After the Bike MS ride, I got home at 9pm. I freshened up, ate a nice pasta dinner my wife whipped up, and I hit the road. I was meeting my friend Doug in New Brunswick to see Thor. Was I tired? Of course, but I didn’t want to cancel on my friend. We hang out rarely, so I hate to be the one to screw up our plans. I met up with him in New Brunswick for the 11:15 PM showing of….. THOR!
So who or what is Thor? Directed by Kenneth Branagh, it’s the story of the arrogant Norse God of Thunder who is sent down to Earth as punishment by his father Odin. This is based on the Marvel Comics character, not the actual Norse mythology. This film fits into the Marvel film continuity that kinda started with Ang Lee’s 2003 film Hulk (but more directly with Leterrier’s 2008 The Incredible Hulk) and truly started in earnest with Favreau’s 2008 Iron Man. I’m a big fan of continuity in fiction, so I’m all for this.
Anyway, the film starts in the Norse mythology realm of Asguard with a little backstory on the war between the Frost Giants of Jutunheim and Odin’s people in Asguard. Thor gets punished and sent to Earth, where he is a slight fish out of water, but meets Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster character. Meanwhile, Thor’s brother Loki is up to no good, and Thor will have to battle him towards the climax of the film. Oh please, is this a surprise? No spoilers here. The cast was good — Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Portman as Jane, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Selvig. Most interesting tidbit was Chris Hemsworth as Thor, as he also played George Kirk in J. J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek. Interesting!
I thought the film was good, but found the scenes in Asguard and the battle scenes to be the best parts. Before I actually sat through the film, I thought the “fish out of water” scenes on Earth might be interesting, but they weren’t all that exciting. They were okay, but I started waiting to find out what was happening in Asguard. It was also good to see Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D agent Coulson again.
Thor (2011)