Dear Ray,

The path taken by Grant Farrell, your character in Thunderstorm: The Return of Thor, is a perfect example of one of my favorite comic book myths: the completely ordinary individual who finds him/herself suddenly bestowed with fantastic powers, and their reluctant coming-to-terms with the great responsibility that comes with it all.

Maybe that's why I enjoyed the little moments in your performance, like your character's barely-concealed irritation when Thor - depicted here as a vibrating, semi-transparent giant head (I'm sure we can both agree that this mockbuster's vision of the Norse pantheon leans more in the direction of Zardoz than it does to the Shakespearean majesty of Kenneth Branagh's Thor) - informs him that he is a distant blood relative of the God of Thunder, and has thus been tasked with saving the world.

In a movie filled with awkwardness, you're the only actor who feels well-suited to your role. Your performance falls somewhere in the middle of the scale, between the obviously amateur actors and the hilariously overacting semi-professionals (like the leader of the evil cult hell-bent on resurrecting the Midgard Dragon and bringing about Ragnarkok, who seems to think he's in the Thunderstorm stage adaptation).

You underplay things just enough to come off as an appealing, relatable everyman. I especially related to the way your character constantly looked as if he would rather be somewhere else. I'm not sure if this was a skillful demonstration of Grant Farrel's desire to escape the improbable situation in which he has become embroiled, or your own desire to escape the improbable situation in which you were embroiled.

While watching Thunderstorm, I, too, sometimes wanted to be somewhere else. The film's initial amateurish charm wears off quickly; the minutes began to feel like hours. But the whole experience was made infinitely more bearable because we were in it together. And I'll never forget that, man.

But I do have to ask: what did you think of your Thunderstorm costume? I can imagine how perplexed you must have been to find that, despite starring in a motion picture heavily reliant on Norse mythology, you would, in fact, be required to wear a rabbit-eared Iron Man suit in every action sequence. In fact, after your performance, the costume is the second-most brilliant element of the film. I can't help but give props to how cleverly it manages to steal from two of Marvel's biggest comic book characters simultaneously. Now that's some good mockbustering.

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