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Marvel has various
super hero
franchises tied into
different studios
and distribution
houses. Sony owns
the rights to
Spider-man. Fox owns
X-Men and related
characters.
Universal owns Hulk.
Paramount has
Ironman, Thor, and
Captain America for
another year or so.
Then of course a few
other properties are
tied in a few other
places. Overlooked
though is Marvel’s
relationship with
Lionsgate to put out
animated features
that stand as their
own as great
stories.
Marvel and Lionsgate
have teamed up to
make
The
Avengers,
Ultimate Avengers,
Next
Avengers,
The
Invincible Iron Man,
Hulk
Vs.,
Dr.
Strange
and probably a few
other movies I’m
missing. The latest
movie that Marvel
has teamed up with
Lionsgate on is Thor:
Tales of Asgard.
Yes, it was released
right before
Thor
hit the big screen,
but it’s a great
animated feature
that’s worthy of
standing on its own
and not being just a
promotional tool.
In
Thor:
Tales of Asgard,
Thor is in his
adolescent years.
He’s cocky,
arrogant, defiant,
and full of hormones
like lots of other
teenagers are of
that age. When his
manhood and
integrity gets
challenged by his
love interest Sif,
Thor gets mad and
enlists the help of
his brother Loki.
The two sons of Odin
stow away on The
Warriors Three’s
boat to go on an
adventure to find
The Sword of Serta.
There’s only one
catch about finding
the sword- it’s in
the land of the
Frost Giants. And
not only does Thor
find more than he
expected on his
quest, his
recklessness brings
trouble to Asgard.
Eventually Thor
learns some lessons
and matures but not
until we see an
incredible
adventure.
The
best thing about
Thor:
Tales of Asgard
is the writing of
it. This is a
captivating script
and a script that’s
good enough to be
seen in theatres and
not just as an
animated feature. If
Kenneth Branagh
didn’t do as good of
a job as he did with
Thor,
then this would have
been a great
alternative script
to that. The script
is great, the
characters are
depicted correctly
and it tells a story
that’s fun and
exciting to follow.
The animation is
also cool with
Thor:
Tales of Asgard.
There’s nothing over
the top about it,
but it’s just drawn
and shaded well. The
production here
isn’t over-the-top
but it suits the
movie perfectly.
Even the voice work
is decent here, it
doesn’t stand out,
but it doesn’t
hinder anything
either.
The
only real problem
with
Thor:
Tales of Asgard
is that it is a
little average in
production and voice
work. Nothing
hinders a great
story, but nothing
builds upon it
either. This is
worthy of being a
home video release,
that’s a great
thing, but it can
also be seen as a
bit of a knock too.
As
far as extras go on
Thor:
Tales of Asgard,
you wouldn’t expect
there to be a ton
here, but there is.
There are two
different
commentaries, a
twenty minute
making-of featurette,
a bonus episode of
The
Avengers: Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes,
and some trailers.
It’s more than you
could hope for with
a release like this.
Thor:
Tales of Asgard
will be a great
watch
for any Marvel fan.
If you went and saw
Thor
this summer and
loved it and you
want more, this is a
great tiding until
Thor
comes to Blu-ray.
It’s well written
and even though the
production isn’t
amazing, it works.
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