Thor: Totally underrated

When Thor first came out, I was skeptical.  After all, it looked *really* stupid: a movie about a demi-god in weird futuristic armor, based on Norse mythology?  I mean, I love comic book movies and all, but this just seemed...dumb.

And then I watched it.





And just like that, I was converted.  And not just because of Chris Hemsworth, although, you know, DANG.  It is actually a pleasantly intelligent movie that just happens to have stupid action pieces and the occasional burst of legit humor.  The main plot isn't super interesting (this movie was basically an Avengers prequel) but it is serviceable.  Essentially, Thor is a demi-god from another realm named Asgard (they go to great lengths to avoid calling him an alien, even though as far as I can tell, that's what he is).  His father is Odin, his brother is Loki, and his mom is that lady from the Thomas Crowne Affair.  At the beginning Thor angers Odin by being a meathead and somehow endangering the peace in Asgard, so Odin banishes Thor to earth.  There he is conveniently picked up by Princess Amidala, who is now named Jane and is a physicist or astronomer or something.  Thor has to "prove" himself "worthy" of "returning to Asgard," by "learning" to "not be a dumb jock."

Look, the plot isn't that great.  But the movie itself?  AWESOME.


Let's start with Jane.

According to Revenge of the Sith, losing your
will to live can *actually* kill you.
Fuck you, George Lucas.

I have a soft spot for Natalie Portman, even if she sometimes comes across as pretentious in interviews. The girl is actually, legitimately, intelligent, and I'm betting when you're surrounded by idiots every day it's easy to get an ego about that sort of thing.  I like her so much that if my husband were to run away with her (something he has expressed interest in doing) I wouldn't even mind-- I'd just ask if I could be her friend, and could she also get me Mindy Kaling's number because she seems like a lot of fun too.  ANYWAY, my point is, I was predisposed to like Jane, but she's pretty great on her own.  She's brilliant and funny, and super, super awkward around handsome guys.  I *love* this about her-- she's constantly dropping shit, or driving off the road, or giggling uncomfortably around Thor.  As an academic, I can honestly say: ACCURATE. Most of us did not go into academia because of our stellar people skills.



This is Darcy.

God, I hate that TV show she's on.
But still, I like her.

Darcy functions as the audience substitute.  This means her primary job is to constantly point out how good looking Thor is, and that's about it.  I like Darcy.



This is Dr. Whatshisface

Alexander Skarsgaard is his son. WHAT.

He's the voice of reason and exposition in the movie, there to explain shit to Darcy so the audience can follow the admittedly weird plot and the science parts that make no goddamn sense.  His primary job is to be important in The Avengers.



Loki, God of Mischief and Whining.

Nice hat, LOSER.

Loki is played by the internet's boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston.*  He is Thor's brother, and also (spoiler alert?) the villain.  He's basically Theon Greyjoy with a dumb hat.  Loki is a pretty compelling villain, though, and I'm glad he stuck around for The Avengers.

*I have heard rumors that the internet is cheating on him with Benedict Cumberbatch, however.  Also, England: WHAT IS WITH THESE NAMES?  Hiddleston?  Cumberbatch?  It's like hobbits had a baby with Harry Potter.



Thor,  God of Thunder and Ridiculous Biceps:

Um, woah.

Okay, so here's where I make my case for this movie.  First of all, Hemsworth the Greater is honest-to-god funny, and his comic timing is surprisingly great.  I could watch him breaking dishes and booming, "THIS WAS DELICIOUS.  I WOULD LIKE ANOTHER," all freaking day.  In fact, I would like to request that they make a movie that is nothing but Thor hanging out, eating and booming his opinions on things.**  (Semi-related: Chris Hemsworth sounds a lot like Heath Ledger, and it isn't just the Australian thing.  It's spooky).  The stuff on Asgard is a little boring in comparison, probably because it lacks the humor and the dish smashing.  Secondly, this is one of the only major studio movies I've ever seen where the camera gaze was not heterosexual-male.  If you're unfamiliar with the term "camera gaze," think of the movies you've seen and how women-- particularly sexy women-- are seen.  The point of view is almost always male:  women's bodies are ogled while men's bodies are pretty much ignored.  The camera in Thor, despite being directed by a man (Kenneth Branaugh), is so clearly female it's kind of astonishing.  (The only other show or movie I can think of that rivals Thor in terms of female-gaze is LOST, which was pretty equal-opportunity beefcake).  At no point in the movie do either Jane or Darcy strip down, or even wear anything more revealing than jeans and flannel shirts.  In contrast, this movie has an extended scene where Thor is getting dressed (see above) that is so gratuitous in its beefcakeness it's hilarious.  BOOM: feminism at work.  You're welcome, world.

**My one quibble with the Thor-on-earth portion of the movie is that he goes from not understanding earth at all to completely domesticated in approximately 48 hours.  Seriously-- he's helping Jane make breakfast like, the day after he arrives.  All they needed was a Thor-learning-about-earth montage, and this would solve all the problems.  First, because everyone loves a montage, and second, because as it stands now, Jane goes from unable-to-look-at-Thor-without-giggling to madly-in-love in about 2.5 seconds.  It's like, GIRL, COOL YOUR JETS.


Verdict:  Unexpectedly great.

PS: If you're interested in a more thorough and far better written feminist analysis of Thor, I suggest checking out this article.  I found it randomly the other day, and it says a lot of what I was thinking, only better.