Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Movie Review

This is the 'Thor' movie not directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 5, 2011

"We're royalty, we're not equipped to handle adventure."

We’re getting a mini-glut of new superheroes in big screen adaptations over the next few months, though some wags might claim that these spandex-clad musclemen (and women) aren’t exactly A-listers. While Captain America and the still in development hell Wonder Woman might be rightly thought of as headliners, at least in the relative confines of the superhero universe, one has to wonder about a couple of other upcoming projects, including The Green Lantern and Thor. Early word on Thor is actually pretty promising, perhaps due to the sort of surprising participation of Kenneth Branagh as director. Industry insiders are still wondering if Thor, never one of Marvel’s standout franchises, will appeal to audiences in the same way that better known Marvel fare like Spiderman and the X Men films have, and only time will tell. But Marvel, never one to miss a cross-promotional opportunity, is releasing this animated prequel of sorts, Thor: Tales of Asgard, in order to cash in on the main Thor feature which is just now going wide internationally. (Strangely though the filmmakers tout the tie-in to the Branagh feature in their commentaries and accompanying featurettes on this Blu-ray, Thor: Tales of Asgard bears a 2009 copyright). Thor: Tales of Asgard is a fairly basic hero’s quest story that at the very least introduces the main characters of the Thor saga, while pointing the way (albeit in heavily truncated form sometimes) to major plot points which will evidently be part of the Thor feature film. Boasting pretty basic animation as well, this particular Thor may not be overly exciting in any real way, but it may be a quick and easy way for those not all that familiar with Thor’s backstory and general milieu to get up to speed before hitting the local Cineplex to take in Branagh’s feature film adaptation.

Thor: Tales of Asgard gives us Thor as petulant teenager, a spoiled son of King Odin who can’t quite believe his father’s soldiers routinely let him win the weekly duels which Thor himself has made part of the weekly arena spectacle for Asgard’s general public. When Thor is let in on this ego-deflating “secret” by putative girlfriend Sif, he of course, like any good petulant teenager, decides he’s going to prove that he has the “right stuff,” convincing his brother Loki to join him on stowing away on a ship which annually carries the Warriors Three to their yearly heroic adventure. Thor and Loki soon find out that the Warriors are actually not going very far and are simply visiting a nearby pub, where they pick up lore and legend to bring back to Asgard to delight an unsuspecting public with. Thor will have none of this, however, and insists that the quintet go on to locate the legendary Sword of Surtur. This in turn sets the animated film out on its main plot point, as Thor’s successful quest actually sets of an unintended domino chain that eventually endangers Asgard itself.

This brief (around 74 minute) affair is not much better or worse than typical Saturday morning animated fare, both in terms of story and animation style. Thor: Tales of Asgard deserves kudos for managing to cram a fair amount of backstory and detail into its abbreviated running time, but that brevity also means huge chunks of story and character development are just left hanging. One glaring, if quickly glossed over, moment comes fairly quickly into this enterprise when Thor, Loki and the Warriors Three somehow manage to scuttle their flying ship (all of Thor takes place in starry climes where cities float and sailing ships fly). That’s actually one of the less troubling gaffes in this outing. More problematic is the completely unmotivated and unconvincing transformation of Thor’s brother Loki from timid but agreeable pal into a trickster who really should be at least one of the main villains of the piece. Much more compelling is the nice subplot featuring Odin's "dark elf," Algrim, whose character arc is manifestly more interesting than Loki's, or indeed, even Thor's.

While the opening credits sequence of Thor: Tales of Asgard hints at a more impressive and expansive CGI approach, the bottom line here is pretty standard fare for the Marvel Animated line. Characters are distinctly drawn, and settings are nicely variegated, but there’s simply not anything here that even partially rises to a “wow” factor. It’s acceptable and certainly not embarrassing, but it reeks of low budget product thrust out into the marketplace to cash in on a more lucrative project, which obviously is what Marvel is hoping the feature film Thor is going to turn out to be.

