Thor movie review
I just saw Thor last night and it took over my brain. It was hugely fun. And so... shiny! Good job, Kenneth Branagh.
I am very fond of Norse mythology, although I am not all that knowledgeable on the topic. But I'm enough of a Tolkien&Lewis-fan and metal-head (for more context, these are the last three bands I saw live in concert: Blind Guardian (watch them performing "Valhalla"), Manowar (some of their songs = Odin, Sons of Odin, Thor, Loki God of Fire, etc.) and Amon Amarth (some of their songs = In Pursuit of Vikings, Across the Rainbow Bridge, Guardians of Asgard, and Twilight of the Thunder God etc.)) to be filled with glee at a beautiful depiction of Asgard and Bifrost. It might not please everybody, being a strange merging of classical and futuristic/sci-fi aesthetics, but I for one really liked it.
Of course, it's really a fanfic of the old legends and not a very faithful interpretation, but I'm fully fine with that. Hooray transformative texts, I say (I'm reading "American Gods" right now and yay). The Aesir are actually aliens from another dimension and Thor exists in the same world as Tony Stark and other such superheroes? Well, why not? (Stark doesn't actually appear, mind you, but he's mentioned.)
Speaking of Stark, it is my opinion that this movie belongs in the same group as "Iron Man" and maybe "Dark Knight" for being a good superhero movie. Not everybody will agree (Ebert slammed it but whatever, he got some of the simple plot points in the movie wrong and besides, he apparently gave "Daredevil" and Ang Lee's "The Hulk" good reviews (and those were unwatchably bad superhero movies)). It's got very little in common with "The Dark Knight," though, so it's not really a good comparison. "Dark Knight" is all gritty realism (I mean, kind of -- it's still fucking Batman for chrissakes) and ethical-question-posing, and "Iron Man" is clever and edgy without taking itself too seriously, and again, creates the illusion of realism pretty well.
But Thor isn't exactly either of these things... Like "Iron Man," it is delightfully fun (with action sequences that I--not generally an action-movie fan--actually really enjoyed) and it's silly and self-aware, but at the same time, it's very earnest. I mean, this is a movie about gods and ancient human stories and the place where science and magic converge and at its core, it's an archetypal family drama and coming-of-age tale. And it's... Okay, basically, it's "The Lion King." Told largely in space - with lots of flashing rainbows! So. You should see it. I think. Because I don't know about you but I fucking loved "The Lion King."
ALSO: Isn't it only fitting that Titus Pullo (character from "Rome") and Stringer Bell (character from "The Wire") should both exist in some form in Asgard?
LASTLY: THIS FANVID by talitha78 is what first made me aware of this movie in the first place. Such a good video! So simple but so effective, so well-timed, so goddamn catchy. But beware of spoilers. And slash. ;) It's obviously not made from the greatest copy of the film, though, so all the coloring's a little off and the universe looks a little less impressive than in the actual film, but. It's great.
I am very fond of Norse mythology, although I am not all that knowledgeable on the topic. But I'm enough of a Tolkien&Lewis-fan and metal-head (for more context, these are the last three bands I saw live in concert: Blind Guardian (watch them performing "Valhalla"), Manowar (some of their songs = Odin, Sons of Odin, Thor, Loki God of Fire, etc.) and Amon Amarth (some of their songs = In Pursuit of Vikings, Across the Rainbow Bridge, Guardians of Asgard, and Twilight of the Thunder God etc.)) to be filled with glee at a beautiful depiction of Asgard and Bifrost. It might not please everybody, being a strange merging of classical and futuristic/sci-fi aesthetics, but I for one really liked it.
Of course, it's really a fanfic of the old legends and not a very faithful interpretation, but I'm fully fine with that. Hooray transformative texts, I say (I'm reading "American Gods" right now and yay). The Aesir are actually aliens from another dimension and Thor exists in the same world as Tony Stark and other such superheroes? Well, why not? (Stark doesn't actually appear, mind you, but he's mentioned.)
Speaking of Stark, it is my opinion that this movie belongs in the same group as "Iron Man" and maybe "Dark Knight" for being a good superhero movie. Not everybody will agree (Ebert slammed it but whatever, he got some of the simple plot points in the movie wrong and besides, he apparently gave "Daredevil" and Ang Lee's "The Hulk" good reviews (and those were unwatchably bad superhero movies)). It's got very little in common with "The Dark Knight," though, so it's not really a good comparison. "Dark Knight" is all gritty realism (I mean, kind of -- it's still fucking Batman for chrissakes) and ethical-question-posing, and "Iron Man" is clever and edgy without taking itself too seriously, and again, creates the illusion of realism pretty well.
But Thor isn't exactly either of these things... Like "Iron Man," it is delightfully fun (with action sequences that I--not generally an action-movie fan--actually really enjoyed) and it's silly and self-aware, but at the same time, it's very earnest. I mean, this is a movie about gods and ancient human stories and the place where science and magic converge and at its core, it's an archetypal family drama and coming-of-age tale. And it's... Okay, basically, it's "The Lion King." Told largely in space - with lots of flashing rainbows! So. You should see it. I think. Because I don't know about you but I fucking loved "The Lion King."
ALSO: Isn't it only fitting that Titus Pullo (character from "Rome") and Stringer Bell (character from "The Wire") should both exist in some form in Asgard?
LASTLY: THIS FANVID by talitha78 is what first made me aware of this movie in the first place. Such a good video! So simple but so effective, so well-timed, so goddamn catchy. But beware of spoilers. And slash. ;) It's obviously not made from the greatest copy of the film, though, so all the coloring's a little off and the universe looks a little less impressive than in the actual film, but. It's great.