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THOR Roundtable Discussion with a bunch of Nerds

Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall as a bunch of comic book nerds talk about a movie like THOR?

Well, here's your chance with the Roundtable Discussion at AICN Comics.

I chime in a few times as "Prof. Challenger", but the truth is I have nothing but love for this movie very hard and didn't have much to micro-analyze about it.  But the rest of my group have plenty of nerdy goodness to share with the world.

THOR Film Review

THOR
Release Date: May 6, 2011
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Josh Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Clark Gregg, Colm Feore
Website: http://thor.marvel.com


Official Synopsis: The epic adventure "Thor" spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. 

At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. 


This is a movie with a lot to prove.  At least it had a lot to prove to me.  This was the make-it or break-it film for Marvel to prove that the first spectacular IRON MAN film and the fun, and more than decent, INCREDIBLE HULK were not just flukes after the less than spectacular IRON MAN 2 that seemed burdened down by the shoehorning of elements pointing to THE AVENGERS film (scheduled blockbuster for next summer).

THOR is a worthy follow-up and continuation of the new Marvel movie mythology and demonstrates how to integrate those AVENGERS set-up elements without feeling overly tacked on (though there is one notable exception there that I will mention below with a *spoiler*).

But let me digress from the film itself for just a moment.  Let me say that I make a bit of a game out of trying to get into advance screenings for films.  I have gotten pretty experienced at this game and so I knew going in to the summer that THOR was going to be difficult to get in to.  I threw my name into no less than 5 different contests to try and win a pass to a screening.  As of Monday, May 2, since I had not heard anything I figured this time it was a bust.  But I was thrilled to wake up on Tuesday morning to an email notification that I had won passes to THOR for Tuesday night.  Talk about pushing it to the last minute. And, of course, it would have to be at the Regal Metropolitan 14 which is all the way on the south end of Austin (and I'm working way north of Austin).  The nightmare traffic of glorious Austin, Texas, of course, meant I came very close to not getting in.  But I did.  As did this fat, bearded guy in a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and wearing a royal, kingly crown on his head.  He showed up without a pass and I overheard that he didn't have a pass, but I did have a second un-used pass so I offered it up to the guy.  He seemed very grateful.

He also said he spent last night in the drunk tank.

He also said Gov. Rick Perry had been in there with him.

I think he might be crazy.

Only in Austin.

What made my day was the elderly couple who showed up in line right behind me.  Wonderful people.  They said they had not been out to a movie in years but that the wife had heard a radio contest for the 8th caller and she called in and they had passes to see this THOR movie.  They were all dressed up and thrilled to be there.  They said they watched a lady on TV review the movie and she said the movie was one that was "perfect for 13 year-old boys".  And the husband smirked and said then it's just about at his level.  I also listened to them carry on about the Metropolitan.  They didn't even know that theater existed until they won their passes and were amazed to discover there were 14 screens.  Very cute and the look they gave each other when they were handed the 3D glasses was priceless.

The film started promptly at 7:30 and begins with "Astrophysicist" Jane Foster and her cohorts storm-chasing an atmospheric disturbance that ends up with her running into a big blond guy in the middle of the desert.  She wants to know who he is and where he came from.  That's when the movie gets started with Anthony Hopkins' narration as the camera takes us to Asgard to learn who Thor is and how he came to be...there in the way of Jane Foster's car.

Kenneth Branagh's vision and direction is the key to the success of this film and Tom Hiddleston's performance as Loki is the glue that keeps it from lapsing into silliness.  Hiddleston's Loki was far and away the most nuanced and interesting of the characters.  Charismatically dangerous and commands the screen everytime he's on, which is not easy with such a physically overwhelming presence like Chris Hemsworth's mighty and bombastic Thor sharing so many scenes with him.  A great performance in every aspect.

The way Branagh takes the viewer into the other-worldly Asgardian realm is breathtaking.  In fact, I can't use the word breathtaking enough to satisfy myself.  Truly as close to a metaphoric vision of Heaven as I have ever seen on film.  Asgard takes its design cues from Kirby's designs and then runs with them in a way that would surely make the "King" proud.  If it weren't a conflict of interest, I'd start the petition right now for Branagh to adapt the NEW GODS to film right now as a follow-up.  The scope and breadth of vision, the Kirby-esque armor clothing the characters, the form taken for Bifrost (the rainbow bridge), and especially the thought that went into explaining how the "Nine Realms" form the branches of Yggdrasil, the Worlds Tree, was so well-thought out that I'm almost speechless.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect such a faithful translation of Marvel Comics' version of the Asgardian mythology.

