Film Review #94: Thor

When I was in elementary school, the first comic book I read was a short comic about The Avengers in which they protected Rye Playland from Loki.  Though the story gave us a brief intro to who Loki was and where he and Thor came from, I was still perplexed about how a demi-god was unable to take care of all of the world's problems himself and about the rest of the realms Odin controlled.  Superman is able to get around these things because of his major weaknesses such as kryptonite and facing off against similarly powerful villains like Brainiac, Zod and Darkseid.  But Thor in the Avengers makes little sense to me, because of his unlimited potential.  Sure, a villain like Loki or Ultron could make things problematic, but to me, his powers would cause more problems than they created.  Nevertheless, seeing Marvel's version of Superman excited me more than others apparently.  And Thor is a brilliant movie, in my opinion.  It has all of the subtlety of a Shakespearean play with kick ass action and a fairly strong redemption story that can contend with some of the best cinema has ever done.

Plot: In the realm of Asgard, the heir of Odin, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), is preparing to take his place as next in line to rule.  But when a few Frost Giants ruin his coronation ceremony, a vengeful Thor leads his friends on a relentless quest to redeem himself.  The result was disastrous, as Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is forced to step in and is threatened with war.  Furious and ashamed of being unable to see Thor's arrogance, Odin banishes him to Earth and takes away his power, throwing the mighty hammer Mjonir into the void and proclaiming that only one worthy of the power of Thor can one day wield this hammer again.

Thor crash lands on Earth and is smashed in by the car of a group of scientists led by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who take Thor as some drunk wandering the desert of New Mexico and take him to the hospital.  But when Jane realizes Thor was part of a storm she was investigating, she hurries back to reunite with him.  Though Jane is flustered by Thor's chivalrous and odd behavior, her friends warn her that Thor might be dangerous.  Jane initially agrees, but when S.H.I.E.L.D. takes her equipment to examine for research about the "satellite crash", Jane agrees to take Thor to the location of Mjonir.

Back in Asgard, Thor's jealous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who was responsible for the frost giants attack on Thor's coronation day, discovers his true origins as a Frost Giant and confronts Odin on this.  But when an overworked Odin falls into the "Odin Sleep", Loki assumes the throne in his place.  Driven by his lust for power and respect, Loki attempts to make everyone despise Thor and even plots to have the frost giants invade Asgard in an effort to make him look like a hero.  Knowing that Thor's mere existence makes his claim for the throne invalid, he sends a Destroyer out to eliminate his brother once and for all.  Powerless, throne-less, and full of misery, Thor must figure out what it means to be a king before all of the realms are engulfed in a horrific war that may bring about an end to them all.

What's Bad?: The only really bad thing that stands out about this movie is the fact that I still haven't been able to place it in my Top 50 Favorite Films of All Time yet.  I'm having a hard time choosing what films belong and which don't.  2014 was indeed a good year for films.

What's Good?: As they had done with Iron Man and Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth is an astonishing Thor, who manages to capture both the boastful god and the noble prince all in one film.  More importantly, just like Downey Jr. and Johansson, he LOOKS like Thor.  I'm actually surprised he had to do as much training as he had to while filming.

The only person who manages to outdo Hemsworth is Tom Hiddleston as Loki, which upon first view was the one thing I remembered when I first saw this film.  He is the perfect example of an anti-hero that leans more towards villainy than heroism.  He looks like he is enjoying himself so much that it's actually a bit unnerving.  He is the perfect example of a supervillain role done right.

Even Natalie Portman does an effective job as Jane Foster.  While I personally think Natalie Portman was Megan Fox before it was cool to be Megan Fox (beautiful woman with ZERO acting skills), this role she takes on is actually pretty damn effective.  She comes off as smart and bossy but also dreamy and wide-eyed.  And her romance with Thor, while not the best, is still significantly better than another cheesy love story she was involved with.

Overall: Thor is a magnificent movie that, like many films in this era, is one of those gems that didn't have the appeal other films had (Spider Man, Batman, Shrek).  As a result, it is not given the love it really deserves.  It's the best MCU film since Iron Man and would remain the best until the Summer of 2012, but more on that in two more reviews.

Final Score: 95 or A