THOR: Grading, Discussion, Review **SPOILERS***

I think that's kind of a silly point. You may as well criticise Hamlet for not showing commoners in Denmark or Macbeth for not showing ordinary Scottish society.

 

I'm not up on the Thor comic continuity these days - is Loki being a frost giant from the comics, or invented for the movie? Or, for that matter, does it go back to the original folk mythology, about which I also know only the most general stuff?

 

Portman and Hopkins were no doubt cast to give the film name actors since Thor and Loki were played by relative unknows.

What was JMS's cameo?

 

I don't think they presented it quite right, but if you stop and think about it, Thor has known everyone in his Asgardian social circle for about a millenia. If he's still a bachelor, then he's pretty much played that scene. Jane is fresh, new, different and cute, goddam right he'd be intrigued. Meanwhile from Jane's perspective, "Oh. My. God." sums it up.

I think their reaction to each other makes perfect sense in real world terms, and I think they showed some really good chemistry moments. Not so much that this is a true, undieing love, but that this is someone he can't get off his mind and wants to go back to.

He was the first dude in the truck that tried to pick up the hammer. Stan Lee was the guy who tried to pull it out with his pick up. I didn't catch Walt Simonson though.

 

Right, it was more like the beginning of a romance, really. It's not as if they jumped in bed with one another immediately. They met, they were intriged, they started to fall in love, and then they got seperated abruptly. So they want to see each other again. It's just happening on a cosmic scale. Nothing out of the ordinary, which was, I thought, basically the point.

Walt is sitting next to Sif at the banquet table in one of the final Asgard scenes.

 

You know, I saw the "Thanks to" section at the end of the credits. I recognized the names of several writers, including Louise Simonson and of all people Ralph Macchio. Did anyone else notice that?

I said this before but I thought the scene where the humans are trying to lift the hammer was pretty damn funny. When you think about it, it is what guys would do. Have a tailgate, get drunk, and then nearly kill themselves trying to lift it.

 

^ I gather it was a list of writers who were consulted on the project or whose comics were used as inspiration. Macchio (the Marvel comics editor) wrote Thor for a while, I think.

 

His Frost Giant origins is something that has been in the recent comics. I can't remember the issue I read, but it had Odin recovering him as a child, similar to what happened in the movie, though Loki was much older. His possibly being a Frost Giant predates the Marvel storyline however. I think he has switched back and forth from being an Asgardian to a Frost Giant, according to the story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loki

 

I think that comes from the comics, but I'm not sure. I haven't read any of the actual comics, but a couple weeks ago I read up on Thor on the Marvel Comic Database, and I think I do remember reading something about Loki being (part?) Frost Giant.
EIDT: I just checked out Loki's entry, and it says that he was the son of the Leader of the Frost Giants, and that Odin found him and took him in after he killed his father in battle.

 

I'd bet many, many people thought it referred to the former Karate Kid.

(Okay, I admit it. I did)

 

<<The Eye of Agamotto in the Odin vault? Dr.Strange tease it seems.
I heard the Infinity Gauntlet is there but missed it both times.
The Cosmic Cube in the post credits is a fanboy only moment obviously. Drilled home by the fact that unlike Thor's hammer in IM2 or Tony Stark in TIH I had to explain to both sets of people just what it was they were being shown>>

I saw that and wondered if that was the Eye but figured what would it be doing in Asgard..I have to admit I know what a Comsic cube is but didn't realize that's what it was in the end..and was Loki possessing the researcher?

 

Yeah, probably.

And, indeed, he is truly an inspiration to us all

 

When I watched this yesterday, I assumed the Frost Giant's weapon was supposed to be the Cosmic Cube. I didn't realize it was the Casket of Winter (or whatever it's called), I had to remind myself it was Colm Feore under that awesome makeup job.

 

Of all of the Marvel characters who have hit the screen thus far (either in productions by Marvel directly or in productions by other studios/distribution companies), Thor is the one with whom I'm the least familiar, but I enjoyed the film almost as much as I enjoy the first two X-Men movies, Spider-Man 2, and DC's Batman films, which says a lot both about my individual tastes as well as about the quality of the film, since it was able to appeal to me in general terms given my lack of familiarity with the characters and concepts associated with it.

People have been questioning whether or not the film made Jane and Thor's relationship move too fast, but that kiss before he goes back to Asgard is clearly mean to be a spontaneous choice/action on the part of both parties involved, and is played as such by both Hemsworth and Portman. It's a step in the evolution of their relationship, not the culmination/defining moment of it, especially given that they are separated from one another (even temporarily) by Thor's actions in stopping Loki's plans.

Edit: I also thought that the Frost Giants' weapon was the Cosmic Cube.

 

Overall, I liked it. Good action in the scenes on Asgard and battling the frost giants. Same with the battle between Thor and the Destroyer. It was nice to see a Superman-level character in a movie do something other than lift things and stalk his ex.

More CGI than I prefer but that's to be expected these days.

Most of the actors were good. The one exception: Kat Dennings' character was too annoying, especially the way she wore baggy loose fitting tops throughout the movie. Also, while I realize it was necessitated by the plot, there was nothing in the movie to explain why Thor would be interested in Foster and not (as often the case in the comics) Sif.

Enjoyed some of the subtle nods to Marvel history: the mention of a Gamma-ray expert who got involved with SHIELD and was never seen again, the SHIELD agent assuming the Destroyer was "one of Stark's" inventions, calling Thor "Don" as a fake name to SHIELD, etc.

The post-credits scene with Fury was the weakest one of the series so far, but I guess that's going to be expected since they've now lined up everything except Cap for the Avengers movie.

 

My first guess was Stark but a number of websites are reporting the original script mentioned it was "Dr. Pym," meaning Ant Man/Yellowjacket.

 

I didn't find the movie all that good actually. I suppose my main compliant would be pacing, poor acting, and missing plot points.

 

I thought she was fine although I do wonder why he wouldn't be interested in her.

 

I saw it this morning and I loved it. I don't really see where the Thor/Jane relationship was to quick, IMO it didn't even really reach the level of a relationship, it was pretty much just a mutual attraction up until the kiss. And I don't think the change in Thor was too abrupt like some people said, I really think not being able to lift Mjolnir really made him rethink his behavior. I think my favorite part of the movie were the The Warriors Three and Sif, and Heimdall, they were awesome.
EDIT: Voted A+