Let's Talk About That "Thor" Footage

One of the most talked-about previews that I didn't see while I was at Comic-Con was the four-and-a-half minutes of "Thor" that director Kenneth Branagh brought to the Marvel panel on Friday. It generated mixed responses and I finally got a look at it for myself a few days ago. I've been fairly ambivalent about the project so far because I don't know the source material, but it sounded promising with the impressive cast and crew assembled. The early screenshots of the Asgardians in costume and Odin's throne room that hit the Internet a few weeks ago didn't faze me. Yes, they were over-the-top, but in a sort of grand, operatic, "Ring of the Nibelung" way that I thought would suit a story of Norse Gods in science-fiction trappings. The Comic-Con footage - I hesitate to call it a trailer because it doesn't play like one - is another matter.

Four minutes was enough time to give us a little more than the bare outlines of the plot. Chris Hemsworth will play Thor, famed god of thunder and son of the king of gods, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). After Thor and Odin have a falling out, Thor is banished to Earth. He meets a lovely scientist named Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who will help him transition to life among human beings, while the villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston) seizes power in Asgard after Thor's departure. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) from the "Iron Man" films will be making an appearance, and there were also brief looks at supporting characters like Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Sif (Jamie Alexander).

The rumor is that in this universe, the gods are alien beings with powers of extraterrestrial origin, and their Asgard exists in a parallel dimension. This was neither confirmed nor refuted by the clips, but from the look of Valhalla I can see it. There's a metallic look to everything, exemplified by all the ornately armored gods and Odin's golden throne, but a predominance of bold primary colors adds a lot of vitality to the visuals. The Asgardians do look campy out of context, but we got to see some of the context up close and I am sufficiently dazzled. The size and scope of some of these environments is going to look really impressive up on the big screen.

What worries me is what happens when the actors, decked out in all their eye-catching costume pieces, start moving around and interacting with each other. Hemsworth and Hopkins spend at least the first two minutes delivering their lines as though they were shouting them from the tops of mountains, making grand proclamations and thundering ultimatums from on high. Their relationship is in trouble and they want everyone within bellowing distance to know the details. It's no wonder the rooms in Asgard are so grandiosely huge if this is the level of conversation they're used to. The melodramatics seem positively, well, Shakespearean.

And that's no surprise considering that Kenneth Branagh is best known for his Shakespeare adaptations. I really enjoy him when he's tackling that material, but Branagh was also responsible for the troubled "Frankenstein" in the 90s with Robert DeNiro as the creature. And his last film was "Sleuth," a vastly inferior remake of the classic 70s thriller. So the closer he sticks to Shakespeare, the better. But "Thor" isn't Shakespeare or Wagner. The source is a comic book series with, to be blunt, comic book dialogue. In theory modern superheroes are akin to the gods and royals of ye olden mythology, but there's a significant gulf between the two sensibilities and trying to marry them together directly like this in a mainstream film project may be pushing too far. It could just come across as silly.

That's the vibe I got from the preview footage. At times it had me on board with the epic sweep and the shiny visuals. At other times I felt like I was watching a cheesy old episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess" with a heftier production budget. This could really go either way, as I suspect the Comic-Con reel was heavier on the magniloquent speeches than it should have been, and most of the effects shots and action scenes that would have balanced them out aren't finished being rendered yet. We'll have to wait and see. But honestly, the only part of "Thor" that really interests me right now is the return of Rene Russo to the big screen after a six year absence. She'll be playing Frigga, Odin's wife and queen of the gods.

This also reinforces my impressions of how the next batch of superhero films in the pipeline are going to match up. Of the three major titles coming soon, I think "Green Lantern" is going to fare the best. Ryan Reynolds is the most familiar face, the character fits the standard superhero formula more neatly, and the story won't be hampered with extraneous bits meant to set up the "Avengers" movie. Most importantly, an alien giving a guy a ring with special powers is simpler and easier to understand than all this business about Norse gods from other dimensions and defrosted World War II veterans. I'd love for Kenneth Branagh to prove me wrong, but he and the crew of "Thor" have their work cut out for them.