Thor
In a universe far, far away but not a long time ago, there is a
planet called Asgard. Ruled with an iron fist by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), this
world resembles a large, sprawling empire of towering castles. With a look and
structure all of its own, this alien world is still more connected to the rest
of the galaxy than one might think. Odin, the man in charge, has two sons; Loki
and Thor. Loki is a well-to-do son who doesn’t draw too much attention to himself,
and for good reason... he secretly waits in the wings for his true self to step
up.
Then there’s Thor; young, passionate, brave and hot-headed. He struts about
bursting at the seams with confidence, knowing he will one day inherit the
throne from his father and rule the world. But all it will take for Thor to
stuff this up is for him to lose his temper, which he does quite easily. The
extent to which he unleashes his fury is with his close companion Mjolnir; an
over-sized hammer.
Not too far from Asgard is a world called Jotunheim; a cold, desolate
planet ruled by the Frost Giants. Years ago, their race and the good people of
Asgard (under the leadership of Odin) fought a war for control of the Casket of
Ancient Winters. Asgard was triumphant and a fragile truce was formed. In
present day Asgard however, the Frost Giants want the Casket back and a few of
them sneak in through the back door of Asgard to snatch it. Thor is onto this
right away, and along with his brother Loki and a few pals, they fly through
space, naturally, and arrive on Jotunheim to claim back their prize. Wielding
big tools and flexing even bigger muscles, these galactic warriors pick a fight
with the Frost Giants and retrieve their Chalice.
However, as Thor has broken
the truce his father had worked so hard to maintain, Odin disowns Thor in the
worst way imaginable – he sends him to Earth! Thor is whipped through space
without having his say and literally crash lands in the New Mexico desert. He
has no power and has lost his hammer. Now an alien in a strange place, Thor
stumbles his way through the desert until a team of scientists come across the
man and take him in.
As the scientists try to understand this guy and where he came from,
S.H.I.E.L.D have discovered the location of Thor’s hammer. They set up base and
wait for the owner to retrieve it. Eventually, Thor finds his hammer and tries
to claim it, but can’t seem to pull it out of the ground. He realises that when
his father banished him, he denied him of his ability to wield the powerful
weapon. At this base we meet a character whose weapon of choice is a bow and
arrow (this character is actually Hawkeye, who will be seen in The
Avengers).
Back on Asgard, Loki makes his move. With his father on his death bed,
Loki heads down to earth to finish off his brother and claim the throne. Thor
won’t allow this to happen, and the two brothers face off in the desert for a
major “Clash of the Tools”.
Thor, for those not up-do-date with their Norse mythology, was the God
of Thunder. Debuting as a comic book character in 1962, Thor was a creation of
Stan Lee; the father of Marvel comics and the visionary behind dozens if not
hundreds of other characters. This film adaptation had been floating around
Hollywood since 2001, when Spiderman director Sam Raimi was looking to shoot
it. He got swept up in the Spiderman tidal wave of course, and the film moved
around a few studios until it was picked up again shortly after Iron Man was a
hit at the box office. As the first two Iron Man films and second Hulk
instalment were a success and The Avengers movie looked more like a reality,
Thor was given his own film to establish himself as a hero to keep an eye on,
and also because he was an important member of the superhero team.
I was very surprised by how good Thor was. It would have been a hard
sell originally, making a movie about a superhero from outer space at a time
when the cinemas were flooded with superhero characters who were earth-bound
humans. Thor came from another world and galaxy all together, so finding the
human side to him would have been challenging. But this film adaptation pulled
it off, with creativity and style. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, more known for
helming Shakespearian films, and starring Australian Chris Hemsworth, Thor
presented itself as a sophisticated, intelligent and ‘operatic’ superhero film.
* Post-Credit Scene - in a dark basement corridor, Nick Fury walks
out of the shadows and approaches a scientist. They discuss a new source of
power that has been discovered. This unknown source may connect earth to other
dimensions and contain power of unparalleled levels. The scientist is astounded
by this cube of power, and looks down upon it while behind him Loki appears and
whispers the words “Well I guess that’s worth a look then”. The scientist
repeats the exact same words, as if Loki is controlling his mind.
END OF SCENE *
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