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Thor (2011 movie)

A 2011 action/fantasy film directed by Kenneth Branagh.

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This S.H.I.E.L.D. movie needed more Thor

May 6, 2012

by TheJohn
posted in Movie Hype

Exclusive to the Lunch Network

Rating:

Remember the 80's with movies like Masters of the Universe, Beastmaster 2, among others that took it's far out fantasy characters from another world, took them from that other world and dropped them into modern day Earth? How about other comic movies like Judge Dredd that remove the protagonist from his job and have him more down to Earth or less fantastic? Thats what sadly happens here to Thor but don't compare this completely to those I just mentioned as it's not that bad.

Thor is the God of Thunder who comes from the magical and far off realm of Asgard, he and his brother Loki the God of Mischief live in royalty with they're father Odin. One day, just scant minutes from having Thor poised to have him take Odin's place, intruders breach the castle walls in an attempt to steal a powerful artifact. Enraged Thor takes it upon himself to enter the land of Jotunheim where the Frost Giants are suspected of having committed the deed. Thor and his friends enter battle to ill effect only to be saved by Odin. Odin displeased with Thor's rash attitdue strips him of power, his armor and magical hammer and banishes him to Earth. Thor's friends are distraught, but Loki not so much as he has taken Odin's place and will not bring Thor back.

Thor lands on Earth in the middle of New Mexico in the care of college student played by Natalie Portman (nice landing) who studies spacial phenomena but finds that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency has taken away her materials (but are nice enough to pay her for the theft as reimbursement). Fearing she may have to start from scratch, Thor is cool enough after having his royal dickishness curbed to assist the student in her studies of the skies and learning of the different lands Thor has been to. Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Loki's rule has him learn of his own past and this makes his anger turn toward defeating Thor.

In the middle of this however is the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization led by that dweeb Coulson who has appeared in almost all of these current Marvel movies to do government things in the name of national security. They are gathered around the landing place of Thor's hammer which cannot be moved and even after Thor breaches the defenses, he cannot either as he is not deemed worthy anymore and finds he must dig down to be a man worthy of rule.

Now, if you were brought down by my opening comparison to those 80's fantasy movies, worry not as the movie is not as bad as those movies, but in a movie like this, the creators sadly had to cop out and only show us so much of the magical (and very colorful) world of Asgard and the frosty netherrealms of Jotunheim and instead focus the action in the sandy nowheres of New Mexico. Asgard though is shown enough that we aren't cheated completely but the movie is still very much in the Judge Dredd (1995) route in that we see our hero in his role fighting evil, he is taken out of his place and must fight to get back what is his and that means we don't see Thor doing many Thor like things, and we paid to see Thor.

Instead, after they are introduced we see the computer laden S.H.I.E.L.D. hide out with it's shadowy agents, the guys up high who watch whats going on and other nonsense. Coulson if I'm not mistaken gets as much screen time as Thor and I would have much rather see S.H.I.E.L.D. movie to see this rather then in a Thor movie where it feels intrusive.

Whats good? Well Chris Hemsworth is a new face and great as Thor, being an arrogant ass born with a silver hammer in his mouth to see his change to a man who learns what it means to have power and to care about those around him. The world of Asgard and in particular the Rainbow Bridge look very colorful and nice. It's nice to see color in these kind of movies when it's just e

asier to make everything look black and dark. The costumes on the Asgardians are all colorful as well with bright reds, golds and greens. Lastly if it wasn't implied before, it's always nice to see Natalie Portman.

Other then the disjointed feel this movie ends up with, the movie has it's bad points. It's another comic movie where knowledge of the comic is good to have. While some things are explained well other things are not. First off, I still have no idea what "Odin Sleep" is. I also didn't even know that Thor could FLY. I always just assumed that Thor hit guys with a hammer and shot lightning at bad guys and is a general badass fighter. But other then that, things are sort of just implyed as to what Thor can do.

This Thor movie in the end made me wanting more Thor. We got to see glimpses of what he does, what he can do and what his world is like but I ended up seeing more of S.H.I.E.L.D. and New Mexico instead.

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Madpenguin October 29, 2012

I had no real faith coming into this one. It's Thor, so I knew the production team would be lost. This felt too much like a vehicle to plug the Avengers movie.

TheJohn October 30, 2012

Oh yeah. Thor was going to be a little tough, but I'm still glad they tried going there.

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FM_ALEX May 09, 2012

Another great review man,although I liked this one a bit more than you.

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woopak_the_thrill May 06, 2012

hahaha. nice headline, John! too true. Obviously the producers didn't know what to do with Thor.

TheJohn May 06, 2012

He is more of a far out character. If the movie didn't show as much of Asgard as it did, I would have been more let down. More of the Warriors Three next time too.

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JSMaresca May 06, 2012

Great pictures on a popular topic!

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More Thor (2011 movie) reviews

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John Nelson (TheJohn)
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Born in Wausau Wisconsin. Move at an early age to Ventura California and lived for 8 years. Growing up in a big city landscape didn't prepare me for my next move: Archbold Ohio with a population of … more

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About this movie

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Marvel Studios expands its film universe with a new type of superhero: THOR. This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe; from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy epic which stars Australian actor Chris Hemsworth as the ancient Norse god, Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, a young woman who befriends Thor on Earth, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor's father and king of Asgard. Expect to see agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., previously seen in ''Iron Man,'' to make an appearance, further forshadowing the coming of The Avengers!

Directed by Kenneth Branagh. With Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Idris Elba. Visit IMDb for Photos, Showtimes, Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments, Discussions, Taglines, Trailers, Posters, Fan Sites
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/

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