05 July 2012 - Super Powered Fiction

So to anyone wondering, I did see the Thor film a few weeks back, but I have held off on my thoughts on it until now. For the most part, I thought it was a solid film, though a few bits proved disconcerting for me. All in all though it continued the legacy set by the first two Iron Man films quite nicely.

My wife's favorite scene in the film.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor was absolutely perfect casting. I have never seen the man before outside his five minutes at the beginning of Star Trek but he proved himself to be a great thunder god in this film. Equally great in their role was Idris Elba, who received some flack ahead of time for portraying the Norse “White God”. The only shame that I could say about the film was that Elba’s role was so small, as he brought more character in his presentation than Heimdall ever saw in Marvel’s titles.

I wouldn't mess with this man.

Natalie Portman as Dr. Jane Foster (no longer a nurse, or even a medical doctor) failed to wow me though. Unlike Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man, she feels less like a wholly formed character and more like a needed love-interest. The relationship is nowhere near as flat as her work in the Star Wars prequels, but it still doesn’t really win me over.

That being said, the romance plays second fiddle to the awesome in the film. The frost giants are gorgeously constructed as is the entire magi-tech world of Asgard. Several Marvel artifacts get a cameo in Asgard’s vault, which is guarded by the utterly awesome Destroyer, perfectly brought to life for the film.

Perhaps surprising considering its name, but the Destroyer manages to destroy a lot of things over the course of the film.

The cameo added after the fact of another Avengers cast member also brought a smile to my face, though his insertion, much like the bonus scene at the end of the film, fall flat for most of the crowd. Both features will need a bit of explaining if Marvel expects people to understand them by the Avengers film.

Thor proved to be a solid action hero movie, far and away better than the lackluster previews ever would have made me believe. I could add more about Stellan Skarsgård and Clark Gregg, but I think I have probably said enough.

Oh, as to the “part the first” up there? It seems Marvel isn’t the only one to give us a superhero Thor this summer….