Spoilers
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne
Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Anthony Hopkins as Odin
Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig
Rene Russo as Frigga
Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Colm Feore as Laufey
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
Joshua Dallas as Fandral
Jaimie Alexander as Sif
Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
Adriana Barraza as Isabel Alvarez
Maximiliano Hernandes as Jasper Sitwell
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye (cameo)
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (post-credit cameo)
Thor is the movie that represented Marvel Studios' first major risk when it came to making movies of their properties. Whereas both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk were well-known, and had the classic comic book storylines of superheroes and scientific experiments gone wrong, this dealt with the pantheon of Norse Gods, with magic taking precedence over science for the first time. The characters are so well known from Norse mythology, that most people didn't even know that they were also characters in Marvel Comics until the movie came out. And let me tell you, if you're familiar with the mythology, good old-fashioned comic book family entertainment would not be your first thought when you hear the title.
As an example, that eight-legged horse that Odin rides during one scene of the movie? He's called Sleipnir. The Gods had asked a builder to build a fortification in three seasons, but warned him that if he didn't finish in time he wouldn't be paid. There was a little while left to go, and the builder was still on schedule, so the Gods sent Loki to delay him so they wouldn't have to pay. Loki had noticed that the builder was using a horse to help him, so turned into a female horse to lure it away. He thought that he was faster than the horse, but was wrong. Loki ended up getting raped by this horse, and a little while later, he gave birth to Sleipnir. Let's see them put that into a 12A (PG13 in America) movie.
Loki is also responsible for the death of his brother Baldur by convincing mistletoe to not swear an oath to not harm his brother. How the mistletoe had a say in the matter, you shouldn't ask... but you can probably tell by now, Loki is not to be trusted! There's a reason he ended up getting chained down in the underworld with snake venom being dripped into his eyes until Ragnarok (that's the apocalypse... so, a very long time). How the characters in the comics and movie didn't realise that he's not to be trusted a long time ago, is also not something you should ask.
Anyway, the movie whilst a divertingly entertaining couple of hours suffers from all of the best moments happening in the first half an hour. When Thor, Loki, and their friends Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun and Sif travel to Jodunheim to do battle with the Ice Giants it looks like you're going to be treated to one of the most epic movies to have been released in the last few years. But then Odin loses his temper, and the writers make the baffling decision to depower Thor for the majority of the rest of the movie, and strand him on Earth (or Midgard, as they should have been calling it). So what you get instead of the movie that you're promised is a fish-out-of-water comedy. Yes, most of this film seems to have more in common with the Eddie Murphy movie Coming To America than an actual superhero movie.
You get a lot of scenes of intrigue in Asgard, as Loki begins his plot to take over, which is why he manipulated events to get Thor banished in the first place (See? Not to be trusted). These scenes are the best in the remainder of the movie, with Tom Hiddleston doing a brilliant job of playing the villainous trickster God. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Kat Dennings is largely unecessary and Natalie Portman's Jane Foster seems to have literally nothing to do but look smitten for 90 minutes. I haven't seen such a waste of an Oscar winning actress for quite some time. Fortunately, we also have Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig, and the Clark Gregg returning as Phil Coulson - always a pleasure to watch - gets significantly more time in the spotlight than in the Iron Man movies. As for Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth proves very capable of being able to carry the movie but - as with the rest of the cast that I've yet to mention - suffers from the material being severely lacking.
There are two more major action scenes, involving a fight with the giant Destroyer, and the final battle between a re-powered Thor and Loki, but both of them are pretty underwhelming. Nothing matches the promise that that first action scene had. What you get is an interesting and entertaining that could have been, and should have been so much more. It's still fun to watch, but by far my least favourite of the movies in the series.
As we get nearer to The Avengers, more little bits are thrown in to whet our appetites. As well as the presence of Phil Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor marks the debut of Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) in a cameo appearance. There are also little nods to both Iron Man ("Is that one of Stark's?"), and the Hulk (Selvig's story of a pioneer in Gamma Radiation going missing when S.H.I.E.L.D. took an interest in him). Oh, and in a blink and you miss it scene at the beginning of The Incredible Hulk there is a weather report showing freak storms in New Mexico which turns out to be caused by the Thor and Mjolnir appearing on Earth via the Bifrost (why the Bifrost would point to New Mexico and not, say, Norway, I don't know). They're also the problems that Nick Fury talks about during Iron Man 2. Talking of Nick Fury, he shows up again in a post-credit cameo, this time showing Erik Selvig a piece of technology that could help in his research... a glowing cube which you may recall seeing a sketch of in Iron Man 2, in Howard Stark's notebook regarding arc reactor technology. Looks like Asgardian technology is responsible for every scientific breakthrough in these movies. Unfortunately, it appears that Selvig is being controlled by a still alive and well Loki. "To Be Continued" is an apt phrase, I think.
