Thor: An All Powerful Thunder God is Arrogant, I Totally Wasn’t Expecting That

After I saw the Avengers and was confused by a few things I decided to watch some of the prequels I had neglected to see. I started with Iron Man 2 which sucked. Thor wasn’t much better.

The foolhardy Thor (Chris Hensworth), Prince of the planet of Asgard is banished to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) for his arrogance. On Earth, very few people offer Thor patience for his rude ways. Only the scientist Jane (Natalie Portman) is able to trust him, and he finally starts to learn humility. Then he learns his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has betrayed Asgard to its enemies, the Frost Giants, and Thor has to return home to defend his throne.

This movie was fun, I guess. There were definitely some funny moments and Chris Hensworth is incredibly gorgeous. The best part, however was Tom Hiddleston’s performance as Loki. He made a perfect, devious villain, and I am tempted to put Hiddleston in my list of The Top Ten Actors Who Are so Good at Being so Bad.

Unfortunately, that’s where the positive aspects of this movie end. There are quite a lot of difficult things about Thor. The action was too hard to follow. I thought the portrayal of Asgard shallow. It was basically an Arthurian kingdom in the sky, and it seemed like any second Hugo Weaving was going to pop out and say “Gandalf, the ring cannot stay here.” Asgard is an alien planet for Christ sake. Couldn’t it have been provided with some more creative touches so it didn’t seem like a place so close to earth or a creation of Peter Jackson leftovers?

My biggest complaint however is Thor’s lack of character development. In two respects. First, Odin. The major conflicts of this movie happen because Loki learns he is actually a Frost Giant and decides to betray Asgard. Odin reveals this information to Loki, saying that he had intended to hide it from him for all his life. So, why exactly did Odin feel the need to tell him suddenly? Was Loki threatening suicide or Oden’s life? Was Loki suspicious and water boarding Oden? No. The way the movie showed it, Loki was whining about Thor always being seen as greater. Yes, oh mighty Odin. That seems convincing motivation to reveal your darkest secret. Obe Won Kanobe was just going to spill the beans about Darth Vader when Luke started sniveling.

Even worse, the title character of the film is developed as unevenly as Gary Busy’s face. Pretty much 45 minutes of the film is devoted to making Thor look like an arrogant hammer swinging asshole. He’s basically the douche in Super Smash Brothers who gets the hammer and kills everyone he touches. (Queue the appropriate music). And yet, while the movie is supposedly about his redemption, the movie spends more like fifteen minutes to show his transformation. Thor basically goes from hammer-happy douche, to a guy making people breakfast, to a man willing to sacrifice his life in the name of protecting others in ten minutes. Does anyone else not see the flaws in this attempted character arch? This change happens way too fast to be believable. And the audience is never explained why exactly Thor begins to love Jane and her friends and is willing to die for them when just two days ago he was a total barbarian. Like Gary Busy, it makes no sense. The film would have been much improved if it spent more time fleshing out Thor’s change and spending less time making him seem arrogant and foolhardy. Because honestly, put a giant hammer in a Viking’s hand, and that doesn’t take too long to achieve.

So, for Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hensworth’s exquisite abs, I give Thor a 4. I really hope Captain America will be better.

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