Film Review: Thor

So, before I begin this review, I must warn all you readers that about three or four hours before I went and saw Thor, I read through about 9 Thor comics to prepare myself with some knowledge of the material before I went and saw it. So, just to prepare you all, this review will be done by that sort of fellow. Now, without further ado, my review of Thor.

The movie Thor tells the story of the mighty god of thunder named…. well Thor (played by newcomer Chris Hemsworth). He is the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who is weary of the years of being ruler of Asgard and must decide between the rather brash Thor, or his brother, the deceptive Loki (Tom Hiddleston). After a brief scuffle in Asgard caused by the frost giants, Thor’s brash arrogance leads him to start up a war that was resolved ages ago. Because of this, he is banished to earth and, I guess, think about what he had done.

While on earth, we meet the human counterparts of the film. There is Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), and Kat Dennings character (her name is Darcy in the film, but really apart from a few jokes at the beginning her character quickly takes a back seat to everything). While on earth, Thor must learn humility in order to gain back his spot in Asgard. During all of this, however, Loki and his sly ways makes plans in order to make Asgard his (which is helped with Odin’s failing health), and to end this war with the frost people once and for all, but not in the way Odin would’ve preferred. It is now up to Thor to save not just his world, but all worlds from Loki before it is too late. Will he learn his lesson? Will the other worlds be saved? Will this film not suck?

I must admit, I had my reserves about this film. Being a huge fan of Iron Man, I believed this to be something less like that and more of a bridge to the Avengers. Granted at parts it felt as such, but really, Iron Man was made at a time where Jon Favereau wanted to make it, Thor was made at a time where Avengers was coming up, so it did feel weak at parts. Still, I thought it was better than what I was expecting.

You get your money’s worth on the visuals, which aren’t blindingly obnoxious, but actually rather beautiful and amazing. Yes, there were some weird parts with the CGI, but I am a nitpicker when it comes to visuals, which are second to me in a great film. As far as story goes, while its not up to the level as the first Iron Man or Spiderman 2, I liked it a lot. It gave us plenty of character development and went at a nice pace. Some people I talked to said his lesson in humility happens way to quickly, I don’t think so. I think it was more subtle and sort of here and there in the film, but that’s for you to judge. The direction by the great Kenneth Brannagh was good, but had way too many tilted angles. Overall though, I was satisfied with my visual experience.

The acting is the real star here, as everyone in this film was perfectly cast. From the Warriors Three to the human counterparts to the mighty God of thunder, there wasn’t a weak link in the bunch (the Warrior’s Three in particular really looked the part). Chris Hemsworth is really the driving force behind all this, and he was the best part, every scene in the film he was in I believed him and enjoyed his presence, same goes for the always terrific Anthony Hopkins as Odin (such a strong performance there as well. I had a few problems with Loki (I felt he should’ve been a little more childish as the deceptive one), but honestly, that’s more of me being a nitpicker.

Many reviews will tell you that the part in earth, or Midgard as its called in the comics, will drag, and that’s partially true. But to be fair, anything would drag compared to the beauty that is Asgard. Thor is a great movie worthy of it placement as the beginning of the summer. Sure, it may not compare to some of the summer openers that came before it, but I think if we get something like Thor as a beginner rather than Spiderman 3 or Xmen: Wolverine, I’ll take it any day.

My Final Grade for Thor: B+