On Thor

I saw Thor yesterday and it was good! Really good, actually. I didn't enjoy it as much as Iron Man because the central character/performance isn't as compelling but that's not to say Chris Hemsworth as Thor is bad. He played the role well and made Thor likeable yet seem of another time and place - he isn't a contemporary man.

It's different to all the other superhero origin stories we're getting because it's not about a man discovering or getting powers - Thor was born with them (right?). Thor's journey is about learning humility and maturing to the point where he is worthy of those powers, understanding the responsibility and the consequences of them. Where other men become superheroes, Thor is a superhero becoming a man.

I haven't read the comics and what I know of the character made me fear that his mythical origins and magical powers wouldn't gel with the technology based universe that Marvel set up in Iron Man. But they did a really good job of making Thor's abilities not seem hokey, drawing on Arthur C. Clarke to raise the idea that magic is science they don't understand yet.

I thought it was paced and structured well, though the transitions from Earth to Asgard were occasionally slightly jarring. The CGI for the most part was really impressive, with the ice creatures very convincing. Branagh used a lot of tilted angles and quick cuts during the fight scenes and it would have been nice to see the camera pull back and remain steady so that you could really appreciate them, but you could still tell what was going on - it wasn't all shaky cam a la the later Bourne movies. I'd need to see it again with a more critical eye to really judge the direction but I think Branagh did a good job overall.

I think he certainly pulled good performances from the actors. I've been having trouble with Natalie Portman lately but she was really charming here. Anthony Hopkins does kingly gravitas well and in other news the sky is blue. There was quite a lot of humour in the script to, some of it physical, but mostly good jokes delivered well.

As for the characters, there were so many good ones! Especially the women! The movie passes the Bechdel test in the first two minutes, I promise. In the comics Jane Foster (Portman) is a nurse but here she's an astrophysicist which I think was a really good change because it ties her storyline to Thor's for reasons other than she fancies him. She's shown to be passionate about her career, intelligent, and kind of a dork - I really liked her. She's aided and abetted by her assisstant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and guys, I really love Darcy and want to write fic about her. She's mostly there for comedic relief but she still comes across as a normal person. ( Spoiler that you've probably seen in the trailer but that I'll cut anyway )

And then there is Sif, who is one of Thor's friends and a badass warrior. There's a moment early in the film that I really like where ( Dialogue spoiler )

I've learnt that in the comics she's sometimes a love interest of Thor's but they didn't really play on that, just showing them as good friends and her as one of the guys. Sometimes its just nice to have female characters who aren't shown to be in a romantic relationship with one of the gang.

( Having said that, on shipping )

Idris Elba as Heimdall was really good, very noble and stoic. I've been a fan of Tom Hiddleston for a while and his Loki was complex. Shame about what they did to his hair, though (black and straight where it's normally blonde and curly. His fan community on LJ is called magnificenthair for a reason!) ( Plot spoilers )

Final verdict: fun and entertaining. It may not have a whole lot of depth but it's not shallow and you won't feel stupider for seeing it.