Thor's hammer, the magical "Mjolnir", is especially (and necessarily) perfect.

This is not a stupid movie.  It is a smart one and deftly put together.  The framing of every scene manipulates the drama and moves the story.  Branagh's recurring use of mirrors and reflections is put to good use in a number of instances.  Structurally, the character arc of Thor in this movie is a condensation of what took years in the comics.  Thor as messianic figure experiences a path of redemption that fully works within the film and fully involves Thor's mates "The Warriors Three" and Sif.

And what a joy it is for a comics fan to see Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg on the movie screen perfectly visualized and inhabited by their respective actors.  I could basically go scene by scene in this movie and pointing out the thrill of seeing something on screen that 20 years ago (heck, even 10) I would have bet good money would never, ever be brought to life on the movie screen.  And that's one of the smartest things about this film.  The way that they interwove so many aspects of what makes Thor a character that has endured for over 40 years now.  It's not just Thor himself, but his world, his loves, his family, and his friends.

The conflict between he and Loki is so well-done.  Thor cannot help but love his brother and believe he sees the good in him.  Likewise, Odin is blinded by his love and devotion to his son that he cannot bring himself to believe he is anything other than a good and honorable son.  What we see play out on screen is a masterful trinity of conflict.  To Loki, Odin appears to favor Thor.  However, the viewer sees it quite differently.  For a reason that unfolds through the story, Odin actually favors Loki with a tenderness and understanding that he does not direct toward Thor.  In fact, Odin is torn by conflicting feelings of pride and disappointment directed at Thor that culminates in righteous and justifiable rage at one point.

There's lots of action, battles, flying, storm-controlling, a bit of romance, humor that hit everytime.  Branagh has a gift for timing and his actors all served him well in that respect.  There are so many heroic characters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for love, friendship, and Asgard.  Even Loki, full of malice and duplicitousness, demonstrates heroic aspects.  Truly it becomes understandable why the ancient Norsemen worshipped them as gods...although there seems to be a paradox in the ages of the characters synching up with the timeframe in which the Norse would have worshipped them.  For example, seems a bit odd to have Thor repeatedly referred to as "just a boy" by Odin and the leader of the Frost Giants, when he would have to be thousands of years old.  But we're not supposed to be thinking about that during the movie, right?

One of the things about both Marvel and DC Comics and their respective universes is that they have these recurring supernatural/cosmic plot devices that can be used to stimulate story ideas.  At DC we have things such as "The Spear of Destiny" and "The Helmet of Fate".  At Marvel we have things like "The Serpent Crown", "The Infinity Gauntlet", "The Cosmic Cube", and "The Casket of Ancient Winters."  Two of them make an appearance in this movie and both made this fan's heart leap a bit.  As the current comic books seem to be leaving this longtime reader behind, the movies based on the comics are filling that loss and restoring that sense of wonder and thrill that I felt when I was a kid discovering these stories for the first time.  Marvel basically exists as film to me now with occasional comic books to supplement, rather than the other way around.  When the movie was over, I wanted more.  And that, of course, is what every filmmaker wants to hear.  On the drive home, I was thinking about what I might like to see in THOR 2 and even THOR 3.  If I were running Marvel Studios?  I would make THOR 2 about Thor and Hercules getting into a tussle, just like those great old Silver Age comics.  Can you just imagine Anthony Hopkins' "Odin" sharing screentime with Brian Blessed as "Jupiter"?  Maybe even a plot involving Pluto and Hela romancing and plotting against each other's pantheon.  Then followup with THOR 3 and go all out with Ragnarok.  It could make for a classic mythological trilogy and they can use the AVENGERS films to do the super-hero thing with the Thor character while they're exploring the mythology in the THOR films.  The imagination is running.

Before I wrap, let me mention those couple of things that might be construed as ...

