“Thor” brings spectacle, grandeur, light touch

Wow, and wow.

I’ve never been a huge Thor fan, except for Walt Simonson’s epic run back in the ’80s (see cover example below).

I usually like my fantasy rooted in the here-and-now. Or at least some far-flung then-and-there from actual human history, or a plausible future. The last full-on fantasy film franchise to consistently place my butt in theater seats was the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and it is certainly the exception that proves the rule.

The original Lee/Kirby Thor comics also thrilled in their day:

Jack Kirby’s drawings (above) were not sophisticated, but they jumped off the page with a primal 4-color energy that comic artists have been trying to replicate for decades since. And on Thor, instead of the usual 9-12 panels per page, Kirby usually crafted about four panels per at the most, each one crammed to overfilling with otherworldly spectacle.

The new Kenneth Branagh movie, opening today, does the same thing, writ large on the silver screen.

For the newbie: Thor is a Norse God, living where the Norse Gods live in a groovy outer-space gated community called Asgard. Thor pisses off his Dad, Odin, who is King of Asgard, who strips his impertinent son of his powers and banishes him to earth as punishment for his arrogance and misbehavior. Enter Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman; they meet cute, then cue the Asgardian skullduggery, courtesy of Thor’s no-good brother Loki, the god of Mischief.

The storylines cut back and forth until they come together predictably in the end.

Hey, even though it’s directed by a Brit thespian, it’s still a comic-book movie. Critics looking for a re-invention of the wheel, ala Dark Knight, are bound to come away pissing on this movie as an unwelcome return to form for the genre. Hornswoggle!

(As long as we’re going negative, though… save your money and see this movie in the 2D it was shot in. Only the Asgard and outer space scenes really benefit from the 3D work-over. I suspect the rest of the movie’s relative muddiness is the result of the same process that made the fantasy sequences sing.)

But is it a great summer movie? Oh, yes. The star, Chris Hemsworth, is 6’7” and had to lose muscle mass to fit into his costume when he showed up on set, and is still an overwhelming physical presence. His shirtless scenes almost made me wish I was a man, too.

Natalie Portman brings every inch of Natalie Portman-ness to her role as the physicist girlfriend-to-be of Thor. She is cute and sweet and perky and says things in an endearing way… this performance will do nothing to alienate her from the fan-boy base she picked up in the second wave of Star Wars films.

And Jeremy Renner, from The Hurt Locker, cameos as archer Hawkeye, foreshadowing next summer’s Joss When-helmed blockbuster-in-waiting, The Avengers, which will unite the stars of the Iron Man, Thor and Captain America franchises—and more—next summer. (Just don’t look for Ben Affleck as Daredevil; I believe there may have been a scheduling conflict...)

Branagh directs with fleetness and authority. I will admit it was distracting, however, how many Asgard scenes he shot with the camera at some weird tilted angle. It reminded me too much of Battlefield Earth. We need to find a new movie shorthand for Alien Environment.

Anthony Hopkins is perfectly cast as Odin, but the Warriors Three and Sif failed to make much of an impression. The guy who played Loki was good without being memorable. He was like a poor-man’s Alan Cummings; why not just get Alan Cummings? It’s not like Marvel is afraid to cast the same actor in different roles in its films; This July’s Captain America stars the same toothsome pin-up who played Johnny Storm in Marvel’s for-kids-only Fantastic Four franchise.

But I don’t think any of that matters much. Even if this film stands on its own, I predict this Thor film ends up a stand-alone, and the Avengers franchise goes Thor-heavy. Why do I think this? As is becoming Marvel’s movie calling-card, when Thor ends, wait till the credits finish rolling. The McGuffin for next summer’s Avengers movie is revealed, and from a storytelling perspective, it makes perfect sense. This particular Ultimate Power Source is an old weapon of one of Captain America’s greatest foes, has celestial ramifications (requiring Thor’s supernatural assistance), and is tech-based, thus begging Tony Stark’s participation.

This movie met expectations on every level, and exceeded them on some.

I would definitely go see Thor again. Any takers, contact me in the comments or privately.