So ashamed that I did not write about this yesterday, because opening day (April 27) is when I saw it.

I am an American student living in the United Kingdom for the year, getting my MA in Cinema Studies. I have loved comics for a long time  now and Thor for the past month or so.

While I have written some reviews on my favorite comic arcs on this site, writing a blog on a film is much more my speed, what with me being a cinema studies guy and all.

That being said, I had the opportunity to watch Thor on the day it came out (first showing, I was so stoked) and I can unequivocally say I LOVED IT! It was a fantastic film, masterfully made with fantastic acting, production design, cinematography, script, plot, pacing, everything just came together in this film and it was fantastic.

The Basics

If you have seen the material on this site relating to this movie (some of it to be found here), then you know the basics of the plot so I wont go into it. If you go to a film for just the plot anyway, you are kind of missing out on much of the enjoyment of the experience. Dont get me wrong, the narrative is very important, it is what people usually come away thinking about. It holds all the various formal elements of the movie together, it is what usually contains the dialectic of the film in one way or another, the deeper message. But I do not want to go into the plot here, I am afraid I would spoil it for those that have not seen it yet and I want to focus more on the specifics of how

The Visuals

You absolutely cannot discuss a movie without talking about the visuals, the cinematography, the production design. Without all of these things you have radio instead of a movie, and for me the visuals were absolutely superb. But I would expect nothing less from Kevin Branagh, he has always been a visually stunning director. There were seriously some shots in this film that took my breath away. Frames within frames within frames, Branagh uses the camera in really classical yet innovative ways to draw your attention to thematically important aspects of the narrative. Do we understand what this means? Branagh uses classical Hollywood narrative storytelling but blends it with genuine artistic talent to communicate deeper meanings in the narrative. And this from a superhero movie! Waitaminute, I thought that superhero movies were supposed to be all flash and no substance, all CG and no intellect. Not so with Thor! Branagh does not 'show off' with his camera, where it would distract from the narrative, but when you go and see it pay attention to the elegant way he composes his shots, lots of geometric lines and smooth camera movements, all building to themes of what it means to be truly free or truly restricted, what is your identity etc...

And that is just the briefest of notes on how the camera works (more to say on this, obviously, but I want to move on to some more excellent stuff about this movie). The costumes! Man, they were absolutely incredible. Like Lord of the Rings incredible. What struck me most was the way that the comic world was translated into the cinematic world using the costumes. They were perfectly Asgardian! Shiny, sleek,  powerful, pristine-yet-battle-ready. The colors blew my mind as well, not just the colors of the costumes (which were so rich and vibrant) but just the whole world that Branagh creates was rich and vibrant when it needed to be, muted when it needed to be.  Bifrost particularly was masterfully done.

Asgard looked fantastic- Branagh translated all of the Norse pageantry into the film brilliantly- lots of stunning visuals here. Rich colors, sweeping camera movements, lines in the structures that direct your eyes up communicate the feel of 'this is a place where Gods live...'. Again, really complicated artistic touches in this comic book movie lend credence to the entire genre. Thank you, Kenneth!

The Performances

What is couched in all of these stunning visuals, costumes and sets? Great performances. It has been said in the reviews that Hemsworth is perfectly cast, and that is true. Stunning visuals mean little if they surround bad performances, but in this case the performances lived up to the level that the visuals had set. Hemsworth's character arc was poignant and relevant, from being arrogant and self-assured to vulnerability, then finally self-discovery and maturity. He portrays this subtly yet powerfully, he is ultimately likable and believable. As the title character he pulled it off brilliantly. The supporting cast was excellent as well- to reduce their performances to one word sound bites- Odin was power, Sif was strength, Jane was determination, Darcy was comedy- precisely what they should be.

The verdict?

This was an incredible movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was artistic, exciting, humorous, meaningful, powerful and portentous in and of itself and for the genre as a whole. Do yourselves a favor, my comic friends, go and see it! See it and keep your mind and eyes open, you are in for a treat!

This is the ghost of Caesar, thanks for reading.