*SPOILERS*
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Thor's helmet and Hawkeye.  Thor's helmet only appears on him for 1 scene in the beginning.  This makes no logical sense within the structure of the film because all the other Asgardians who wear helmets, including Loki, wear them most of the time if not all of the time.  In fact, Thor never even looks like knows or cares where his helmet is.  From a longtime comic book fan's perspective, not wearing the helmet would be akin to...oh Green Lantern without his mask or Superman without a cape.  While I appreciated the boldness with which Branagh just embraced the cape and design of the Thor outfit, the appearance of the helmet looked a bit forced into the picture just to avoid people complaining.  What is so bothersome about it is...THE HELMET LOOKED GREAT ON HIM!

The other spoiler is the appearance of Clint Barton, otherwise known as "Hawkeye".  In THE AVENGERS, Hawkeye is a super-hero archer.  In THOR, he doesn't appear as "Hawkeye" but as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Barton who takes aim with his bow and arrow on Thor, in human form, as his target.  The Hawkeye scene is one in which the human Thor breaks into the S.H.I.E.L.D. camp to attempt to recover Mjolnir.  However, this is the one scene in the movie, if you stop for a moment to think about it, that was obviously shoehorned in to tie into THE AVENGERS.  Hawkeye never actually interacts with Thor in anyway and his shots are just him all alone perched above and talking to Agent Coulson on a transmitter.  It works, but was noticeably shoved in after the fact to me.  But the audience cheered when they recognized him.  So, this was either an audience with a working knowledge of the comics....or a bunch of Jeremy Renner fans.

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*End Spoiler*

This was overall a very, very good movie and an exceptionally fun movie.  The pacing is great and things are always moving.  It really never lets up.  Two solid hours of movie fun and I never once looked at my watch.  As opposed to, say, IRON MAN 2 where there were a couple of weak performances, this movie hits all its marks in terms of performances and visuals.

THOR is an excellent way to kick off the summer blockbuster season and set the stage for what is to come.  Just around the corner for Marvel is CAPTAIN AMERICA in July as perfect companion piece for THOR.  And when the two of them meet in THE AVENGERS next year, I expect nothing short of greatness.

GREEN LANTERN may be a Secular Religious Experience!

The world is a funny place these days. What's funny to me is that while the world at large (especially the Western world) falls further and further from an overtly “religious” society, we find ourselves substituting the craziest things for whatever it is within us that craves that transcendent religious experience. We see it at Lady Gaga concerts where the throngs whip themselves into a religious furor worshipping at the altar of their modern pagan goddess while throbbing repetitive techno-beats induce altered states of consciousness. We see it every year in the nation-wide unofficial religious holiday known as “Super Bowl” where everyone's lives are sacrificed on the altar of the modern gladiators battling over dominance in the grid-iron game of “keep-away” known as American Football. In the ever-increasing world of the geeks and nerds, the San Diego Comicon is as close to a secular “Mecca” as we have seen. And just as the faithful Muslim who hopes to trek to Mecca at least once before they die...likewise the average geek prays to Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth that one day...even he (or she) may make it to San Diego.

This weekend marks another lesser Comicon, this one is “Wondercon” and it is held in San Francisco. However, Wondercon has garnered much attention in the realms of the geekstrati online for Wondercon is the place that glorious footage from the much-anticipated GREEN LANTERN film was finally unveiled (and subsequently placed online for all to see).

For those not in the know, GREEN LANTERN is a film adaptation of a popular comic book super-hero who wields a magic ring that can turn his thoughts into physical form.

I realized after I watched these 4 minutes (repeatedly), that the closest I could come to explaining my reaction was that I was having a secular religious experience. I don't mean that I touched the mind of God or anything, but I am not kidding that the first time I watched it I got choked up and literally found a tear welling in my eye. In my life, that's only happened a handful of times over something this silly and inconsequential– not counting the death of Mr. Spock in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN because if you didn't cry when you saw that in 1982, you have no soul– and it led me to write this.

Here's the thing with me, myself, and I. I don't remember when I started reading comic books. I've always read them. I remember when I started “collecting” them in Jr. High, but “reading” them? They were just always a part of the mix of books, magazines, and comics that I read. But I am and always have been an unabashed fan of the super-hero. The visual appeal. The archetypal imagery and mythological construct underlying them. The fun factor. The fantasy factor. Even the silliness. I love it all. And that's not to dismiss comics or graphic novels as just super-hero stuff either. While it may be the bread-and-butter end of the business, there are works of literature and art done in comic book form that far outstrip and surpass most prose literature. But super-heroes are what this is about today.

