BEFORE: The last few seconds of "Iron Man 2" (after the credits) led directly into this story - so I'm awfully glad I put the recent Marvel films in this order. And I think by now everyone realizes that Samuel L. Jackson made an appearance in all of these, so that makes the linking a snap.
THE PLOT: The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
AFTER: I dozed off a couple of times during this one, but I don't think it's the movie's fault. I hit another Beerfest on Saturday, and went right to sleep when I got home, and it takes a few days for me to get back on a (semi-)regular sleeping schedule.
Visually, comic-book movies don't get any better than this, with sweeping vistas of the giant golden city of Asgard, the ice planet of Jotunheim, and the desert wasteland of New Mexico - throw in some storm FX, some hammer lightning, and a rainbow bridge, and it's one big treat for the eyes. The people all look great too, where they found this giant muscle-bound actor is anyone's guess, but the costumes also look very shiny and textured. Maybe the guy looks extra big next to Natalie Portman, she is kinda short.
But the inherit problem in adapting a Marvel comic is the same as the one that arises when adapting a work of classic literature - what to leave in, and what to leave out? Thor's been around as a comic-book character for almost 50 years, and you can't shoehorn in all of his best enemies, like Surtur, Hela, Ymir and Ulik the troll - or even the Midgard Serpent. This turns out to be the story that you HAVE to tell when introducing the character to U.S. audiences.
You've got to work in Loki, since he's the Number 1 Thor villain, and you've got to get Odin, Sif and the Warriors Three, of course. And Jane Foster, a nurse in the comic books but an astrophysicist here. That's where they mostly stopped, which is good because you don't want to throw too much out there in the first go.
And Asgard has nine (count 'em) worlds, with Earth (Midgard) being one, plus we also see Asgard and Jotunheim. That leaves 6 more worlds to explore in any potential sequels, so it's a big sandbox to play in later, I'm fine with that. They should at least do a story where Thor goes to Hel and back. Even the comic books don't spend much time in Svartalfheim or Vanaheim - Thor mostly divides his time between Asgard and Earth.
Visually, the transport between the worlds, via the Rainbow Bridge, is depicted here like a giant teleportation tube that goes from planet to planet. Which is a little interesting - are the 9 Worlds of Norse mythology really worlds? There are (OK, were) 9 planets in our solar system - is there a connection there? Pluto = Hel, Muspelheim = Mercury, Jupiter = Jotunheim? Or is there not meant to be a physical, tangible connection between them, do they exist in other dimensions?
Again, I'm just treating this film as an introduction to the character, and as a lead-in to "The Avengers" (2 cameos/plot points are, I assume, direct precursors to the upcoming film's plot). But I'm not sure there's enough here to stand on its own, or to serve any other practical purpose. I'm assuming that true comic book geeks just treated this like eye candy, because there's so much much more they could have done with this character. Thor goes to Hel should be movie #2, and Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods, would nicely wrap up a trilogy.
NITPICK POINT: The Norse gods were worshipped by Scandinavians for centuries - and in this film, they are depicted protecting the faithful (presumably Norsemen) from evil. So why does the portal from Asgard dump Thor in the New Mexico desert, and not, say, Norway? Seems awfully inconvenient. Sure, the simple answer is that it's easier for an L.A. film crew to get to a desert shoot. But do the portals change over time, or was this an accident? Who's in charge here?
Starring Chris Hemsworth (last seen in "Star Trek"), Natalie Portman (last seen in "New York, I Love You"), Anthony Hopkins (last seen in "Meet Joe Black"), Stellan Skarsgard (last seen in "Angels & Demons"), Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba (last seen in "American Gangster"), Colm Feore (last seen in "Changeling"), with cameos from Rene Russo (last seen in "Lethal Weapon 4"), Ray Stevenson (last seen in "Cirque du Freak"), Samuel L. Jackson and of course Stan Lee.
RATING: 7 out of 10 frost giants
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