Thor (2011)

How appropriate was it that I chose Thursday (Thor’s Day) to check out the thunder god’s addition to the Marvel take over. It was a moderately large crowd which contained I would assume 50% curious fans who loved Iron Man, 40% geeks who love anything comic book, and 10% Thor fans that know more about him than “that dude who is a god”.

Natalie Portman was an absolute cutie, I know, I know she always is but trust me she brings the sex appeal in a major way as Jane Foster, the scientist who falls head over heels for the thunder god. Where Portman dominates the screen in beauty, Anthony Hopkins brings his A game as he always does. What an absolutely perfect Odin the old man is, he commands your attention, he looks regal and when he scolds his sons you cringe as if you were one of them. I know comic book movies aren’t “serious” enough for acting awards but damn it if he doesn’t earn something for his portrayal of Odin.

Now there was some belly aching over Asgard being cast multi-racial as opposed to a pasty white mecca. One actor who took a lot of flak was Idris “all black women want to sleep with me” Elba as Heimdall the gatekeeper. Well for you racially ambiguous nerds that were spazzing out over the black taint on your movie, you can relax – Idris killed it. I was amazed that Thor had godly friends that were as charming as they were forgettable yet the small moments that Heimdall was onscreen you paid attention. Not only was he memorable, he was a guy that you wanted to root for with his booming voice and unwavering sense of honor. Idris Elba’s Heimdall  is a very well written and well-acted side character to the tale.

Thor could not have been realized without the power of computer generated images (I can see the purists cringing at this statement). The city of Asgard had flying buildings, endless bridges, a gleaming castle and atmosphere that was very alien. When Thor would command lightning and thunder it wasn’t a miniscule thing, no he brought it from the entire viewable sky. The special effects were massive, the action was decent (a bit too much on the close-up, hip camera fighting for my tastes) and IT WAS HILARIOUS. Chris Hemsworth nails Thor’s ego and opportunistic speeches of the “mighty son of Odin”. You will find yourself cracking up at every turn and gasping in awe when you aren’t laughing. This is a comic book done justice on the silver screen; I was very pleased with it.

The general consensus is that Thor is an amazing addition to the Marvel resume. Leaving the theater, people were huddled into mini groups gasping at what they had just seen and nowhere did I hear a negative word about Thor. I can only hope that Captain America can grab the baton and keep the momentum going come July. This really gives me hope that the days of Elektra and Dare Devil are over and a nerd can anticipate his/her childhood hero being delivered convincingly in the theater.