Thor: Rated “PG-13“ (130 Minutes)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
To many, the mythology, and legends of the Norsemen are less familiar than their Greco-Roman counterparts, which is clearly due to the dominance of Rome and it’s whorish ability to endorse, engulf, enhance, absorb, and ultimately supplant any culture that it came into contact with (and, well, conquer). So the Vikings from the far north have been given short shrift for years, as the rich, and convoluted history of their gods has been relegated to a secondary status. All of that has changed with the release of Thor, based on the eponymous Marvel Comicbook.
The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962) and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciler Jack Kirby. Having already successfully re-introduced Superheroes to its line of comics with the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and Spider-Man, Stan turned to the Norse mythology to bring these lesser-known gods into the spotlight. Still, even though Thor was one of the original Silver Age mainstays of the Marvel Universe, he has never really risen to the level of fan fervor as Spider-Man of the X-Men — with the release of this film, all that is about to change.
Sticking close to the essence of the Thor mythology crated by Lee, Leiber, and Kirby, the center of this tale revolves around the Mighty Thor (Hemsworth), a very powerful extremely arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war between his peoples and a race of Frost Giants. In spite of the fact that his father Odin (Hopkins), has forbidden any reprisals against Jotunheim (the world of the Frost Giants) after a group of them have broken the long-standing truce between the two worlds, Thor and his friends invade Jotunheim.
When this is discovered, Odin strips Thor of his power, and casts him down to Earth, forcing him to live powerless, among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor must learn what it takes to shed his arrogant nature and brash attitude, and to become a true hero when the Earth is attacked by a powerful, unliving creature is sent against him. The film manages to not only successfully mix the other-worldy majesty of Asgard with its gleaming towers, with the sameness of a small town in Nevada on Midgard (Earth), but it side-steps the whole “godhood” of the Asgardians by hinting that they were a race of aliens who were worsheped as gods by ancient Norsemen.
In Legend (as well as the comic), Loki (Hiddleston) — Thor’s half brother — is portrayed as an evil trickster, who is always at odds with his more powerful, and respected brother, but in this film he comes as a more sympathetic character, which actually better serves the storyline. Here he is unaware of his true past and (while still something of a self-serving deceiver), comes across as a product of his feelings of being slighted by his father, and constantly living in the show of his brother.
Ultimately, what makes this film (as have many of the previous Marvel films), is the willingness of its director (Branagh), writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, and producers to treat the source material with respect rather than simply as disposable kiddie fare. That respect, as well as the foresight to integrate the continuity with that of other Marvel films (nods are given to both next year’s Avenger film as well as the Iron Man films (the appearance of SHIELD’s Agent Chuck Coulson(Clark Gregg), as well as references to Tony Stark) give this film the kinds of references for which fans of the comics long. (Keep your eyes peeled for the ubiquitous appearance of Stan Lee, as well as the now-expected “Easter Egg” film clip that follows the credits that provides the kick-start for 2012’s highly-anticipated Avengers film.)
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Robert J. Sodaro has been writing professionally for over 30 years. During that time, his movie reviews and articles have appeared in numerous publications, as well as on the web.
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