Thor - a (sort of) proper post
May. 8th, 2011 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousie
The end.
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OK, just kidding. Though honestly, what more do you need? A full disclaimer before I go into a more detailed post behind the cut - I am pretty sure that my vastly positive impression of Thor was influenced by the fact that Chris Hemsworth as Thor is pretty much what my physical ideal of a man looks like - despite the fact that this LJ is drama-zone and is knee-deep in various appealing Asian drama stars, my personal paragon of manly attractiveness is a blond, blue-eyed, Viking-looking guy. Don't ask. Long story. Has been this way since high scool and I am too old to change now. So to actually see that on screen for two hours - ummmmm. Yeah.
Clearly, getting Kenneth Branagh to direct was a genius move because KB, with all those Shakespearean adaptations under his belt (his Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare adaptation ever), knows how to do operatic and larger-than-life and make it believable and grand and not ridiculous and overblown.
If you think about it, all the stuff on Asgard (a fantasy, Viking-type world where people quaff and wear shiny helmets and go berserk), was begging to turn into another Zardoz or Flash Gordon - a silly cheesefest that would be ripe for parody. Instead, somehow it's grand and epic and engrossing. Tbh, I preferred Asgard bits to those set on earth (though the fish-out-of-water stuff was pretty funny). If I had my druthers, I would have preferred to have the whole movie set there. It would have been the most awesome mythology-meets-fantasy thing ever.
Of course, part of my preference for Asgard part of the story might have been that Natalie Portman was absent in those. I have nothing against NP and I didn't dislike her character or anything, but I wasn't particularly impressed by her either. She just didn't register. The writing for the romance was the movie's sole weakness and NP and Chris Hemsworth didn't have the world's greatest chemistry, the kind of chemistry which would overcome the shortcomings of romance as written and make me believe that they fell irrevocably in love in the course of a couple of days.
I would have so much rather seen Thor paired with Sif (who is apparently his ultimate OTP in the comics? Now I feel cheated), who is this awesome warrior woman who can demolish armies and takes flack from nobody and is apparently a good friend of his. Oh well, I suppose that's why fandom and fanfic exist.
My favorite scene was Thor in 'jail' after failing to retrieve Mjolnir. Probably because until then, even when he was banished to earth, he was so confident and cocky and energetic and then he's just...destroyed. When Loki shows up and he looks up at him and asks him whether he can come home, he's like this lost little boy and it sort of broke my heart.
So yeah, CH is ridiculously, inhumanly hot, but he also can act. Yay!
I really liked the bildungsroman aspect of this. Unlike a lot of superhero stories, this wasn't about an average person aquiring power. It was about a powerful person losing it and learning humility and he limitations and fragilities of others by being bound by those same limitations. Daddy Odin was clearly a proponent of tough love if Thor got his hammer and powers back by asking Loki to kill him getting killed by Loki's monster in exchange for Loki sparing the people of the town. I suppose that way the lesson will stick?
After the movie ended, my main thought was 'screw The Avengers, I want to see Thor 2!!!!!!' Though it would be pretty funny to see Tony Stark and Thor butt heads. Can the Universe even contain two such egos in one place?
To conclude as shallowly as I began:
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 09:49 pm (UTC)Actually, I'll take both, but you're right. If I had to choose, I'd totally take Thor 2. I want to know what Loki's up to and see Thor get back to Jane (I found them more interesting than you did). And yes: Chris Hemsworth, wow. The thing I loved? Before Thor was humbled, when he smiled all I wanted to do was smack the arrogant smile off his face. After? It was just the sweetest smile ever. That's acting right there. And Branagh did a great job with it. My only real complaint is that the 3D was kind of pointless, but then I usually think that.
It seems to be getting good reviews, and did pretty well at the box office, so here's hoping for a sequel. *crosses fingers*
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 10:12 pm (UTC)The "romance" didn't click for me either. I love both actors, but their love story was too rushed and they didn't have sizzling chemistry to convince us.
I wish they gave Darcy more lines. In the second half of the movie she was pretty silent.
