By: Peter J Mellini


“Whoever holds this hammer; if he be worthy shall posse the power of THOR!” and that man is actor Chris Hemsworth! I’ll admit, I had my reservations about Thor following up the wildly successful Iron Man franchise. It seemed almost impossible to tell a story about gods who exist in a world of magic and myth that could co-exists in the universe set up in Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. Who could possibly play the iconic god of Thunder that so many hardcore Marvel fans loved! All of those doubts were put aside in the first few minutes of this film!

The film opens the story of the realms of the life tree, worlds connected by the bifrost rainbow bridge, in which Earth and Asgard, the home of the Norse God’s, exist . Anthony Hopkins as Odin tells the story of the Frost Giant Invasion of Earth, monstrous beings with the ability to create ice blades from their hands and flash freeze their enemies using a magical weapon known as the Jotunheim casket. A weapon the Frost giants intend to use to create a second ice age on Earth.

Man kind is saved with the arrival of the Odin and the Asgardain army. A fierce battle is fought and the Asgardains rise victorious. A truce is struck between Odin and Ymir, king of the Frost Giants. The Frost Giants return to their world and are never to return to Earth or Asgard and to insure this Odin takes the Jothunheim casket and locks it away. He tells this story to his young son’s, Thor and Loki, in hopes of inspiring them to their future role as King.

Time passes and Thor is about to be named the new King of Asgard. Everyone in Asgard is in attendance but the ceremony is cut short when three frost giants break into Asgard’s weapon’s vault and attempt to steal the Jotunheim casket. Thwarted by the vault’s protector Odin considers the matter dealt with. Thor disagrees! Father and son argue over the next course of action. Odin believes any course of action would break the truce, Thor argues this attempted attack has already done so. Odin forbids Thor take any action on this matter.

Feeding on his brother’s anger, Loki tricks Thor, The Warriors three and Lady Sif into traveling to Jotunheim and retailing for the Frost Giants attempted attack.  Thor is quickly suckered into a battle with the entire Frost Giant army.  Odin quickly discovers what Thor has done and punishes him disobeying and for breaking the truce. Odin removes Thor’s powers, locking them away into his hammer, and banishes him to Earth.

As epic as that all sounds, that is maybe the first 10 – 15 minutes of the movie!

THE GOOD:

Thor and Jane Foster : Chris Hemsworth is an inspired choice to play the Odinson! His portrayal of the character is true to the comic book. Hemsworth is able to give those epic speaks and battle cries as well playing a more comedic when showing Thor’s confusion in ‘Midgard’ culture.  Natile Portman as Jane Foster is great. I mean she’s Natile Portman, she’s great in everything she does, don’t think she’s ever made a bad movie.  These two share a great chemistry on screen!

The Warriors Three and Lady Sif: Growing up I was more of a DC fan then Marvel, but one of my oldest friends was a Thor fanatic! So I couldn’t help but know who these characters were haha. But among all of the Thor Cannon my favorite characters were always the Warriors three. To see them up on the big screen , looking very Kirby-eque , fighting beside Thor was one of the biggest thrill in this movie for me. I loved that Lady Sif was portrayed as an equal to the Warriors three, in some cases saving their necks in the heat of battle. Too many times she is played as simply Thor’s love interest and not the warrior goddess she is meant to be.

Odin: When I first read that Sir Anthony Hopkins was going to play Odin I knew this movie was going to be EPIC. There really is no other choice for a role this huge. The casting of Hopkins also shows how serious the film makers were about this movie. It shows they were making a great movie, not just a great comic book movie.

Director Kenneth Branagh: Another example of Hollywood finally taking comic book movies seriously was the choice of Kenneth Branagh to helm this picture. Branagh was able to tell the grand story of Asgard and their fierce battles and still work in humor, keeping everything in perfect balance.

THE BAD:

???: Honestly I really don’t have anything bad to say about this movie. Granted there was a bit of confusion weather Thor was actually a god or just an advanced being from another world.  Hmmm, although Loki story was told I wish they would have fleshed the character out a bit more.  But then again being the master manipulator I guess he should be hidden away in the background.

THE GEEKY:

Asagardan Weapon Vault: At last years Comic Con the Marvel booth showcased props from Thor, one of these items was the fan favorite Infinity gauntlet. Sharp eyed fans will see this item as well as Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto locked away in the vault.

Thor and friendsvs the Frost Giant army: This battle is so huge in scale! It’s apparent the cgi animators used Jack Kirby pages as reference for Thor’s fighting style. This is seen when Thor swings his hammer so fast that it looks like a giant wheel! Very KIRBY!

Thor’s secret Identity: Writer’s were able to find a way to work Thor’s famous alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake into the film in a pretty comedic way.

Cameos!: What’s a Marvel studios movie without some cameos and shout outs to up coming projects? References to Stark and Shield are all over this picture, as well as a really cool cameo from Hawkeye.

Easter Egg: Without giving away any spoilers (because it’s all over the net already) the famous Marvel after credit ending really lives up to the tradition! The scene gives us, what I believe is, our first look at the events of AVENGERS!

Thor is a great start for the summer blockbuster season! Even though the character isn’t as recognizable as Captain America or Iron Man this movie does an excellent job at getting everyone up to speed.  If this movie is any indication of the scale of Avengers then Christmas 2012 can’t come soon enough!