Lian Hearn's Blossoms And Shadows is a piece of historical fiction that places a young woman from the area of Japan then known as Choshu (now called the Yamaguchi Prefecture) in the centre of events in her country in the years between 1857 and 1867.
To really get the most out of the book, you'll first need some kind of understanding of what was going on in the country at the time, so here's a bit of context. It was a very tumultuous time in Japan. The power of the Shogunate was waning, and support to reinstate the Emperor as the leader of the country was rising (for the last 700 years, the Emperor had merely been a figurehead with the true authority falling on the Shogun). The perception of the Shogunate wasn't helped by the fact that they were negotiating trade deals with people from the West. This was probably a good thing in hindsight, but all Japan had been hearing about how France, Holland, America, England and Russia had managed to force China into submission and effectively take control of what they always thought of as the most powerful country in the world. So a movement known as 'sonno joi' was formed (sonno = revere the Emperor, joi = expel the barbarians).
Some of the attacks on foreigners led to some serious repercussions for the country that severely damaged the psyche of the Japanese people. To put it into context, people had attempted to invade Japan twice in the past. Both times were armies from China and Korea. Both times what saved them was a freak thunderstorm wiping out the invading forces before they ever got to the country. This led to the belief that Japan was protected from harm by a "divine wind" and their honour was enough for them to win any war. Then they came face to face with our guns and cannons that literally ripped people apart before they could get close enough to fire an arrow or run you through with their swords.
Tsuru is the daughter of a doctor, whose elder sister has just been married to wealthy pharmacists in the nearby town of Hagi. Her elder brother is currently studying in Nagasaki, and as Tsuru's knowledge is almost equal to that of her father, her family make the decision to find a husband for her to come and live with them, instead of the usual arrangement. However, because she is a woman, she can never hope to fulfil her dream to become a doctor herself. Her uncle, who is only two years older than herself has joined the school run by Yoshida Shoin along with multiple people who will become key players in the years ahead, including several people who would become key members of Japan's first parliament.
Tsuru's story has her intermingle with all of these historical figures in some way as she travels between Choshu, Kyoto and Nagasaki, and overcoming various personal trials along the way. At one point, at the suggestion of a bi-polar artist she has befriended, she disguises herself as a man in order to help administer to injuries at war, where she runs into her uncle who she hadn't seen in years, and the pair embark on a short-lived incestuous relationship. It might just be my personal morality coming into play here, but I found that particular sub-plot distracting, and couldn't really fathom the justification that her new life has made her more free, and in her old life she was so oppressed that a relationship with her uncle wouldn't have been allowed.
Apart from that, and the fact that she could easily pass for a man because she was largely built with big feet and hands, though (and how refreshing it is for the lead character not to be a flawless beauty), I get the impression that Tsuru may have been a little too perfect. I know the author had to get the point across that she was a highly skilled doctor who tragically would never be able to officially claim that title, but it seems that any illness that came her way she would immediately know the cure or treatment for. The only people she's shown not saving have wounds so great from battle that no one could have saved them. But those are my only two big criticisms, and the rest of the book is a meticulously researched and interesting look into some of the most important events in the history of Japan. Considering how much of the turmoil was created by the Western powers, it's actually quite criminal that more people don't know of what happened there, and I'd recommend it to anybody with even a passing interest in history.
Periodically, the action will leave the first person account of Tsuru to focus on vital events in the lives - and quite often deaths - of the real life characters. I've heard this criticised, but I find these sections to be vital for the understanding of what is going on in the main plot, and it helps to have some insight into other characters.
And talking of deaths, there are parts of this book that are not for the squeamish. They don't last long, but the description of what's left after one particular battle against Western cannons stays in the memory in particular. So despite, being written by a woman and told from a woman's perspective, it definitely shouldn't only be considered as a book for women. There's much in here for both genders to appreciate. It's something I think the publishers didn't particularly do well with emphasising when coming up with the covers for it, so it does definitely look like a book that only women would enjoy, all pinks and flowers. Considering there are different covers for the Harry Potter and Discworld books nowadays, it would probably be a good idea to start doing covers for certain books that most men wouldn't feel self-conscious reading.