Rock Docs: I Am Thor - Reviewed







Jon Mikl Thor and his band were destined for superstardom in the late seventies and early eighties. Then something happened.  We have heard about this scenario so many times.  What could have and what should have been is always the war cry, usually from the subjects at large, and we are then exposed to the story of why it all went sideways – complete with the usual finger-pointing.  I deviously always enjoy these kinds of stories when it comes to bands and artists – not because I’m into another person's drama, but because I appreciate a band's history as much as their music.

I Am Thor will take you back to the days when a heavy rock show was a true bombastic production with lights, pyro, loud music, and, in this case, a 260-pound weightlifting champion who could bend steel bars and blow up hot water bottles fronting the whole thing.  There is nothing not to like about this, even with the cheesy factor set to stun.




I love the archival footage in I Am Thor, always an important piece of the retrospectives.  I also really loved the build up in the beginning of the film. We don't even meet Thor until twenty minutes into the film.  

With all the fun being had in I Am Thor, I think there could have been a much more detailed story told with the documentary.  A kidnapping was mentioned in the story of I Am Thor, which seems crop-dusted in the greater spectrum of the film.  I really would have loved to hear a lot more about thatThere is also a sequence wherein one of his many backup bands quits mid-tour, stating that they were not being given what they were promised contractually. 

Even though I did enjoy I Am Thor, I drew too many lines to other recent documentaries such as Last Days Here and Anvil! The Story of Anvil.  The two previously mentioned documentaries packed a much harder kick in the stomach as far as an emotional response is concernedNo fists in the air or cheering from my living room for I Am Thor, unfortunately.  



Share the thunder.





Score

-Scott W. Lambert