The Artificer's Studio

I’ve been reading comics since I was a really little kid. One of my favorites has always been Thor. The first copy I remembering reading had everything a young boy could hope for; swords, sorcery and a Viking ship in space. For me Jack Kirby’s futuristic - Art Deco version of Asgard has always been the streets that my imagination has wondered down. I have followed Marvel’s Thor faithfully, even when it went all glam-rock, right down to the teased hair, leather and chains. When the announcement was made that the franchise was going to the big screen there was a smile on my face that couldn’t be hidden.


I thought back on the few versions that have been submitted to American pop-culture and laughed. We seen Vincent D’Onofrio as Dawson/Thor in ‘Adventures in Babysitting’ and Eric Kramer as Thor in ‘The Incredible Hulk Returns’, there have been numerous others but these always tainted my golden streets of imaginations.

Last night I had an opportunity to see an early screening of ‘Thor’. I went in with two expectations;

1.) To be entertained

2.) Not to be disappointed.

Now, with those criteria established, I can safely say, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I really enjoyed the film I was entertained start to finish. Kenneth Branagh and the writers established the back story quickly and without compunction. Asgard was the Kirbesque golden realm that it deserved to be. It’s portray made me a little happy. It was the nod to Jack Kirby that I thought he so richly deserved. They quickly defused any debate about the Asgardians as gods suggest they were an advanced culture mistaken as “gods”. Frankly, I can live with that. They also made an effort depict Asgard as a very cosmopolitan society with many different races populating the realm.

I really enjoyed Chris Hemsworth as Thor. They did a few little camera tricks to make him seem larger than the ‘mortals’ around him. Tom Hiddleeston as Loki was spot-on. There was a menace behind his eyes that just captured the character for me. Sir Anthony Hopkins is Odin, enough said. One thing I overheard someone comment about was Chris Evans as Captain America and his portray as Johnny Storm and "how stupid it was to reuse him." I guess they missed Ray Stevenson as Volstagg. He was the latest actor to play the Punisher and was most bombastic enough to be Volstagg.

There were several tie-ins to the Marvel universe story lines. They establish Dr. Donald Blake and do it in a fashion that works without introduce the whole Thor\Blake entity dynamic. There are several laughs scattered in the movie. The biggest however was an odd one. Agent Coulson is interrogating Thor and inquires where he was trained, “Pakistan?” he asks. The audience laughed hard. I guess recent events changed that whole outlook, huh?

I had a couple of things that did irritate my inner geek (yes, I know there are ointments for that); First, Hogun the Grim was the only character I couldn’t get behind, for me they did not capture the basis of the classic character. He wasn’t ‘grim” enough to suit me. Second, Thor making out with Jane Foster, all the while his wife, Lady Sif, about thirty feet away really made  me uncomfortable. Ok, I know they never make the connection between Thor and Sif in the movie, but I knew it. There were a few other things that were off a little but I can live with them. Most of those could be glossed over and the casual viewer would never even miss them.

I really enjoyed the film and I’m sure I’ll do my best to convince Kendra to go see it, so I can see it again. I know little Jack will love it. He’ll be screaming “Look Dad! A frost giant!” Also, Thank you Hansen for passing along the ticket, you made a real geek really happy.