I swear, my title is perfectly relevant.
I think we all know that Hollywood is seemingly scraping the bottom of their think-tank, trying to come up with a film that isn’t dull, full of loaded effects but still bland or a movie that actually works in every aspect.
So I was rather suspicious of the sudden boom in superhero movies in 2011. Some are saying that Iron Man and other Marvel films are just the tip of the iceberg, because The Avengers is the main course while these are just the appetizers. But that won’t be until 2012, so if the world hasn’t met its demise yet we will see this either really good or plain horrible movie in theaters then.
Then again I am digressing like crazy here. Allow me to wheel back to the supposed movie I will write about.
On Wednesday, a friend and I decided almost simultaneously that we will watch Thor. Because it looks really epic and there isn’t any other show that appeals to us. But! We treated it as a fun ride and went in the hall without any expectations-or did we?
I think other occupants in the hall must really hate me. I don’t know if my snide remarks, snarky laughter or just any random word uttered have reached anyone’s ears and ticked them off before. Then again, I never got told off by anyone, but I never know. At times I think I’ve even annoyed myself. Perhaps I ought to whisper from now on, but I still allow myself to laugh as loudly as I dare when the entire audience is laughing. Deal.
Thor takes on an emerging trend of god-related films lately, this time of Norse mythology. Thor disobeys his father Odin, and to teach his hot-headed son a lesson about life (and to stop being an idiot), his own father stripped him of his power and banished him to Earth, along with his iconic hammer. On the hammer, Odin, cast a spell (did he?), saying that only a person worthy of its power may wield the weapon.
I think the gods must really hate Earth. Or it’s just Thor. Because he had an ‘FML’ look when he knew he was stranded on our planet.
Nice.
So, our titular character crashes to our beloved realm in a showy blast of auroras and comets… and sparkly stars, whatever. Lo and behold, he landed right in the path (literally) of scientist Jane Foster. And without further ado, her assistant Darcy Tasers him. And later on he got tranq-ed because he simply wouldn’t stop being an idiot.
It didn’t take Thor very soon to learn how to adjust to human life, apart from smashing cups and demanding a pet shop to supply him with a horse. As the movie progresses, his level of idiocy goes down, and there is that compulsory scene where he walks around shirtless. Because we all know that 30 pounds of muscle must not be put to waste.
No, I wasn’t entranced.
Meanwhile, Odin being a king and having cast his own son away from him fell into a comatose state which is said to allow him to heal. Erm, okay? His son and Thor’s younger brother, Loki steps forth to claim the throne. Determined to prove himself to his father, he deceived both good and bad, sent a really frightening machine to Earth to eliminate Thor, and did battle with his brother.
The movie concludes (somewhat) with Loki plunging to his (I won’t call that death because that is a strange C.O.D) and both worlds being restored. Happy ending, continuation towards another Marvel movie, yada yada. Anyhow! There was an extended scene after the credits that I missed (actually I would say 98% or maybe everyone in my hall did), but according to sources online, Nick Fury shows up wearing his serious face, eyepatch and all.
I think eyepatches are catching on as a trend.
It was only yesterday that I looked through the movie’s concept art. And was blown away by the effort and thought that went into making this movie. Any movie, in fact. The herculean amount of work that defines a film is staggering, every time I think of it. I will not go into detail on how beautiful or how proportional the figures were drawn because it’s so cliche for an art student to say those lines. Jeez.
Alas, yet again which I will blast yet another movie for being overly shallow in terms of plot. Or the fact that the movie appeared to moving way too fast. While it was already implied that Jane will fall in love with Thor, there wasn’t enough time to show their chemistry nor was there really any substance. I couldn’t remember everyone’s names because they were probably only mentioned once. Or twice. Was Odin’s wife actually mentioned by name? I personally felt that the prelude to Thor’s banishment to Earth ought to be shown at the very beginning instead of cutting back and forth from Earth, to his past, and back to Earth.
And naturally that marksman who almost shot Thor with his arrow could only be someone important-because which sane/normal human being uses bow and arrow to take down an enemy on a rainy night? In a government facility where people like SWAT or highly trained gunmen exist? Another mention is that Agent Coulson appears here and there throughout the film as an annoying presence to the other characters. But then his role is to assure that all the Avengers will be assembled together, so he can go on and be high-and-mighty for now.
According to Wiki, the marksman’s name is Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (master of the obvious name) and surprise, surprise, he is part of the A-team.
But, I really liked that one scene where early in the film, Odin arrives in a glorious burst of golden light amidst the gloom (pshaw) on a mythical beast known as Sleipnir. It is an eight-legged stallion that is said to run as fast as lightning, and is the steed of Odin. So I appreciate the Norse reference to that. Sleipnir has a really interesting story, if anyone is interested enough to take a peek. I just figured that it’s cool to have read of something years and years ago and knowing what it is, so let me have my moment.
So another film with a borderline plot coupled with really amazing special effects. It’s worth an entire NatGeo documentary about the universe because you get generous shots of the stars, planets and other galaxies. Thus we get major eye candy! Not the actors but incredible stars and nebulae!
While Asgard (the realm of the gods) is supposed to look and feel celestial-in a sense, I didn’t quite get that aura from the place, even to the men’s costumes. Yup, I’ve mentioned this before in my previous post when I saw the trailer. They do resemble knights of valor and royalty, but I don’t know about the god part. Thor’s costume screams ‘masculinity’ all over but I won’t go into depth on that. I like how on certain costume designs there’s a subtle hint of Japanese samurai influence. It’s probably just me, because as of now I can’t find any picture to support my theory. But they look great! Or I just happen to hate overly adorned outfits with lots of plating and steel.
And here is my final verdict: Not a fan of the story line-could be better but maybe superhero tales take a similar route in such? I’m not implying that I really thought it was crap, but just saying that a little fine-tuning could’ve made it more fulfilling to watch. Because I did enjoy some small bits of it, here and there. It was close to being a regular feel-good movie. All the actors did a fantastic job on their roles respectively, and I felt that Kenneth Branagh’s take on this comic was like stepping out of his comfort zone, and it was great. I applaud his effort.
The script was even hilarious at some scenes! So all in all it was a decent film. It had some high points, and low points, but I can see why it has garnered mostly favorable reviews thus far. But is Hollywood promoting the overly-buff physique a little too enthusiastically? I find muscular guys very disturbing, so it might be a personal preference.
Now, that we are done with Thor, on to the next Avenger film-Captain America I suppose?
And also, moral of the story: when you watch a Marvel movie, stay in your seat until all the credits have completely (totally) rolled off the screen.
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