GREEN LANTERN specifically. Since at least third grade, I have proclaimed GL to be my favorite super-hero. I have huge love and appreciation for my other top heroes, Superman, Capt. Marvel, Iron Man, Thor, Capt. America, and lesser knowns like Metamorpho and Dr. Mid-Nite. I remember playing super-hero with my friends back then and us choosing heroes. There was always the smart-ass who quickly declared himself “Superman” so he could be the most powerful. I, the bigger smart-ass, always came back with “Green Lantern.” To which, and this was back in the early 70s, the reaction was usually a bit of ridicule as they snickered “Green Lantern?? Haha! Why him?” And I would respond that “He's the most powerful super-hero of them all.” They would laugh more and start throwing super-hero names out and I would quickly inform them how GL would take them out, then eventually they'd throw out “Superman!” and smirk. I confidently declared that as GL, I would use my ring to make “Green Kryptonite” and kill Superman. Which always left them unable to come up with a retort. Battle done and won and I smirked on the inside and led the way as “Green Lantern.”

I'll confess now, at 44, that even then I knew I was blowing smoke because I knew GL couldn't really make “Green Kryptonite.” He could make a green rock, but that's all it would be. But I always relied upon the collective ignorance of my Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man obsessed friends to NOT know that.

And I was always correct.

Well, after this summer, the collective ignorance surrounding the Green Lantern character will go by the wayside as he enters the zeitgeist in a huge way if this amazing piece of 4-minute footage from the film is any indication.

Now as to my reaction to that footage. Why did I tear up? It has to do with seeing something visualized for real that I never expected to ever see in my lifetime. And in GREEN LANTERN, there is so much more, in terms of concept, than just a magical ring and the best super-hero costume ever designed (by the late, great artist Gil Kane). Hal Jordan is an adventurous former Air Force pilot who is “chosen” to receive a gift of what is essentially access to absolute power limited only by his will and strength of character. The story of GREEN LANTERN is about overcoming fear, it is about the seduction and abuse of power, it is about the conflict between totalitarianism and individualism, it is a story about sin and redemption, and it is about hope and collective goodness and good-old-fashioned super-hero action and cosmic space-opera.

To me, he is the ultimate in super-hero concept and to see it so perfectly visualized as if it were real...it is a transcendent experience.

I did believe a man could fly!

As a super-hero nut all my life, this isn't the first time this has happened, but it may be the most fully satisfying time (I have to wait until June to find out)! Back in December of 1978 was the first time I encountered something I never thought I would ever see. At 12 years-old, I had myself dropped off at the first showing of SUPERMAN on December 16^th (Saturday) and sat back and felt myself choke up the first time I saw the opening sequence with the “Daily Planet” sphere on top of the skyscraper fully lit up and revolving and then the bursting into space for the bombastic flight to the planet Krypton. I was in another world for 2 hours. When it was over, I walked out the doors of Cinema 6 in Temple, Texas and bought a ticket for the next show starting in a half-hour, and went back in and sat back down to wait for it to start again.

I can never regain that 12 year-old's sense of wonder ever again, but I am hoping for as close to it as a 44 year-old can get this summer.

It wasn't until the first teaser trailer for the BATMAN film came out in 1989 that I got another tingle of excitement. By this time, I was out of college and into my adult life, but I remember the first time that trailer played. My fiance and I were at a movie in Austin at the Arboretum theater (which is now The Cheesecake Factory) and the trailer came on and the entire audience erupted into thunderous applause when the trailer was done. This was Batman....done....seriously? I knew at that moment that “super-hero” movies were about to become a reality as never before after those in charge of the SUPERMAN movie franchise had let it deteriorate into the embarrassments of SUPERMAN III & IV.

The first time I saw Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN swinging his way through the skyscrapers of New York City, I felt that little tickle of a choke in my throat seeing something I thought was impossible. The opening credits of WATCHMEN (a film I truly thought was unfilm-able but was proved wrong) that established the background and history of the world of WATCHMEN while Bob Dylan's “The Times They Are A-Changin'” plays.

That brought a tear to my eye the first time I saw it. The upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA and THOR movies are thrilling as well. The first time I saw Asgard visualized and it looked like Jack Kirby's art come to life, yeah, I got choked up.

  

But nothing has hit me like the first SUPERMAN movie until these 4-minutes of GREEN LANTERN hit the web this weekend.

“In Brightest Day; in Blackest Night. No Evil shall Escape My Sight. Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might....Beware My Power....GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!”