressed with Chris Hemsworth’s acting in that scene as well as Loki’s. I believed their relationship just as much as I was hurting watching Loki lie to his brother all in the name of proving himself to Odin. Oh familial politics and myth.

On top of everything else, the cinematography and effects were gorgeous, I wanted Norah’s boots and Natalie’s jacket, and the music was subtle while still being appropriately epic.

There is really nothing bad to say about a movie where the first half hour reads like a really epic D&D campaign complete with prestige classes.

Straight up D&D campaign. And it doesn't suffer for it.

200 kilawatts out of 200 for this. Go see Thor. And for Odin’s sake, stay ‘till after the credits!

…I can’t wait to see The Avengers next year. J