This is my review of the movie Thor, released by Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. It is written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is rated PG-13.Thor is based on the Marvel Comic of the same name. It is the story of the Norse God Thor, set in the modern age. The comic and movie both, blends mythology with superhero action.
The comic has been continually released by Marvel comics for nearly fifty years. Thor's first appearance was in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug 1962). That issue was written by Stan Lee (who makes a cameo appearance in the film), penciled by Jack Kirby and Inked by Joe Sinnott.
The high points of the comic has been the Lee and Kirby run, a long storyline in the 80s by Walt Simonson and recently a storyline by J. Michael Straczynski, who gets a story credit for the film.
I just want to note that I saw the 2D version of the film (my rant about 3D versions for another time).The film, pretty much mirrors the characters of the comic, with some slight changes and updating. However I think that the character of Loki, Thor's brother is handled slightly better in the film and given better motivation for his actions.
The modest summary of the plot is Thor finds himself banished to earth, and must save the girl, and his father, and become a better Norse god for doing so :) I HATE SPOILERS, so I won't do it (ever).
With that being said, lets get this out of the way, right now, Thor is an action movie. No highbrow message to be found here, this film is all about special effects, explosions and popcorn. Does that necessarily make this a bad film. No, it's actually a pretty good film. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and found it to be very entertaining. The special effect are living large in this one, as the entire realm of Asgard is created, as well as a planet populated with frost giants and the super cool Destroyer.
All I can say about the cast is they do an adequate job. There are no stunning performance here. Although the cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and that guy from Good Will Hunting. They have all done better jobs in better movies. I think the stand out and underplayed performance in this film is Tom Hiddleston who plays Loki. As for Chris Hemsworth, I believe that he did a much better job in his ten minutes of screen time in Star Trek.
Is this film for everyone? No. Many will find the fantasy aspect, too much, or plot line too little. I don't think many of my married friends will be bringing their wives to this one either.
Thor is one of many Marvel Entertainment movies that have been released, including the upcoming Captain America which are leading up to next years Avenger's movie. Like the other films this one also includes post credit scene with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
If you love comics or action movies I think that you will be highly entertained by Thor. If the typical summer movie season is not your thing then pass it by.
