Thor: Tales of Asgard

I was really surprised I liked this movie as much as I did. The story was great, the Loki dynamic was very good and it made for a very well spent afternoon. It needed a bit more of a budget and it would have made a hell of a great MCU entry.

It's titled Thor but it's really not the Thor we know. It's the young Thor before he had his mighty hammer Mjölnir. So Thor doesn't behave the typical way you like him to behave, here he is more of a spoiled teenager. And he doesn't drink any beer or mead. The plot is lame in my opinion, quite stereotypical for a fantasy movie but with a worse plot structure. The dialogs were childish, same for the characters behaviors. And because its set when Thor was young there is nothing happening on earth so it just feels like any kind of fantasy-animation. I liked the real Thor Movie with Chris Hemsworth way better than this one. And I also liked Thor and the depiction of Asgard in Hulk VS. Thor much better. It's just so much about action that it bored me... it is really nothing special but you can watch it if you don't have any better plans for your evening. The character development was also quite lame I think this movie could be much better if they did character introductions so that you know who is who and they could have used a smaller amount of characters. A friend of mine who saw this as well was quite confused about all those characters, for someone who doesn't know the relations between the people of Asgard and those Frost Giants and the hirarchy system in Asgard it's just all too much. And because of this each character loses it's individuality and also it's importance, in this storyline, which also leads to a loss of tension... And that's why this movie is just mediocre in my opinion.

This film was much better than I expected. True, it does have some anime influence (like slim bodies and expressive eyes) but most contemporary cartoons have that anyway.

In short, this movie is about a teenage Thor embarking on a quest to prove his manhood to his father, who still considers him immature. With the aid of his brother Loki and the Warriors Three he travels through different realms to complete his quest.

What I liked in this film was that it showed a different, refreshing perspective on Thor and Loki's relationship. In this film we actually see Loki as a caring brother who is a loyal Asgardian. He and Thor share a special bond, trust each other and, when times get tough, provide each other with support. Seeing this just makes it even more heartbreaking as the viewers know that in the future these two would become mortal enemies.

Some dialogues were actually funny without relying on simple humor - even giving room to a bit adult humor when it came to Fandral. There is romance (concerning both brothers), and there are notable number of dark scenes and dialogues which concentrate on the topics of genocide (yes, genocide!) and character death. Unlike most children's cartoons nowadays, it has quite a few mature themes which adults may like.

All in all, it was a pleasant surprise and more mature than I expected. I warmly recommend this film.

PS - the music was epic!

I felt this movie pretty passable as a person who isn't a fan of Thor or the Marvel franchise in general. The tone balanced mature themes and characters well with an arrogant lead and a younger target audience. I felt the pacing was good and it wasn't predictably boring.

I got this film purely by accident, thinking it was going to be the another Thor movie that has just been released. Ever since childhood, I have been repeatedly surprised by how many books/movies/songs that I never wanted in the first place turned out to be good when I reluctantly decided to give them a try.

My first impression was that this was going to be just another silly story for kids, because we see Thor as a brash youth. I was tempted to turn it off after only a few minutes, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I suspected, of course, that the story was going to show how Thor grew up and became the hero we know him to be today, but I didn't know exactly how that transition would take place.

Presumably, after taking a few blows on his chin, he was simply going to pick up his hammer and crush evil into submission, convincingly proving once again that 'might makes right'. And, if that were all there is to this story, I wouldn't be recommending that you watch it yourself or show it to your kids.

Like most youths, Thor has a sense of ambition and adventure that ultimately gets him into trouble. But Thor is not an ordinary youth, being the son of Odin, his rash actions place the entire kingdom of Asgard in grave danger. It is at this point, when he accepts responsibility for his own actions, that we see his remarkable transition from boy to man. In fact, we are impressed when he proves to have the wisdom of a man many years his senior.

So, as it turns out, the moral is the same as in other superhero stories, that is, having great power isn't what counts the most, but rather knowing how to use it wisely is. I have read more than my fair share of comics, even as an adult, so this theme isn't really news to me. This time, however, I saw it from a different perspective, through the eyes of an adolescent who had to learn the lesson the hard way. And, then I saw something I had been missing all these years. I knew the part about the hero forgiving the bad guys, but I realize now that what is more important is that Thor forgave himself. This sense of compassion is perhaps the main reason why Thor goes on to be a great hero, while his brother Lochi eventually becomes a villain.