My sister* asked my opinion of Thor.
Because she asked the question snuggled safely in the chiseled arms of the godlike physique that is her Kiwi man, within the floating spires and ancient structures of his New Zealand homeland, I saw the question a few minutes after springing from bed, 6 in the morning style.
I have not yet seen the film, as I don’t hang with those midnight showings due to being an aged man. However, since this is my eponymous movie**, at least until someone releases an awesome action film about Set, I’m going to go ahead and lay down my review now. Note that since this was originally posted on facebook, it makes one key assumption that probably isn’t accurate for the readership of this here blog.
Again, haven’t seen the movie yet.
I WILL see the movie.
And then perhaps lay down an additional review.
But until then, here’s this one:
It’s awesome to watch Thor be Thor, and the Marvel take on Asgard is something you get used to very quickly (quicker still if you’ve read Earth X and its sequels). Frost Giants being pulped is also super satisfying. However, the romance elements fall a bit flat, and as much as I adore Ms. Portman for her poise, beauty, and willingness to shoot things (see Your Highness—which I actually haven’t), hers is the kind of character I always feel is in these movies out of some trite habituation that’s wholly unusual. It’s actually worse for Thor, though, given that the last comic series I followed with the character was focused on his desperate attempts to recover Sif’s soul, cruelly locked away by Loki in the body of a coma patient.
Overall, you should see Thor if you saw Iron Man and its sequel (I done know you ain’t seen The Incredible Hulk, but you SHOULD). You’ll be glad you did when The Avengers roll around. Much like Marvel action figures of late, each movie has been released with a tiny piece of that final film already in place, and when the time comes you’re going to want to have uncovered every one of those limbs so you can join them into a world-smashing superhero extravaganza.
*I have many sisters, though my parents are still married, were never married to other people, and my mother has never produced a girl child. They’ve also never adopted. I’m the oldest of my generation, but one of my sisters is older than me.
**I mean, I’m not named Thor. ‘Cause, you know, how ridiculous.
Understand, though, that I was very close to being named Thor. My grandfather pushed hard for it. My grandfather is a now-retired traveling minister (and welding man, and counselor, and builder of rammed-earth houses) whose door-knocker is the hammer Mjolnir and Jormungandr.
This means that I traded one Storm God for another, though the hilarious tales of divine vengeance remain about the same.
Ego Poisoning 
Seeing Thor is actually my request for my birthday date with the hubby. I know you’re proud. We’re also taking Liam. Because he is likely more well-versed in Marvel characters than many an adult, and has been asking about it, and pretending to be Thor, for the past several weeks. Isn’t that what every 3 year old does?
Hell yes I’m proud; you know I thoroughly support Liam in his Marvel ways.
I was different as a wee lad though, because Ninja Turtles were much heavier in their swagger, and Marvel was due for the reboot it recently had with Ultimates—from whence this recent spate of excellent films arose.
I hope Little Man perks up when they make the gamma radiation comment.
Just got back from watching it… blergh. On the one hand, I appreciate that it’s a comic book movie. On the other, there’s little or nothing fun about the film after the first 20 minutes.
It’s like whoever wrote the screenplay didn’t understand that Thor is supposed to FIGHT things, save people, astound the senses; that as a comic book superhero his cool points don’t come from speaking with a cartoony accent, being charmingly befuddled by modern trappings, and flexing for appreciative ladies.
In a lot of ways it reminded me of Fast Five which I watched a few days ago, a car movie that manages to be about everything but cars or street racing. The setting’s there, the players are present, the special effects are up to muster… but instead of telling a super hero story about good guys saving the world from bad guys, the movie tells the tale of Thor’s weekend trip to earth and the awkward date he has with the cute girl he meets there.
Its worth seeing, since the 3D is something to write home about, and there are quite a few funny bits (“it’s meowmeow!”). But… it could have been a lot better, and that’s a shame.
It’s like I pay you to set up my posts. Set them up and not quite agree with me at the same time.
To be straight, I couldn’t even chuckle at that Meowmeow bit because I’ve known how to say Mjolnir since I was, I dunno, 6? Every time they did I just twitched and thought “Say it right!”
Anyway, my full review…of both the movies you mention, actually…incoming in two parts now that I’m up from my pizza coma.
Wow. You are spot-on for a movie you haven’t seen. I don’t expect movies to ever get a romance right, so I wasn’t disappointed. I have books for that. The turning point of Thor’s transformative experience was also glossed over. But I still liked it. Love comic book movies!
I love them too; and in a universe where Thor followed Spiderman 3 I’m sure it would have been my favorite movie in years!
It is unfortunate, though, that I don’t think I could watch Thor with non-comics folk (such as my lovely lady) like I did the Iron Mans or Incredible Hulk. If you’ve got the mythological shorthand to see what they’re doing with the tropes, that’s one thing.
I know myself well enough to recognize that I’d be leaning over every 2 seconds to whisper “See, Heimdall is…”