Over the next two years, I will be threatening my pseudo geek cred by having the comic book fans prove just how little I know about Marvel comics properties. In truth, I may have read 50 comics in my life (including series of Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim, Sin City, and Y: The Last Man counting for half) and I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time when there were animated Batman and Spider-Man shows.
But, the rest of the time, I am a huge user of the phrase "Know OF" as in I know OF Iron Man, I know OF the Fantastic Four. These names mean nothing to me besides movies released in my lifetime. I may be a geek, but a mistaken one at that. Why people think I'm a gamer, why people think I'd know about Green Lantern, I don't know.
I just love movies with strong characters. Sure, Batman is a complex universe and that's what draws me to it, but the movies I go for are not quite the quirky indie movies, but I sure dislike blow 'em up big budget flicks. I am not impressed by sci-fi computers, yet I think that 1941's Wolfman features the most beautiful repellent hand off I've seen so far.
In truth, it's a struggle to have to face people and tell them that I am not in love with Marvel, nor do I know whose on the opposing DC Comics. I just know the movies, and even then, I often prefer the camp-tastic romps of Superman II.
So in truth, I am not counting the days until the Avengers as eagerly as most people (more wish Joss Whedon would make Dr. Horrible 2). However, I am fine with watching these movies because, let's face it, it's the zeitgeist, the representation of our generation, and just like I ask where anyone was when Blues Brothers came out, I expect a theater experience; a moment that lives with you forever because of some profound unity, no matter how much you cared for the work.
Which brings me to Thor.
What do I know about Thor the character going in? I have a scant memory of him in my Saturday cartoons. I may have heard "By the hammer of Thor, I shall avenge you," somewhere, but I don't know his battle cry, his hidden power. To me, he's just a guy from another planet who wields a disproportionate hammer... or to sum it up in my way: the hobo Superman (and besides, the only time hammers were cool was in Johnny Cash's 'The Legend of John Henry's Hammer').
This was exactly the position I wanted to be in going in to see the new Thor movie. In fact, it's the same position I have been in for all of these Marvel movies since Spider-Man (possibly before). I wanted the mythology to convince me to love it instead of having expectations.
However, the trailers made me think that this would be campy, like Superman II. The entire set up seemed the same down to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) being Superman and his buddies being General Zod in some backwards town. Lois Lane? Jane (Natalie Portman) and Darcy (Kat Dennings). While most of what I have seen up to this point makes me believe Marvel doesn't swing that way, I still think a guy swinging a hammer looks as stupid as a man flying.
Let's just catch the world up to speed, in case you are like me:
Thor lives on Asgard, a mystical planet in space somewhere beyond Omicron Persei 8. It is ruled by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who is attempting to keep peace with the Frost Giants. Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), sister Sif (Jaime Alexander) and the Warriors Three: Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandrall (Joshua Dallas), and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano); decide to break peace the day Thor is elected to be Odin's successor and mess with the Frost Giants, resulting in a whole mass of trouble. Yadda, yadda, yadda, Odin banishes Thor to Earth without powers.
Once on Earth, his powers are gone, though his swagger seems to be in tact as he flirts with Jane while Darcy cracks jokes and their mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) shows off his vast knowledge on the Thor mythology by checking out every book in the children's section of the library.
The hammer from the end of Iron Man 2 is found in the middle of the New Mexico desert, and S.H.I.E.L.D. has it surrounded with assistance from Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). It's a mission to retrieve the hammer and get back to Asgard. Will he make it? Drop $12 to find out.
What impresses me the most about this movie is that Marvel has progressively gotten better at movies over the past decade. Where we occasionally saw garbage like Ghost Rider and Fantasic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the initial quality attached to the Marvel name has been solid effort, where even when it fails, the effort seems to strengthen the cracks. Sure, Iron Man 2 was just a two hour ad for the Avengers, but you can only accept that it was good in comparison to say... Daredevil.
I don't think Thor is the exception. Throughout the movie, I was more perplexed with it's ability to work as a singular film as opposed to a continuation from Iron Man 2. The story was a simple family betrayal story mixed with trying to overcome thickheadedness, and while I'm not exactly sure it succeeded there, the concept was really interesting, even if the action didn't compare.
The movie's biggest flaw is that it's characters are not really that interesting. True, most seem to be adept to over dramatic theater, but they didn't have much personality. I felt Thor had traces of it, but fell back into the dense jock type from time to time and kind of kept me from really feeling he was an authentic character. Even Jane, who had a nerdy beginning, fell into typical girlfriend mode halfway through and was more there to state obvious awe.
With this in mind, I do not know Thor. Maybe he's just not a great character to judge characteristically. I think what saved this for me was it's ability to make a complex emotional story that had me intrigued to know where Thor was going and how he would regain power. It covered all of the basis, including love and loss. In fact, it may be the most operatic superhero flick I've ever seen... even if a lot of the other elements were boring.
I'm also proud of Marvel for stepping up their subtlety from Iron Man 2. When I walked out of this movie, I didn't feel I was bombarded with references (except for one bogus thing in the credits) to future projects. I didn't get distracted with "Oh, that's Hawkeye!" or "They referenced the Hulk!" It just simply happened to fit in the story. In that regards, this movie succeeded. It felt like a fleshed out universe.
Even Asgard looked visually complex and interesting. I'm not a big fan of big effects, but some of those aerial shots were rather neat. Whatever that Rainbow Bridge thing was and the gatekeeper Heimdall (Idris Elba) all were interesting concepts that I was glad were more than transition shots.
In fact, while this may not be the most entertaining of any Marvel movies, it is a well thought out one mixed with pretty shallow humor, plenty of character development, and enough subtle references that I can put this in my top 20 favorite superhero movies and not feel ashamed.
In fact, I am sure that my expectations of this to be really campy is what's detracting me from loving it. I am willing to give this another try in hopes that with the shock gone, it will be the movie that I think it is than what I thought it was.
This will not make me read Thor, nor get me any more hyped for the Avengers, but I am proud that if anything, superhero movies are finally being churned out at decent production values. I'm also ecstatic that in a time of Transformers 3: Dark of Moon, we have good big budget flicks out there.
I'm just hoping I won't be bombarded with crap when the world discovers how much less I know about Captain America: The First Avenger or the Green Lantern.
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