My boyfriend is a total comic book geek, so he spent the whole movie quietly mumbling to himself about the differences between the original and the movie. But he really enjoyed the movie. And I did too.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 10:19 pm (UTC)Also, Jane did not work for me at all. I thought she would have been more interesting considering that she's a physicist, but she barely had anything to do in the movie. Plus, she and Thor did not work for me AT ALL. I'm hoping against hope that in the sequel Thor and Sif get together. I mean, the movie ended with a pretty open ending so who knows.
And yes, CH is GORGEOUS. I saw Thor on Friday and I STILL haven't stopped talking to anyone who will listen about how utterly stunning I find him. I think whoever cast him as Thor was brilliant. I mean can you honestly think of another man who could fit the part of a blond viking god better than CH? NO.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 10:29 pm (UTC)BRB GOING TO WATCH THIS MOVIE.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 10:54 pm (UTC)Branagh was a wonderful idea. He's an excellent director and he gets wonderful performances out of his actors. (Loki! I know I was smitten by Thor, but the casting of Loki was particularly inspired, and the actor is great.)
I used to read the comics (Old Marvel fan), and the film really worked for me, with some moments of pure geeking out at some details. The differences didn't bother me, but then I tend to think that being too faithful to the comics is a sure way to end up with a ridiculous movie. Even the Sif thing didn't bother me too much. He has a relationship with Jane Foster in the comics too, after all -- well, mostly as Donald Blake, his human alter ego, it's comic-book-complicated -- even if Sif is Thor's OTP to end all OTPs, even beyond Ragnarok.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 12:29 am (UTC)I wasn't enticed with how 'EPIC!' and 'THRILLING!' this Marvel adaptation promised to be, but if you say go, then I'll check it out. :P
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 01:05 am (UTC)On a shallow note. CHRIS HEMSWORTH OM NOM NOM. Oh man did you see that shirtless scene? WHAT a body. I was seriously weeping inside that we didnt see him naked more often. like come on director think of the ladies wont you? Seriously such a fine man, and I too have a thing for viking looking dudes and blondes. (and cowboys) although I dont know if its my ideal, i like dark hair and tan skin and dark eyes combination just as much. Well, I like a little bit of everything what can I say?
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 01:45 am (UTC)The thing I wasn't expecting was to be so compelled by Loki's character. Hiddleston was oddly captivating. I'm actually pretty thrilled he'll have a role in The Avengers. He and Hemsworth totally made the film for me.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 02:04 am (UTC)In the end the romance is just so barebones - her crush on a handsome, peculiar stranger who seemingly has all the answers to her research questions. Not sure why Thor falls for her in such a hardcore way, but I think I was sold on the way he felt by CH's acting, not so much the strength of the script.
Regardless, loved it. And totally agree with you about Asgard. I'm still puzzled why people thought the world in Avatar was so pretty and "omg wanna go there".. Pffft. Asgard was much more of what a gorgeous, alien fictional world should look like. And it wasn't all blue, so that helped.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 04:28 am (UTC)And the scene you put in spoiler...omg, I truly felt how much he loves her, and of course, must praise CH's acting for that! And didn't you love that part in the end, when Thor asked the gatekeeper how she was doing...the smile on his face...AWWWWWW!
I can't wait till Avengers just to see Thor (CH)...and heck yeah to Thor 2!!!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 03:34 am (UTC)I loved Jane Foster but thought her relationship with Thor needed a bit more developing. Sif and the Warriors Three were great and should definitely be a key part of the next Thor film. Hang the Avengers, I want more Thor!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 04:00 am (UTC)I'm probably in the minority but I am not into CH at all. Yah, even after the shirtless scene. =P Ok, I think there was that one scene when CH smiled so warmly to the camera that my heart finally did flutter...slightly...but only just a tiny bit. XD
Loki totally stole the show for me. That scene with Odin and Loki was heartbreaking! For both Odin and Loki. Please I need more Loki!
In regards to Jane, yah I could have done without her. She was quite boring and did nothing for me.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 12:28 pm (UTC)lol, this type of guy just makes me think of my cousins. And while they are attractive and all, just so NOT sexy! I mean, we used to bathe together as kids.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 01:47 am (UTC)