I had originally intended this to be my first blog post, as I saw this movie (in very good company, might I add) a couple of days after it came out here in TJ. Truth is I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we got the movie here before it came out in the US and give my thoughts on it, but there was no way I was going to wait on writing on my beloved Pack.
Let me start out by saying what a big fan of Thor I am. I think that whenever he's handled right, he is a very cool character; he isn't merely Marvel Comics' equivalent to Superman, he is a God! That´s what distinguishes him from all of the other super heroes and comic book figures. He isn't a superhero per se, he´s not a vigilante, he doesn´t need to resort to an alter ego (at least not my favorite incarnation of him, when he´s handled as a straigh-up God) or all of the other common superheroe tropes.
I've often hear fanboys going on about how the particularly characteristic godliness of the character takes away from the enjoyment they get from him; his godliness makes it unable for them to relate to Thor. I call bullshit on this. I call bullshit on the need for characters (specially comic book characters) to be relatable. If you are looking to super heroes and comic book characters for relatability, you´ve got issues.
But I digress... Moving on to the movie. It was good. I enjoyed it a good deal. I´ll admit I was hesitant so my appreciation for the movie did have the benefit of my lowered expectations, but I thought watching the movie was a satisfying experience. One of the reasons for my initial hesitation was that it seemed that both aspects of Thor would feature in the movie, the mythological, larger than life, Asgardian god, as well as the Misgard based, human-interacting superhero. I was not sure how both of these iterations of the character would play out in the movie's limited amount of time. To my surprise and satisfaction, the main emphasis is of Thor, the god of thunder that has his adventure in
Earth, but his godliness and that of his comrades is very much at the forefront.
I won´t get into the story too much by doing a recap or summary. I'll focus more on plot points or ideas that I thought interesting. First off, Thor was cool; or more specifically, the actor playing him. I think the movie depended on the casting of Thor. As a character, he's not the easiest to nail down. Playing a god, being arrogant, brash, smart but thick-headed, a leader but submissive to the will of his father; all of these characteristics must be integrated into his perfomance and they are. He's a likeable guy who despite his flaws has enough charisma to make others root for him and makes the support he receives understandable.
Some of the best scenes in the movie had to do mostly with the characters themselves. In particular the ones that dealt with Thor's difficulties in adapting to human life and relating with some of the characters. Granted, there weren´t too many of these scenes (given the movie's time restrictions, I imagine), but the ones that were in were greatly appreciated. I think that the biggest reason these were pulled off so well were the actors that were in the movie. I recognize the weaknesses in plot and story, but the actors are charming and talented enough that are able to do well with what they are given and the time they have to accomplish it.
I will admit that I geeked out at the semi-introduction of Hawkeye. When the main agent asks for Barton and we see a hand choosing a bow over a machine gun, I had a mini geek-gasm. My girlfriend sitting next to me had no idea what had gotten me so riled up. While I would have loved to have seen him in action, I thought that particular scene played very well as it was. And the fact they got that actor to play him was great!
One thing that I enjoyed in particular was how Thor's humbling was done. While it would´ve been better if there had been more time given to the process, I think the movie's pacing would´ve slowed down too much. I like that he gets it, he gets his punishment. It takes him a bit before he realizes what he's done and the consequences, but the moment that he does, it just about destroys him. I think his love for his father, his home, his brethren is transmitted well and his believing he's lost it all, makes him mature and realize he needs to change. He was humbled into being a better person (god), but not humiliated. That was good.
The early fight scene where Thor leads his gang to confront the frost giants was pretty neat. Seeing him rip lose and having all his buddies around him while doing so is something I've seen in comics countless times and seeing it happen on screen was very nice.
I've heard several comments regarding some of the god's ethnicities and here's my take on it. It's not something that's on the comics (that in itself will get a justifiable reaction from comic geeks) and it makes no sense for there to be a Japanese or black god in a race of nordic gods. That being said, I have no problem with them being there.
I can see why a studio would want for there to be a more racially diverse cast and while I understand the reasoning, I don't like it when they do that. What did save it for me was that I enjoyed who they got and they gave a good preformance (even if Hogun got very little to do). Heimdall in particular looked impressive, powerful and bad-ass, which is all you need basically for the role of watchman. Besides, as long as its handled well, I have no problems with changes being made to the original material. Just as long as it keeps me entertained and doesn't insult my intelligence as a movie viewer (or a comic geek).
So yeah, those are my thoughts overall on the movie. It was a good, satisfying movie-watching experience. There were issues with the movie, yes, but seriously, you can't expect too much out of a comic book movie I'm realizing. There is so little time to properly develop the characters and storylines, to be 100% faithful to the original material that I basically look to be entertained by a comic book movie. Plus, this all leads into the Avengers, so I'm content with that.
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