Men Are From Asgard, Women Are From Midgard

So, we reach the last of the comic book movie trilogy for films of 2011. It's been a good year for comic book movies, live action and animated. Now, in my last two blogs, I've already looked at two of Marvel's live action releases and for this one, I look at the remaining (though first released) Marvel movie and another from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor.
So, does it tell tales of great battle and conquest or is this all a myth we should regard as nonsense? I think we all know the answer to that but let's get to it, shall we?

Brief history of Thor: he made his debut in the comic Journey Into Mystery, a sci-fi/fantasy anthology title, in issue 83, which was published in 1962. Much like Detective Comics and Batman, Thor would later take over the comic. Unlike Batman, the comic was renamed for the main character. Thor was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, partially as a challenge to create someone stronger than the Incredible Hulk, which they did by creating a god.
While perhaps not as well known as his Marvel compatriots, it can be argued that if DC's “Trinity” is made up of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman then Marvel's is Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, due to how much they've been through together and how much they value each other in their lives.

Now, onto the film adaptation. And insert standard disclaimer about spoilers and such.

In the far-off realm of Asgard, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) has banished his son, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) for breaking a truce between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Thor ends up on Earth (or Midgard as it is known to the Asgardians) and meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), who are eager to learn about him and where he came from. However, all Thor cares about is finding his hammer, Moljnir, and getting back to Asgard. And in Asgard itself, Thor's brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has ascended to the throne after a weakened Odin is forced to slumber and is planning to prove himself worthy to Odin by annihilating Jotunheim once and for all.

I'd say my favourite thing of this movie is how serious the treatment of the material is. Now, being a long time comic fan, I've seen all sorts of weird things in comics (the Silver Age practically breathed on the weird stuff). I've seen Jimmy Olsen get weird powers (though that occurred more than the sun rising, really); twin clones of Hitler; Spider-Man and Wolverine having their minds swapped by Jean Grey (Ultimate Universe but still); Batman and Superman taking on vampires and werewolves; robo-bears vs. cyber gorillas. The list goes on. But some of those are niche titles or Elseworlds, so only people really eager to get into comics will explore such options. Trying to sell someone who's never read comics or a casual reader on something like Thor might take some doing. And even then, a lot of people might be put off by the fact that most of Thor's language is reminiscent of Shakespere or Arthurian days. Hell, even the Ultimate Universe version has some complications (“Well, me MIGHT be a god OR he's a mental patient who THINKS he's the God Of Thunder, we don't know!”) As such, people might not take it seriously, which would translate to a campy film in the wrong hands. Some actors might see a script like this and think you're supposed to ham it up, act all boisterous and and basically embody BRIAN BLESSED (yes, that is supposed to be in caps. Don't ask me why, it's like an internet rule or something). Hell, at one point, BRIAN BLESSED was supposed to be Odin.
But in Thor, it's not the case at all. Everything is treated seriously when it's meant to be serious, while putting in some well timed humor. The mythology of Thor and Asgard is not treated as some silly faraway make believe land, it's another realm of awe and wonder. The dialogue is true to the comic while delivered in a straightforward manner.
In fact, my favourite part of the movie involves an excellent line delivery from Anthony Hopkins (who is absolutely wonderful in this). It's the scene in which Thor, after having attacked Jotunheim after being forbidden by Odin. For his arrogant nature, Odin strips Thor of his power and exiles him to one of the other realms. The line: “I now take from you, your power! In the name of my father, and his father before, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!”
The backing music, the effects, the confined space, it all makes a wonderful scene, followed by Thor's descent to Earth.
Before going further, I want to say I was extremely impressed with Chris Hemsworth's performance as Thor. He doesn't play him as a berserker or a bloodthirsty individual, there is a compassion to his performance and even when he's playing the character as arrogant, he doesn't slide too far into unlikeable territory, if he even goes there.
Going back to the topic of taking itself seriously, Thor's time on Earth isn't entirely played for laughs either and I really appreciated that. It's a different spin on the “fish out of water” story, the one in which a person arrives in an unfamiliar location/time frame and acts so weirdly and no one picks up on it. Besides the occasional difference of culture (this is where the film's humor lies and does so effectively, like Thor expressing his enjoyment of his beverage by smashing a mug and demanding another or when he and Dr. Selvig go drinking), Thor takes his situation pretty well and doesn't (usually) run off half-cocked and getting into all sorts of trouble.
Helping that situation is how Jane Foster deals with it and Natalie Portman plays her as being very sweet, eager and smart, all strengths Natalie knows how to play by now. She and Chris have great chemistry and their relationship shows the two of them learning about each other while simultaneously teaching the other. I don't know if this will be developed on in The Avengers, but I certainly hope to see more of their romance in Thor 2.
One thing I definitely hope to see more of in The Avengers is how Thor and Loki play off each other. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki with great sympathy and his development from overlooked brother to main threat of Asgard is well developed. Even his plan doesn't seem 100% villainous.

The action is spectacular too, almost every confrontation with the Frost Giants is a sight to behold and towards the end, when Thor regains his hammer and takes on a being known as the Destroyer, it's some damn impressive fighting. But the best action sequence of all is Thor taking on members of SHIELD in the rain, in an attempt to recover Moljnir (the hammer) and just being so damn effective (also helping the scene is the cameo of Hawkeye, who will hopefully be given much more to do in The Avengers)

Speaking of cameos, one final note: Stan Lee has had cameos in plenty of Marvel movies and a lot of them are really funny (like in Iron Man) but this has to be his absolute best so far: he plays “Stan The Man”, a pick-up truck driver who attempts to use his own vehicle to lift Moljnir out of the ground, after it fell to Earth through Odin's intervention. And it nearly takes the whole truck apart. Lee's only line is “Did it work?”, and that just slays me every time.

So, despite being outshone by Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor is a solid film that I happily award 4/5 to.

So, thus ends my week of comic book movie reviews. I hope you've enjoyed them, and there will be more to come, but onto a new theme next week.