The Story: I’m not surprised Thor loves super-unhealthy, diner breakfast food— it’s awesome.
The Review: As a god, Thor’s not really threatened by much, and certainly not by the majority of villains in the Marvel universe. Besides his loyalty to the Avengers, his connections to Earth lean more on divine fondness for the planet and its people as a whole, with few links to its non-superhero-related mortals—especially as his Donald Blake identity saw less use over time.
Straczynski brought back Thor’s human persona to prominence in his relaunch of Thor, so it’s fitting that in his and Protosevich’s screenplay, they try very hard to give the banished god a personal relationship with Earth. But actually the time Thor spends exiled on the planet is pretty short—about a few days, film-time (which is about 20 minutes, screen-time). It limits Thor’s exposure to modern mortality, and makes his intimacy with Jane Foster et al seem rushed/forced.
Helmsworth and Portman are both very likeable, and they definitely have a warm chemistry, but really, they only get several minutes-long scenes alone together, and the moments feel friendlier than romantic. It’s disappointing Thor gets hauled out of the mortal realm so fast, because it feels like his human relationships have just barely begun. Which is too bad, because they offer some of the funniest moments of the film (KOing Thor in various ways never gets old).
Aside from wearing a desert small-town outfit for, like, a day, and one funny cultural snafu where he smashes his mug (of coffee? Hot chocolate? Whatever it is, he really likes it.) on the floor of a diner, Thor doesn’t get a real mortal life experience. His heroic actions at the film’s climax are more motivated by his innate nobility than a personal investment in Earth. He would’ve done the same for any planet of innocents.
This fact also implies his ability to lift Mjǫlnir once more is unearned. Odin punishes Thor not only for his arrogance, but because of his thirst for confrontation, inciting war with the Frost Giants without thought to the consequences of his companions and his people. But when your companions and people are without exception all warriors, your concern for their safety is far less than for the largely civilian mortals of a planet unprepared to defend against non-divine foes.
Loki actually has the strongest conception in the film, and Hiddleston plays his complexities very well (except in his face-off with Thor at the end, where the dialogue gets hokey to the extreme). His jealousy of Thor is kept tightly controlled and his manipulations are far less obvious than the downright coy behavior of his comics counterpart. You can’t help feeling sympathy for him, as his actions are all motivated by his sincere desire to be loved by Odin and Frigg, and his deep conviction that they really don’t despite their assurances to the contrary.
The film is visually spectacular, with pretty much all the non-Earth scenes having completely CGIed settings, and the costuming is tremendous, although besides the primary cast of nine Asgardians, the immortal realm seems virtually (wah-wah) unpopulated. There are basically three action scenes (I won’t count Thor’s one-shot dismissal of the Destroyer by sucking him up into a tornado “action”), which seems too few for any comics film, but the cast and crew do a great job making it look convincing. One really irritating chunk of the movie is Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three attacking the Frost Giants, as the entire sequence is so darkly lighted you can hardly see what’s happening.
Conclusion: The potential for greatness is there, but taking a step back from the gloss and flash, you realize the script is missing quite a bit of substance, and the pacing rather poor. A very enjoyable film, but you can’t help pining for what might have been with some more attention to the screenplay.
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Jane, you don’t have to eat Go-Lean cereal. You’re way too thin already from all that Black Swan dieting nonsense.
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