Thor (4½ Stars)

This is another first for me. "Thor" is the first film that I ever saw on DVD first, then went to see it in the cinema at a later date. There's a logical reason for it. It was shown today as part of a double bill with "Thor: Dark World". I thought it would be a good idea to catch up, since I missed "Thor" in the cinema when it was first released in 2011. I'm glad that I saw it on the big screen today. It's a visually spectacular film that can't be fully appreciated at home.

The casting of Idris Elba as Heimdall is disappointing. He bears little resemblance to the character from the comic books, as the above photos make clear. His choice was criticised by fans when the film was first made, and those who agreed with his choice called the other side racists. That's incorrect. I want a white actor to play Heimdall for the simple reason that he's white in the comics. The population of Asgard isn't like Earth. On Earth we have different races and different skin colours, but Asgard is an all-white world. The only way to explain that one person is black in an otherwise 100% white world is to attribute it to a birth defect. Those who fling the racist slur around need to be aware that it was actually racial reasons that led to Idris being chosen. Today films need a black character to make them attractive to black viewers. In the superhero films one of the supporting characters has to be made black. It can't be the main character, because that would alienate the white audience. The maximum is two black characters, a man and a woman, but there should never be more than one of either.