God of Thunder

I understand now.

How do you take the colourful and dramatic world of Norse mythology and combine it with the expectations of modern audiences?

How do you take a literal God from said pantheon and mix him in with relatable characters and not come of as forced or idiotic?

How can you make an audience expecting grittier, darker and edgy heroes accept a bombastic over-the-top concept like Thor?

How do you make it all work, please everyone, somehow be considered a kids movie, and really funny (but not a comedy) at the same damn time?

Play it all one hundred percent perfectly straight, refuse to drop any concept or original art design, and have everyone behave exactly how they should in such an insane scenario. The fact it all works is either unfathomable luck or definitive proof that the Norse Gods are in fact real and have blessed the movie.

Nothing seems forced because every characters immediate reaction to the absolutely mind boggling absurdity of it all is to assume they or everyone else around them has gone insane, and just continue to roll with the consequences of what’s going on. The romance subplot is present, but develops slowly and naturally to the point it hasn’t resolved by the end of the movie rather than forcing it to fit within their time constraints. The huge contrast between Asgard and Earth is prevalent, acknowledged and responded to in a proper fashion by every character that sees it, fueling about 90% of the comedy of the film. And I think one of the most important pieces is that all of the drama, despite the colourful setting, is treated completely seriously negating the need to inject gritty re-imaginings of an already pretty good story. All of this is bolstered by a fantastic acting job by everyone involved.

I don’t know if this movie is likely to win many Oscars, but it’s genuinely entertaining for a huge audience of all ages. I don’t think there’s really anyone I wouldn’t recommend this movie too, bar perhaps the snootiest of the pretentious crowd – and even then, I might just send them off to see it as an experiment. Maybe a movie that purely fun could penetrate even their smug attitudes.

About the only complaint that comes to mind is the 3D. It wasn’t really important for any scene in the movie. It does make a couple of the shots of Asgard look nifty, but for the increased cost I’d just say go view it in 2D. After all, things can get a little out of hand with the ticket price. But that’s mostly my own fault for seeing it at the Midnight release, with all the obligatory IMAX experience and 3D showing that such entails. It seriously ran me a bit over $17. It’s as stacked of an ‘experience’ as one can get from the biggest theatre in Ottawa, all the bells and whistles included; but damn, $17?! That’s atrocious.

That pretty much sums up that. Go see it and feel free to bring literally anyone. It’s worth the praise it’s receiving and it’s made me more than a bit eager for the Avengers movie. Here’s hoping Captain America follows in these footsteps.