Thor!
Thor!
I went to see the new Thor movie last night. I loved it. I think I liked it particularly because I thought that of all the major Marvel titles, Thor would be nearly impossible to film. I mean, it stars a big blond guy with a red cape and a silver hat with wings on it, swinging around a huge hammer. It's one of those things that looks great drawn, but in real life? Pretty goofy. Further, Thor as a character (although he's a favorite of mine) is not very movie-friendly. Unlike Spider-Man, he's not a real guy with real life problems. He's an ancient god, virtually invulnerable and super powerful.
And yet they pulled it off. I think a lot of credit needs to go to the writers, but the director, Kenneth Branagh kept a lot of disparate elements together. The movie showed a real love for the classic issues of the comic book in these ways:
1. When Thor's at it's best, you don't get the feeling that you're reading Norse Mythology, but rather some kind of bizarre hybrid of that mixed liberally with Van Daniken's whole space god concept. You never really know if the Asgardians are gods or just a super advanced race with super science rather than magic.
2. There was a nice mixture of action both on Earth and in Asgard. There were mortal and immortal issues at stake. Cosmic battles and normal interpersonal interaction.
3. Loki was given a surprising amount of depth. The movie could have easily portrayed him as the classic bwa-ha-ha kind of villain, and it would have been fine. But over the years we've come to learn that Loki's got reasons for why he does what he does, and his own brand of honor.
4. The Odinsleep! Heimdall! The Warriors Three! 8-legged Sleipnir (for about a second and a half), Bifrost! And of course, side references to other Marvel characters (the Hulk, Iron Man, and of course Hawkeye).
As both a comic book geek and a movie lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.
I went to see the new Thor movie last night. I loved it. I think I liked it particularly because I thought that of all the major Marvel titles, Thor would be nearly impossible to film. I mean, it stars a big blond guy with a red cape and a silver hat with wings on it, swinging around a huge hammer. It's one of those things that looks great drawn, but in real life? Pretty goofy. Further, Thor as a character (although he's a favorite of mine) is not very movie-friendly. Unlike Spider-Man, he's not a real guy with real life problems. He's an ancient god, virtually invulnerable and super powerful.
And yet they pulled it off. I think a lot of credit needs to go to the writers, but the director, Kenneth Branagh kept a lot of disparate elements together. The movie showed a real love for the classic issues of the comic book in these ways:
1. When Thor's at it's best, you don't get the feeling that you're reading Norse Mythology, but rather some kind of bizarre hybrid of that mixed liberally with Van Daniken's whole space god concept. You never really know if the Asgardians are gods or just a super advanced race with super science rather than magic.
2. There was a nice mixture of action both on Earth and in Asgard. There were mortal and immortal issues at stake. Cosmic battles and normal interpersonal interaction.
3. Loki was given a surprising amount of depth. The movie could have easily portrayed him as the classic bwa-ha-ha kind of villain, and it would have been fine. But over the years we've come to learn that Loki's got reasons for why he does what he does, and his own brand of honor.
4. The Odinsleep! Heimdall! The Warriors Three! 8-legged Sleipnir (for about a second and a half), Bifrost! And of course, side references to other Marvel characters (the Hulk, Iron Man, and of course Hawkeye).
As both a comic book geek and a movie lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.
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