"Thor" Puts the Hammer Down

A successful "Thor" comic story and a successful film adaptation of the "Thor" comic have something in common; a real need for balance.

The comic needs to construct a homogenous mix of action in the fantastic world of Asgard, Thor's home and the place of dreams, mystery and myth. This is a wonderfully imaginative realm, largely defined by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the oh so distant (and increasingly mythical itself) early to mid Sixties, and no Thor epic would be worth a red cent without exploring this glorious world. But to keep the narrative from becoming too allegorical or ungrounded, a good portion of the story usually takes place on Earth, where Thor (or his sometimes human guise, Donald Blake) walks among the mortals and helps to lend everyday resonance to his soaring morality tales.

In similarly dual purposed fashion, any Marvel movie adaptation needs to not only satisfy and remain true to the rich history and idiosyncratic quirks that have defined their trademark characters for decades, but must also be streamlined enough for a non-comic book reader (read: the vast majority of the public) can come in "cold" and still understand the character and enjoy the story.

These are two deceptively difficult tasks, but Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" manages to achieve them, through a mixture of reverence and innovation (not always successful but admirable, nonetheless). It delivers a tale that does a great job of introducing the character and his mythology to the uninitiated masses, and yet is recognizable to the longtime fans; a neat little tightrope act that's rare and welcome.

"Thor" introduces us to the world of Asgard, a self-contained universe/city in a different star system than our own, one of the "nine worlds", of which Earth is one. Asgard's inhabitants were once worshipped as gods by our ancestors, and centuries ago, after a huge battle with their mortal enemies, the Frost Giants, the Asgardians withdrew from our world and their existence fell into the realm of myth.

Flash forward to the present, where the Asgardian ruler, Odin is hosting a celebration/transference of power from himself to his eldest son, Thor. Thor is a brash and heroic warrior, brave and smart but quick to action and anger. Before the ceremony can begin, Asgard is revealed to have been breached by the Frost Giants. Thor, in his rage, argues that a pre-emptive strike against the Giants is warranted as response to this invasion, but Odin counsels calm, and forbids Thor from acting. Thor disobeys Odin, fearing for Asgard's safety and assembles a group of friends; Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun, to raid the Giant's realm, along with his cunning, dark minded brother Loki. Once there they realize they've bitten off more than they can chew and after a savage battle, retreat with Odin showing up to try to smooth over the ill advised attack with the leader of the Giants.

Enraged at Thor for his arrogance and disobedience, Odin depowers him and banishes him to Earth to learn humility. He arrives on the cusp of a huge lightning storm in the desert and is discovered by a mortal theoritical physicist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who believes that Earth is "not alone" in the universe and that the cosmic map we've all acknowledged is not complete. After some obvious misunderstandings, Thor befriends Jane and her two companions, and Jane and Thor begin to fall in love.

Meanwhile, Loki moves to seize the Asgardian throne himself, through a series of devious power plays. He comes to Earth and tells Thor that Odin has died (in truth, he's just fallen into the "Odinsleep" a kind of periodic regeneration from which return is likely, but not certain) and that Thor has caused it. Heartbroken, Thor resigns himself to life away from Asgard, while Loki returns to the realm and assumes the throne, and plots with the Frost Giant leader to solidify his position.

But Thor's friends come to his aid, and as the third act falls, a battle royal between brothers ensues, with the throne, many lives and possibly the fate of Earth lying in the balance.

