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Six months ago, I looked at “Thor” as nothing more than a hot, sweaty and 3-D ab workout video. Well, a3-D ab workout with two Oscar winners, with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman bringing their metaphorical workout mats and Spandex to the production.
The trailer? Laughable. The star? An shirtless Australian “hunk” ripe for a third-rate soap opera. The story? Comic book meets aliens meets the Norwegian log flume ride at Disney’s Epcot Center. The predicted upshot? “Daredevil-icious.”
Oh snap, I was wrong. “Thor” is a hugely ambitious summer action flick, a unique amalgam of the talents of Marvel stud Stan Lee, Norse fireside storytellers and Shakespearian-trained actor-turned-Director Kenneth Branagh. It works, mostly, and it surprises, often.
We get shuffled back and forth throughout “Thor.” In the faraway realm of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is about to ascend to the throne of his father, Odin (Hopkins) before his creepy brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). But an army of alien Frost Giants ruins the crowning, and the quarrelsome Thor breaks an old truce in stupidly enacting revenge. As punishment, dad takes his hammer, deals him some timeout and spanks himto earth.
Meanwhile, back on earth, earnest scientist / plot prop Jane Foster (Portman) is investigating meteorological anomalie – the kind that send ripped blond dudes to earth via lightening – and serendipitously rams Thor with her truck. Sparks fly, literally and figuratively. And so begins the back and forth between scenes on Asgard, where something shady is afoot, and earth, where Thor struggles to gather his bearings minus his powers.
During the first of what I’m guessing is a planned franchise, “Thor” grows from reckless youth to a humble protector of earth. While he longs to pal around with his posse of warrior buddies back home, he grows smitten with the young researcher and gets a soft spot for mankind.
But why does this have to take two hours? “Thor” is a stunning visual 3-D spectacle with better-than-average acting across the board. The fact that such a nerdy source story – one featuring extraterrestrial Norse gods with medieval flare – can hit the big screen without 300 people laughing in unison is a huge win for the flick. But while the Asgard scenes dazzle the eye, the narrative back on earth is flatter than a Thomas Friedman book. Why not shave 30 minutes off the epic affair and ratchet up the suspense?
If the rest of the popcorn movie entries exceed expectations on this level, then the forthcoming shirtless hero worship season might give me washboard abs – “Conan,” “Captain America” and “Sinbad” (the wayward warrior, not the comedian) are yet to come. Maybe not. At the very least, the Norse God of Thunder now has a better big screen representation than his cameo in “Adventures in Babysitting.”
“Thor,” checking in at 114 minutes and rated PG-13, is now playing nationwide. Mike gives the movie 3 out of 4 stars.
The trailer? Laughable. The star? An shirtless Australian “hunk” ripe for a third-rate soap opera. The story? Comic book meets aliens meets the Norwegian log flume ride at Disney’s Epcot Center. The predicted upshot? “Daredevil-icious.”
Oh snap, I was wrong. “Thor” is a hugely ambitious summer action flick, a unique amalgam of the talents of Marvel stud Stan Lee, Norse fireside storytellers and Shakespearian-trained actor-turned-Director Kenneth Branagh. It works, mostly, and it surprises, often.
We get shuffled back and forth throughout “Thor.” In the faraway realm of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is about to ascend to the throne of his father, Odin (Hopkins) before his creepy brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). But an army of alien Frost Giants ruins the crowning, and the quarrelsome Thor breaks an old truce in stupidly enacting revenge. As punishment, dad takes his hammer, deals him some timeout and spanks himto earth.
Meanwhile, back on earth, earnest scientist / plot prop Jane Foster (Portman) is investigating meteorological anomalie – the kind that send ripped blond dudes to earth via lightening – and serendipitously rams Thor with her truck. Sparks fly, literally and figuratively. And so begins the back and forth between scenes on Asgard, where something shady is afoot, and earth, where Thor struggles to gather his bearings minus his powers.
During the first of what I’m guessing is a planned franchise, “Thor” grows from reckless youth to a humble protector of earth. While he longs to pal around with his posse of warrior buddies back home, he grows smitten with the young researcher and gets a soft spot for mankind.
But why does this have to take two hours? “Thor” is a stunning visual 3-D spectacle with better-than-average acting across the board. The fact that such a nerdy source story – one featuring extraterrestrial Norse gods with medieval flare – can hit the big screen without 300 people laughing in unison is a huge win for the flick. But while the Asgard scenes dazzle the eye, the narrative back on earth is flatter than a Thomas Friedman book. Why not shave 30 minutes off the epic affair and ratchet up the suspense?
If the rest of the popcorn movie entries exceed expectations on this level, then the forthcoming shirtless hero worship season might give me washboard abs – “Conan,” “Captain America” and “Sinbad” (the wayward warrior, not the comedian) are yet to come. Maybe not. At the very least, the Norse God of Thunder now has a better big screen representation than his cameo in “Adventures in Babysitting.”
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