Mortal (2020) Movie Review
Mortal - The God Is Reborn
The god Thor is best known for his character since the character adapted into the Marvel comics appeared on the big screen and starred Chris Hemsworth. After a long silence in Hollywood under the charisma of an Australian actor, Thor finally returned to his homeland of Norse mythology, Norway.
Opened by a dozen minutes of scenes without a single dialogue, the audience is gradually introduced by the figure of Eric who looks like a tramp with burns all over his body. After a murder incident, the Norwegian-American man was finally arrested by the police. However, the longer Eric showed his strength the more uncontrollable. Considered the appearance of the god Thor on Earth, Eric tries to find out why and how he got to this point with the help of Christine, a psychologist.
Norway is a beautiful place. Big cities in Norway are neatly arranged and look soothing with the minimal population there, coupled with small cities that have views of the mountains and dense forests. Director André Øvredal and cinematographer Roman Osin have captured this beauty.
In some sequences, the beauty of Norway makes a little bit of wonder whether the grass and the wide hills in the middle of the cold air make Norway the most appropriate place as the origin of the mythical Norse Gods? For some reason, this sight that looks cold and gray actually feels very appropriate to describe the dwelling of Dewa.
Not much different from the Thor Marvel story, which is based on Norse mythology, the Mortal movie is also based on that mythology. However, the director includes elements of mythology that are thicker in it. The reasons why Eric turned into Thor, how, and all other questions are made according to mythology and beliefs that exist in Norway. For lovers of Norse mythology, it is likely that the references made in this film will be quite satisfying.
Even so, it must be admitted that Mortal is not completely solid in all aspects. Despite having quite dynamic relationships between characters, some of the choices or actions of the characters are often seen just to push the plot in the desired direction. Instead of allowing the characters to write their own stories, Mortal seems to be having a hard time determining which character backgrounds you want to show so that the result is only halfway. In fact, the character development in this film will be very promising if they have presented a strong background foundation.
Fortunately, Nat Wolff is here to patch this weakness. The actor first became famous with his name thanks to the films The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and Paper Towns (2015). In fact, a fan of romance movies, Nat Wolff shows a much more complicated performance than a teenage boy who falls in love.
Mortal does show a love story between Eric and Christine, but Eric's character has more dynamic emotions. One of the most impressive scenes was when Eric experienced a panic attack in the car. Even though it sounds ridiculous — Thor gets a panic attack due to seeing the police — Nat Wolff actually presents a side of a character that is far more complicated than just being a God of Thunder. He shows how changing from an ordinary human to a god can cause great trauma to the character.
Mortal is very appropriate to be watched as a light spectacle with various genres (action, drama, mystery, romance) in it that are dynamic. Although the end of this film seems too hanging, but it is also the end that may promise a sequel in the future.