fajrdrako | Thor...

When I was a kid, for a long time, Journey into Mystery starring Thor was my favourite comic. It was as passionate a fandom as any I have had since, though I didn't know anyone else who loved Thor comics - heck, I didn't even know anyone else who read comics. So I fantasized about lame doctors who can command the lightning, and the mighty hammer Mjolnir, and did a school project on Norse gods.

So I approached the movie with some trepidation. I cared too much. Most comics book movies aren't nearly as good as the comics they're based on. How could anyone get Thor right? Branagh is the director; well, if anyone should get it right, he should. But I hardly dared hope.

If I'd known J. Michel Straczynski was one of the writers, I might have had more confidence.

So: the verdict? I loved it. I loved it for its flaws as much as for its strengths. I hadn't been impressed with Chris Hemsworth when I'd seen photos. Yes, he looked like Thor, big and blond, but that isn't my favourite type of guy, and I think I suspected (out of sheer prejudice) that a man so blantantly hunky couldn't act. Well, I was wrong. Hemsworth can act, but more importantly, he has a lovely smile and a charm that won me over. I believed in his joie de vivre. I believed in his jubilant bellicosity, and his later remorse. I bought his role, hook, line, and sinker.

He wasn't the best thing though, or my favourite character. The best thing was the way in which they recaptured the grandeur and the glory of the Jack Kirby visuals: magnificent starscapes, nebulas, the glittering futuristic towers of Asgard, the costumes that made me think 'what if Wagner's Ring Cycle went to Vulcan?'

I loved the Frost Giants. And Loki. And S.H.I.E.L.E. And the Easter Egg. And the spriti of it all.

Oh yes, the ten year old within me was absolutely thrilled by this movie. And the grownup liked it too.

A few specific points:

In Star Wars, I thought Natalie Portman was fabulously beautiful. I didn't like her looks so much here. I loved it that her name was Jane Foster; I liked the change from nurse to astrophysicist well enough; I loved her devotion to her work. I even like it that Thor wants to see her again.
Loved the hammer. I love the was the movie took it seriously. It was important for what it would do; it looked good; and best of all, you could see how Thor loved it as both tool and symbol of his role.
When I saw Colm Feore's name in the credits, I was puzzled, as I couldn't recall seeing him. Turns out he was Laufey, King of the Frost Giants. Well! He was magnificent. Though I confess that I'm enough under the influence of Robert E. Howard that I was looking for the Frost Giant's Daughter. Instead, I guess I should have been looking for his son.
One of the things I always loved in the comic was the way Thor, facing a villain, and about to throw his hammer, would shout, "I say thee nay!" I loved that, and hoped he would say it in the movie. He didn't. He did shout "No!" a few times. That was good enough.

Yeah, they pretty much canned the pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue. It's a pity, but I didn't miss it.
Anthony Hopkins was born to be Odin. Mind you, the Allfather's Sleep seemed really like a bit of a short nap, but it served its purpose for the sake of the plot.
Confession: I fell in love with Loki. In the comic, he's always been a fine antagonist for Thor, but not one who generally moved me - or did so only occasionally, with the better writers. (I did like Brian Michael Bendis's use of him in the Dark Reign storyline.) But here: I loved Tom Hiddleston from the first photo, and he was perfect as the duplicitous trickster-god. I really loved the scenes in which he used his magic, and I wish we'd seen that more. Tom Hiddleston is so much more my type then Hemsworth is; dark, thoughtful, internalized.

And they made him a Frost Giant. I'm not sure how that works, but I loved it. Among other things, it means my random thoughts of hot sexy Thor/Loki slash weren't incestuous.
Heimdall had a good voice and sufficient gravitas.
Thor's mother Frigga was played by Rene Russo. I didn't recognize me. She reminded me of Jane Wyatt as Spock's mother Amanda. Which is remarkable because before today I would have said Russo and Wyatt weren't alike in any way at all.
Once again I loved Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg), and he had some of my favourite moments. His curiosity about Thor. His SHIELD-like competence mixed with his total inability to do anything about the situation.
We had a glimpse of Clint Barton as Hawkeye! That was an unexpected pleasure.
In advance, I expected to be disappointed that Don Blake, the lame doctor who was Thor's alter ego, wasn't going to be in the movie. But I love the way they handled it: Don Blake was in the movie, and nicely inserted, too. A tip of the hat to old-time Thor fans like me, but nothing that intruded on the story.
Loved seeing Thor and Loki as kids.
Funny how few people we saw in Asgard.
Loved the Warriors 3, and Sif. Was there anyone in the movie I didn't love? ...Yeah, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis was often sort of annoying. But funny, so I didn't mind.
Before the movie, I expected a trailer for X-Men First Class, but no, instead we had a trailer for Green Lantern. Cognitive dissonance: mixing the DC and Marvel universes in my head makes me dizzy.
Looking forward to The Avengers now. Really.