Thor with a flaming sword is no Thor with a hammer.
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By Ned Jordan
Thor: Tales of Asgard is a prequel of sorts to the Thor portrayed in the
comics and now movies. Hammerless Thor is a coddled and arrogant teenager, who
passes the time by putting on exhibitions to demonstrate his martial skills to
the people of Asgard. He's too self-absorbed to realize that the warriors he
faces in the arena all let him win until the warrior maiden Sif decides to put
him in his place by handily besting him in an impromptu duel. Dismayed at his
embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sif, Thor decides that he must go on an
adventure as a rite of passage and to prove that he is indeed a warrior. Along
with his brother Loki, Thor stows away on board the ship of The Warriors Three
to find the adventure that will make him a man.
It's difficult to determine just who Tales of Asgard is for. The adventure is
rather pedestrian and along the lines of Saturday morning cartoon ilk, but the
dialog is filled with double entendres and some not so subtle adult references.
It's billed as a prequel to the Thor movie, but the plotline of an arrogant Thor
learning the error of his ways and becoming a nobler person basically mirrors
that of the film and you're left wondering why he became arrogant again. And as
a Thor adventure, well, you've got a Thor with no hammer, no special powers, and
a rather bland and unlikable personality. And all of this is presented in
animation that's pretty basic and a cut below other recent Marvel releases such
as The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I'd say leave this one to the kiddies
if it wasn't for all of the sexual innuendo, so in the end I guess I can only
say it's for those who just have to own everything Thor regardless of quality.
