Four older people like me were in line at the ticket window. They bought tickets for “Last Vegas” and went on ahead. The very young man selling the tickets looked up. I am certain he thought I was either going to see “Last Vegas” or “Bad Grandpa.” When I said: “THOR! In 3-D”. He smiled and said: “Way to go.” So, I went to see THOR in 3-D.
There were two other people in the theater, but it was only 1:30 in the afternoon. They were my age as best I could tell in the darkness. Something had changed since my “Marvel Comics” days, but then so have I. The film was a lot of fun, and once I remembered it was MARVEL and stopped trying to make something of the great struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, I began to laugh. After all, it’s Marvel Comics. At the moment of crises when all of earth is being destroyed by the “convergence” beginning at Greenwich England, with people running for safety everywhere, the students in the great reading room rush to the window to look out. The heroine shouts: “Get out of here. Run!” A student at the window says: “Thor is outside swinging his hammer and everything!” What a script! But then it is a comic book so expect no awards from the Academy for Best Screen Play. After all, these lines all have to fit in that little white bubble pointing to the person speaking on the pages of a comic book.
So, Thor swings his hammer. Thor gets his woman. Thor declines the throne because Thor would rather be a good man than a wise king. (His most profound line in the script.) Under the conditions of the time, he made a wise choice. I would choose Natalie Portman over that kingdom in ruins any day! This whole film is a marvelous display of special effects that just go on and on. I found myself humming the score not because it is monotonous, (it might well be) but because I could hum along. After all, there was no one to disturb in the theater. Poor Chris Hemsworth seemed more like a robot than a superhero. Using some lower register of his voice now and then must have been quite a challenge. Where was his voice coach? I think he spent more time with his trainer. It should have the other way around. I got tired of it.
More of a hero than Thor was Loki. I wish we could have seen more him and the contrast between the two brothers. But no, it’s all about the big man with the big hammer. Too bad Loki spent so much time in the lock-up. Natalie Portman was great and managed to give this film a real link between fantasy and reality.
DO NOT LEAVE THE THEATER BEFORE THE LIGHTS COME ON. My favorite moment was the cast credits. They were spectacular works of clever technical art. I was more fascinated by that than the big hammer man. I repeat. Stay in your seat till the lights come on.
