Ben’s Review of Thor
It’s summer movie time and starting off this season of 3D, popcorn based, quadrophonic, cinematic, enormity is Thor. This ode to Val Halla stars relatively unknown Chris Hemsworth as Thor the arrogant but soon to be humbled God of Thunder, Anthony Hopkins as Odin King of the Gods, Natalie Portman (this year’s winner for best actress in a porno/weirdass ballet film) as Thor’s love interest Jane, a foppy british guy as Loci Thor’s strange brother, Stellan Skarsgaard as an underutilized actor, and that snotty girl from the 40 Year Old Virgin as Natalie Portman’s side kick. Mix this cast of characters with Thor’s loyal army composed of three other actors and you have very well rounded cast… for a popcorn movie.
The movie opens with Jane and her intern investigating an atmospheric disturbance in the New Mexico desert. Upon investigation, they run over Thor, but how did he get there? Flashback to Thor about to named king of wherever he is from by his father King Odin. However, before Thor can receive the crown, the ice people try to break in to steal an ancient relic that is also the source of the ice peoples’ power. Thor wants vengeance for this attempted break in but his father tells him to calm down. Thor’s brother Loci also tries to calm him down however, Thor being Thor, decides to attack the ice people anyway. After battling to a draw, King Odin takes Thor and Loki back to his kingdom and banishes Thor for his arrogance to the one place where he cannot cause trouble, Earth. Unfortunately, Thor’s banishment was part of an evil plot to take over the kingdom. Can Thor get home? Is the kingdom doomed? Are the parallels between this movie and He-Man as apparent to everyone else?
This movie has a very troublesome start in that it appears to be heading the way of Dungeons and Dragons or the Last Airbender where there is way too much to know about Thor’s home world and the magic and fantasy that goes along with it. But the movie very quickly delves into a somewhat believeable explanation as to how Thor’s world intersects with Earth. More importantly, this movie does not dumb down the action and never becomes goofy. Because of the fanciful nature of the movie, it does not rise to the level of the Dark Knight however not every superhero movie needs to be. This movie is well acted, very well paced, and most importantly, you do not need to know anything about the comic to follow the story. It is on the same level as the original Ironman and the most recent Star Trek.
I give this movie three and a half Val Hallas out of five.
*Something extra- Chris Hemsworth earned this role for making a 5 minute appearance in Star Trek and Captain Kirk’s father.
Elisa's Review of "Thor."
Clearly, “Thor” was not my movie selection. We take turns. I agreed to see “Thor” for two reasons: Ben would have to agree to see a chick-flick movie of my choice; and I was secretely hoping “Thor” was the sequel to the classic 80's movie, “Adventures in Babysitting.”
Ten minutes into the movie, I realized Elizabeth Shue was not reinventing her career in this Marvel comic movie. Also, I thought I made a huge misjudgment in agreeing to sit through ANOTHER comic book movie, as most chic-flick movies are not interesting enough to be a trade for the misery I was suffering. However, I settled down and actually enjoyed the movie.
Ladies, this is a comic book movie that is tolerable. The title character, Thor is the son of a famous Nordic God with an evil brother. Thor is set to inherit the kingdom his father reigns over, but instead, is banned to Earth as punishment. On Earth, he meets Natalie Portman’s character who is some type of graduate student studying astronomy or night-time tornados. Side note—Natalie Portman is MUCH better in her role as the graduate student then she was in the soft-porn and HIGHLY overrated “Black Swan.”
Predictably, Thor and Portman’s character have some type of weirdo comic-book character/human attraction and he ends up fighting to help her graduate student cause against the government. Then he gets to go back to his Nordic planet.
The story and movie is well-presented. The scenes of the Nordic land and Earth alternate and presented in an interesting and logical pattern. Thor is played by an Australian actor who resembles the character “Smith” from “Sex and the City” fame. Anthony Hopkins acts the role of the Nordic god very well. Rene Russo does a nice job in a very few scenes in the role of Thor’s mother—sustaining my belief that she blew through her “Lethal Weapon” money and lost the rest of her cash in the Mel Gibson pyramid scheme.