Oddly enough, for all it's epic majesty, the theme of "Thor" isn't quite as universal or ambitious as say, Spiderman or Iron Man, or even the X-Men. Whereas those film adaptations delved into their progenitor comics' themes of responsibility coming from power, personal growth through adversity and the empowering nature of community, "Thor" is at its heart, a tale of brotherly conflict over the love of a father, and the various ways in which that love and need for approval plays out, for good and for ill. Helmsworth's Thor is a brash but essentially good hearted alpha male, who has probably achieved too much too soon to appreciate his fortune and understand patience and nuance, who grows from humility and defeat. 's Loki hits just the right mixture of slithery ambition with a trace of sympathy. It's understandable why he's angered at Odin but that doesn't justify his resulting actions; unlike Thor, he doesn't grow from his trials, he recedes into rage and self-centered outright villainy. While I was initially agnostic about Anthony Hopkins as Odin he pulls it off and captures all the imperiousness and 'ends justifies the means" manipulations of just about everyone around him, yet still comes off as a wise and essentially benevolent ruler.

All of the supporting cast does well, with as Sif standing out among the Asgardians along with Ray Stevenson as the voluminous Volstagg.

Though successful overall, I found the earthbound scenes less compelling than the Asgardian ones. This may come from simple curiosity; I know what Earth looks like, and how it will likely be portrayed but for longtime comics fans, the question of how the mythic realm of Asgard would look was a huge question mark, and it largely turned out well. It certainly looked otherworldly and majestic, with the rainbow bridge and the realm of the Frost Giants particularly appealing. I did kind of miss the vibrant colors of the Kirby era; the kaleidoscope costumes, the spectrum "Fruit Stripe gum" rainbow bridge, etc. The color scheme here was much more pedestrian but perhaps necessary to make them less jarring to the casual moviegoer.

I also felt some of the plot developments on Earth were a bit poorly paced, but that may be also the nature of the beast. In a two hour film you really have to pack in a lot of plot to introduce all the characters, their world, the villains, and the overall story. It's like an obstacle course where you only have so much time to devote to each station; "one, showcase the world, two, introduce characters, three, do some love stuff, four, put the hero down to his lowest point..." etc. For instance, it really stretched credulity (even "movie" credulity) that Jane would fall so deeply in love with this man who's fallen out of the air, assaulted tons of hospital workers and broken into a federal facility to retrieve his hammer, and has only been in her presence for perhaps two days. And her demeanor around him was much more "girlish" than I'd have thought reasonable. I know she's a young woman, and she's in lust with this guy, but the gushing and the blushing made me think I was watching an old "Square Pegs" episode at times.

Most of my other complaints were of the "dissatisfied geek" variety and probably had no impact on the average person. Thor's stubble, for instance, was instantly off-putting. It served no purpose other than to make him look more "rugged" (as if a hulking, blond, long haired Norse warrior needs help with that), and Jane's research assistant gal Friday was a groaningly stereotypical "21st century tech savvy sarcastic pragmatist" that I could have easily done without. And when you have a magical nearly endless interstellar/dimensional bridge/prism made of what looks like fiber optic crystal, is it really necessary to tie it into a whirling globe/machine to make it eye catching? This was a deviation from the comic that really made no sense, as did the cringe worthy PC nonsense of making non minority characters into minorities just on what appears to be the hope of "including" minority viewers (as if they couldn't or wouldn't support anything unless they had a token representative or two). I also missed the Shakespearean speech patterns of the comic..."Fie on it!" and "Unhand me, base varlet!" were nowhere to be found, but again, probably a dicey choice for a film with mainstream appeal, so I begrudgingly accept it.

"Thor" succeeds overall though, in bringing a sense of largeness to the screen. Large characters, with large ambitions, doing large things and engaging the viewer in the process. The heroes are flawed but ultimately noble and self-sacrificing, the villains base and cunning, with welcome hints of humanity and the feeling of epic power is palpable throughout, whether it's being used, coveted, or just lying in wait. The film is a visual and narrative treat for fans and newbies alike and will never bore or confuse you. For purists, keep an open mind and don't expect a 'page to screen' copy and paste; you won't get one and it's probably neither possible nor profitable. Cheer on the good guys, boo the bad guys, and be grateful it still manages to capture the grandeur and more importantly, humanity of the comic. For everyone else, get set to meet a batch of funky costumed demigods whose universe you can't help but find imaginative and involving.