Thor.

I know the hype for Avengers has died down a lot already and so this review is perhaps a little redundant by now but I've recently got a new job and just haven't had the time to sit down and watch and review a film (it can easily take around six hours just taking notes and watching the damn thing and that is before I've even started to write the review) or this would have been out sooner. Still, I firmly stated this film wasn't very good since I saw it in the cinema last year but that is admittedly the only time I'd actually seen the film since I had no interest in seeing it again...until I saw the Avengers. So I'm interested, and I hope you are too, on how I feel about Thor: one year on.

I just want to get this out of the way because it is probably Thor's main problem. It's ugly, CGI still isn't quite there yet in my mind, I still rarely feel convinced by it but barely anything in Thor looks convincing or real and considering its $150 million budget it is just wrong that for the most part the film just looks like a videogame.

Okay, with that out of the way,

the story goes that Odin is about to make Thor king of Asgard when Frost Giants sneak into Asgard and attempt to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters only to get quickly cleaned up by The Destroyer, however Thor isn't happy with this resolution and after being tricked by his brother, he gathers up his team and heads to Yodenheim to find resolution...or maybe just start a war. Thor is banished to a romcom and seperated from Mjolnir which is sent into a comicbook movie while Loki and the gang continue the actual plot of the film. Thor goes on a quest to get his hammer back and take down Loki now Loki has become king of Asgard and is fucking shit up.

What I didn't remember is the action is excellent, some of the cinematography or maybe just the direction is muddy and some of the bigger battles (as in bigger on a sense of scale) can be confusing to follow and I can't iterate enough just how bad the effects look for a movie this big but my God are the action sequences fun. Although it has to be said perhaps the best action sequence in the whole film is over before the half an hour mark when the film decides to shift from a sci-fi come fantasy adventure romp into a sort of comedy. I told everyone after seeing it the first time that the Earth sections were my favourite part of the film but watching it again I just want loads more action like when they were fighting the Frost Giants, it was absolutely awesome. Even the Destroyer battle and its diminished scale is still awesome since it showcases the epic return of Thor to his full power. It even has the one on one duels that Avengers so sorely missed.

I mean the conclusion is just so explosive, Thor gets his powers back, storms back into Asgard, takes on Loki in a huge epic battle and destroys the Bifrost Bridge for an explosive finish. Why wasn't there a similar ending with Loki in Avengers?

The fully realised on screen depiction of Asgard is incredible, this world where fantasy and sci-fi meet and meld, I do wish the effects could make it seem more real and less computer generated but what we get is fully fleshed and realised and grand in scale. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for a true Thor fan as the camera swept through Asgard, it must have been incredible. This is also true of Yodenheim, it feels full realised again, just the sense of scale, it is incredible which makes it all the more odd that the Earth sections aren't in a city but some small town in New Mexico.

That being said there are other things I just don't quite understand, they fully realise Asgard for the big screen then make strange omissions like not having Thor wear his helmet or reducing the Destroyers power level to the point where we are supposed to be impressed he can shoot a few small buildings. It's inconsistencies with the adaptation of Marvel properties that always marrs my enjoyment of one of their films especially with a film that seems to pride itself with trying to fit in as many references to the comics in as physically possible.

Also, what is with Thor's characterisation? I'm going to admit I don't know a lot about this guy and haven't read many of his comics but one thing he never was, was a hothead - I mean maybe he was like this in the early comics but for me it just felt off. The Thor I've always known has been a noble warrior - a classic superhero. Loki however feels like the Loki I know, and fear, he appears weak, pathetic and innocent but secretly behind the scenes he uses his superior intellect to manipulate everything in his favour and can also handle himself in a fight too. I don't know why they didn't use this more in the Avengers.

It's funny, Hemsworth feels out of place in his own movie, with a cast including Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson and Kat Dennings just who the fuck is this guy? I mean we know the guy as Thor but it just seems strange that we give the big lead role to a relative nobody/newcomer, the only thing I knew him from before this was when he played Kirk's Dad for about five minutes in the Star Trek reboot.

That isn't to say I dislike either Hemsworth or movie Thor. Hemsworth is the kind of beautiful man that confuses a guy who thinks he is straight and is genuinely a good actor, even if he does seem to just play himself in everything. His hot head interpretation of Thor is great fun and movie Thor is an absolute badass. The movie probably would have been a lot less fun if Hemsworth was the awkward honour bound warrior I know from the comics and I would have probably said that Hemsworth was miscast if it was for that kind role. So changes for the better all round.

Aside from spotty production values Thor's second greatest problem is its pacing, in places information is just dumped on us, in others things fly passed us and they expect us to just follow along without ever explaining what is going on which means the film can feel all over the place. Frankly Asgard fascinates me in this movie, the versions of Asgard I've seen in comics has really just been about fantasy but here it seems rammed with sci-fi elements and I wish we got more exploration into this world (fingers crossed for Thor 2) whereas the stuff it bothered to info dump, you could easily find on the Thor wikipedia page and I just think this is the wrong way round this is the first full fleshed Thor centric movie adventure, they should have spent more time exploring the transition of Thor comiclore onto the big screen and less time trying to film the Wikipedia article. I was especially confused when it came to how everything worked, as far as I knew Thor was the only one who could wield his hammer, but it would appear Odin has more dominion over it than Thor does and with Odin pulling off bits of Thor's armour and commanding other bits to fall off, is Thor's armour magic then? Why are the Frost Giants so small? Why does Loki look human? Explain this, movie.

Thor is incredible in the sense that it manages to include a little bit of almost every genre, there is action, comedy, horror, superhero, fantasy, sci-fi, a little romance, a little destruction and a bit of adventure to boot. If nothing else Thor can make an incredible study on Hollywood's attempt at mass market appeal. The problem is, not all these elements gel all that well together, around the half hour mark where Thor drops down to Earth, it feels like another movie entirely and I question why it even needs to be there. This is especially true of the comedy sections, in my memory of the film those were the bits most favourable, watching it again these random and only momentary shifts of tone are just awkward and out of place. Although the God out of place in small town USA is still very funny.

So do I recommend this? Thor isn't without its flaws, but I remembered this film being much worse than it really is. There are some serious pacing issues and some missed opportunities but what you do get is some excellent action and just a great universe to explore. Thor is definitely worth checking out. It's funny, I enjoyed this so much more on my second viewing, I called it the worst of the superhero movies of last summer the first time around. Equally the film I called the best superhero movie of last summer I really didn't enjoy so much on a second viewing.

Think About It!

-Locke