Thor: Tales of Asgard actually picks up some considerable steam in the third act, well after several of the major plot points seem to be well on their way to being resolved. With a number of at least semi-surprising developments, we get a great showdown with the Frost Giants, and a number of sidebar characters suddenly fall into place. It's a little funny to see the "radical feminist separatist" Valkyries banish Sif due to her obvious romantic feelings for Thor, and this is one of the few places where adults may glean a little more subtext out of the goings-on than kids.

Voice work is overall very strong in this outing, though there's an odd concatenation of American and British accents utilized throughout Thor: Tales of Asgard. Evidently Asgard and its sibling civilizations were multi-cultural. The underscore, while very appealing on its own terms, is strangely Celtic in flavor, with lots of jigs and triple meters that don't exactly harken to a Norse setting.

Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The animation itself may not exactly be state of the art, but Thor: Tales of Asgard's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 looks nicely sharp and relatively well detailed, given the rather basic "look" of this enterprise. The best thing about this Blu-ray is the sharpness and clarity of the picture, as well as some really nicely saturated and very robust color. The opening scenes in Asgard are mostly brown and beige, but things gets better as the films continues. Despite the main middle act taking place in the frozen climes of the Frost Giants, we get a splendid assortment of hues, including nicely burnished reds, oranges and purples. Character outlines are sharp and the occasional CGI elements (which really spring to life in a climactic battle toward the end of the film) look decent, if not spectacular. This is fairly standard looking "Saturday morning" fare, so don't expect something that will knock your socks off, visually speaking, but this is solid animation with an equally solid video presentation.

Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Yes, Thor: Tales of Asgard does indeed sport a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix. Unfortunately unless you pay attention to the audio specs listed on the keepcase insert (or accompanying slipcover), or go into the Setup Menu on the disc itself, you probably wouldn't know. While there's certainly nothing wrong with this track, and it sports excellent fidelity, it certainly is fairly anemic when it comes to completely immersive qualities, especially for a 7.1 track. Some of the LFE is nicely rendered, but on the whole, this seems like a strangely bass-light outing. There are some nice touches of surround activity in several fight sequences, and the Celtic-sounding underscore spills nicely through the soundfield a lot of the time. Voices are clear and easy to hear and the overall mix is very well handled.

Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Two Audio Commentaries, one with supervising producer Craig Kyle and screenwriter Greg Johnson, and the other with producer Gary Hartle, director Sam Liu and character designer Phil Bourassa, offer a fair amount of background on this project. The Kyle/Johnson outing is by far the more entertaining, probably due to the fact the two have made seven films together and have a palpable rapport. The Hartle/Liu/Bourassa commentary, while worthy of attention, at least by real Thor fanatics, suffers from a halting style that has too many long gaps to keep it really flowing.
• Worthy: The Making of Thor: Tales of Asgard (HD; 22:04) is an OK featurette offering interview snippets with a host of the creative crew, including supervising producer Craig Kyle, executive producer Eric S. Rollman and screenwriter Greg Johnson.
• The Avengers Bonus Episode (HD; 22:04). "Thor the Mighty" introduced the (adult) Thor in this kind of silly outing that finds grown up Thor thwarting several nefarious evil plots.
• Trailer Gallery
• DVD Copy of the Film and all Extras

Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Thor: Tales of Asgard is a fitfully interesting backstory enterprise that probably wouldn't attract half as much attention if it weren't being released just as Kenneth Branagh's big screen adaptation breaks wide. This animated feature is no great shakes, but it has a certain charm, and it does accomplish one salient goal: it helps fill in questioning minds to several key plot points in the Thor universe. The animation style is fairly basic, as is the Marvel Animated imprimatur's wont, but the Blu-ray presentation here is certainly very strong. If you're going to see Branagh's version and don't know your Valkyries from your Odins, this little film is Recommended.