THOR

Sorry for the lull in posts, folk(s). I haven't been watching movies much these past couple weeks. But it's no big deal, because this is the time I've been waiting for. Summer's here, everyone! And it kicks off with a bang.

The Marvel movie universe expands a little bit more with Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Thor brings a whole new element to the world that produced Iron Man and Hulk through technology gone awry: Real live Gods.

Real quick: Thor is the Norse God of Thunder, who inhabits the realm of Asgard with his friends and family. They once visited the earth, and gained the worship of man, but what they really are are highly advanced pan-dimensional beings. Still with me? It's okay if you weren't. Some of the audience wasn't either. Most of the people there seemed with it, but there were a few that shut down right away.

The first act of the movie is set in Asgard. It's an entirely original creation in movie terms, something I've never seen on screen before: Jack Kirby's trippy, larger than life artwork brought to vivid reality. It absolutely pops with colors, and is filled with architecture and designs that look torn straight from the comic book. Everything in Asgard seems huge, including its inhabitants.

After a fast paced fun adventure with cocky Thor and his mighty band of warriors, events lead to Thor being banished by his father Odin to earth to learn some humility. There he meets Jane Foster, a physicist studying the very dimensional portal that sent him to earth. He also falls afoul of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury's covert government agency previously seen in the Iron Man movies.

I'm not going to give away anymore. I'll just discuss the movie as a whole now.

As I said earlier, you're either with it, or you're not. The movie is very much a light-hearted, goofy, adventure story, quite cheesy, but I mean that in the very best way. Cynicism is best left at the door. The Gods speak in corny, boisterous fantasy dialogue, but I wouldn't have it any other way. That's part of what makes it so fun.

The cast, led by Chris Hemsworth as Thor, is pretty good. Anthony Hopkins has some powerful moments as his father Odin, and Idris Elba does a great deal with very few scenes as the fascinating Heimdall, the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. The real discovery, though, is Tom Hiddleston as the devious God of Mischief, Loki. He brings depth and complexity to the character, making him much more than a simple villain. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him soon.... next summer, perhaps?

Thor's friends, warrior Goddess Sif and Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandrall, are a fun addition to the movie, and their presence gave the movie an extra element previously unseen in superhero movies: Thor has pals with powers too! It's fun to watch them. They have strong, individual personalities, and a nice feeling of kinship between them.

One of my few beefs with the movie, and this is pretty minor, is Kenneth Branagh's insistence on tilting the camera. Not since the atrocious, shit-classic Battlefield: Earth have I seen so many tilted camera angles. Branagh mostly confines these to establishing shots, thankfully, but he does it a lot. Does he think it makes it look more dynamic? Or has Battlefield: Earth just left such a bad association with me that I notice these shots more? I don't know. Anyway, I thought it was a little annoying.

Overall, I really dug Thor. It was good escapist fun and it managed to create a unique universe-within-a-universe that lives and breathes on its own. Some people might be turned off by the comic bookiness and the cheese, but if you are willing to commit to the fantasy of it all, I think you will have a good deal of fun. I think I will give it a pretty solid B+.

By the way, stay through the credits for a tease of what's to come!