Eye Candy #531 - "Thor"

Thor:  This is the latest offering from Marvel Studios in their now full-on drive for an “Avengers” movie.  From the outset, “Thor” is easily the most daunting of the Marvel properties to convert to film.  Its story is steeped in Norse mythology, weird monsters like giants, elves, and trolls, and stilted language full of ‘thees’ and ‘thines’.  So it’s probably just as well that they didn’t play it completely straight and jettisoned some of the back-story here to streamline it for unfamiliar audiences.  The result may not seem overly familiar to fans of the comic property.  The set-up: Earth is one of 9 connected worlds (actual physical worlds).  One of these worlds is Asgard, populated by a race of superhumans that have been beneficent to humans in the past and live in a society where magic and technology work together.  Other worlds are populated by violent creatures like Frost Giants and the like.  The leader of the Asgardians is Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and he has two sons Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).  Thor is violent, brash, and arrogant, while Loki is quiet, contemplative, and scheming.  Due to his own actions, Thor is banished to Earth, where he encounters two research scientists studying odd weather patterns in New Mexico, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Eric Solveg (Stellan Skarsgard).  SHIELD also takes notice of Thor’s arrival as well.  During his absence, Loki schemes to ascend to the throne, while Thor learns humility, compassion, and selflessness while amongst the humans.  The supporting cast is quite deep, including Idris Elba, Rene Russo, Colm Feore (unrecognizable under heavy make-up), and Ray Stevenson.  Director Kenneth Branagh seemed an odd choice when first announced as the director.  However, he does have some advantages:  1.) talent flocks to him just because of his name; and 2.) he does a good job here tapping into this Shakespeare roots, using familiar tropes from “King Lear” to move the relationship between Odin, Thor, and Loki along.  It’s not an over-complicated story arc – two sons vying in different ways for their father’s affection.  And when it gets slow, they inject some necessary humor into the situation.  I worry that they almost play it too goofy, but there is so much about the film that is goofy, not the least of which is the overall set-up, that it’s probably best not to think too hard about it.  The acting is good with Skarsgard, Hiddleston, and Portman as the stand-outs.  But the best Marvel movie so far?  Meh.  I like others more for different reasons (like “Spider-man 2” and the first “Iron Man” movie), but it’s still very watchable and it sells what should be the hardest sell of the bunch.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”