Chris Hemsworth thunders through ‘Thor’ film
Movie genres seem to come in waves, and the current wave would
have to be comic book movies. There are years were there are a ton
of war movies or bridal comedies, but this year the previews are
heavily littered with movies based on comic book heroes.
Earlier this year
”
The Green Hornet
”
opened, though I missed it. On the horizon are
”
The Green Lantern,
”
no relation to the Hornet,
”
Captain America
”
and
”
X-Men: First Class.
”
A reboot of the
”
Spiderman
”
and
”
Superman
”
franchises are on the horizon. And the
”
Avengers,
”
which will feature a mish-mash of some of the characters, is in
production.
Chris Hemsworth thunders through ‘Thor’ film
Movie genres seem to come in waves, and the current wave would have to be comic book movies. There are years were there are a ton of war movies or bridal comedies, but this year the previews are heavily littered with movies based on comic book heroes.
Earlier this year “The Green Hornet” opened, though I missed it. On the horizon are “The Green Lantern,” no relation to the Hornet, “Captain America” and “X-Men: First Class.” A reboot of the “Spiderman” and “Superman” franchises are on the horizon. And the “Avengers,” which will feature a mish-mash of some of the characters, is in production.
The most recent release, however, is “Thor.” The movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, the British actor/director who is better known for taking Shakespeare’s content to the screen than comic books. But he brings some of the same sensibilities with him to the superhero genre. The movie has star-crossed lovers, scheming villains and all the same elements that make a good Shakespeare play.
“Thor” feels like a movie divided since it spins between life on Earth in New Mexico and life on Asgard, the fantastical land where the god of thunder lives as a protector of the nine realms. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has lived in a time of peace in Asgard, but he is still a brash warrior who is always ready to pick a fight. His quieter brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) seems to be the more rational of the two.
Thor is on the verge of becoming king as his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is ready to retire the throne. But Odin has concerns about Thor’s desire to wage war against the Frost Giants, a centuries-old enemy with whom Odin has bartered a peace treaty. When a few of the giants find their way past the gate keeper Heimdall (Idris Elba) into the inner sanctum of Asgard, they are quickly defeated. But Thor seeks revenge by entering the land of the Frost Giants against his father’s command.
Odin saves his sons and a handful of other warriors, but in his anger he banishes Thor to earth and strips away his powers. Thor awakens on earth as a mortal man without his hammer weapon, albeit one who is very good with mixed martial arts.
He lands in the deserts of New Mexico where he is hit by a group of students in a van who are trying to study the strange weather patterns in the region – the sudden thunder storms and bright lights that are caused whenever Thor and his warriors travel across the realms. Jane (Natalie Portman) is a physics grad student who has dragged her mentor Erik (Stellan Skarsgard) into the field to see the unusual phenomena. Darcy (Kat Dennings) is an assistant who has little interest in science, but offers plenty of comic relief.
Thor knows who he is, but everyone around him believes he is a crazy homeless guy – although as Darcy points out he’s “quite cut” for a homeless guy. Jane only wants to talk to Thor because she believes he can offer some insight into her research, but at Erik’s suggestion she decides to leave the crazy guy behind. When government agents take all her research, including the back ups of her back ups, she pairs up with Thor, who is in search of his hammer.
While Thor is on Earth trying to regain his powers, things have gone awry in his native Asgard. Odin is near death, in a coma, and Loki has taken over as acting king. Just as Thor’s warriors are beginning to suspect that Loki’s motives are not pure, Loki visits Earth and tells his brother that their father is dead. He warns Thor to stay away from Asgard, as it is the only thing that will keep peace with the Frost Giants. But luckily for Thor, he has some smart warriors and loyal followers who are willing to risk banishment to help him.
The screenwriters Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne gave the movie enough of a storyline that it offered more than some comic book movies. The balance between the scenes in Asgard and on Earth gave the movie a little more depth than expected, and it helped to keep the movie moving along so that it didn’t wane in the middle. Darcy’s character offered some laughs while Thor’s misunderstanding of human culture offers some funny scenes.
The end of the movie feels very much like a set-up for the next in a trilogy and there are sure to be more movies to come. There is even an offhand reference to Tony Stark (“Ironman”), which connects Thor to “The Avengers” movie expected out in 2012. From the line-up of characters, there looks to be quite a bit of cross over between the movies.
