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Marvel’s Thor

Verily!

I’ve been avoiding Thor trailers like a plague. Since the Comic-Con teaser trailer I decided that was more than enough to grab my interest into seeing one of the best film production company’s movie adaptation of a comic I enjoy inspired by mythology I think is really neat. I knew I was going to see the movie, and I would rather be surprised by all of it, that be clawing the TV in anticipation. However, there was stuff I couldn’t avoid. The minimal, shallow posters and billboards all over town. The overheard snippets of yelling and crashing on the tv before I could mute it. And the rumors that Kenneth Branagh and Thor comics let the common factor of cheesiness overtake the movie. It would make sense to me that Paramount wouldn’t have faith in a comic book adaptation of Norse mythology spoken in Elizabethan English to draw an audience, and would ruin the nobility of the franchise for the sake of “wow factor”. Ya know, to compete with Fast Five. I prepared myself for a disappointing film, but I was going to see Thor nonetheless.

I WASN’T DISAPPOINTED AT ALL! I was wildly impressed! The movie was not how it was being depicted in advertising at all. It had plenty of action and spectacle. A hell of a lot of spectacle. But it also had heart, and humor, lots of humor. It was endearing and triumphant, not just big and thundery.
The casting was excellent, all of the characters were charming, each in their own way, and they even managed to find a young Thor and Loki who looked just like their older counterparts. And they could act! The acting was great, especially by those who were playing mythological deities reminiscent of a Dungeons & Dragons game. There wasn’t one character who wasn’t enchanting in some way. You couldn’t help but enjoy everything about Thor despite his massive flaws, you respected every word said by Odin, you felt for Loki, and even The Warriors Three were flat out loveable! And I have to mention the talent of actor Clark Gregg for his perfectly executed Agent Coulson, and Kat Dennings, who stole every moment she was onscreen with the slightest of gestures and reads.
The direction made all of the chaos between Earth, Asgard, Jotunheim, and the American audiences’ ability to grasp something like this work out very well. Branagh managed to stay true to the realism of Earth, the magnificence of Asgard, and the comic book charm of Marvel. I couldn’t believe it. But a big part of that was the art direction, which was glorious and beautiful. They somehow managed to make the rainbow bridge of Bifrost not lame, which should say plenty of their ability to pull off this movie.

All in all, the movie pulled off a lot of stuff that I think most every other studio would deem hard to do. Everyone involved did a fantastic job on this film, and should be proud. I, for one, loved it, and will be back to see Asgard again soon.