PLOT
After defying his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins_ The Slience of the Lambs, Fracture) and in turn bringing the threat of war and death to Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is stripped of all his powers, and his sacred weapon Mjolnir, and is cast out of Asgard.
Meanwhile his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has some ideas of his own about how things in Asgard should be run……
Review
2011 has been a big year for Marvel, it has seen the X-men series rebooted, and has introduced two of their avengers:- Captain America, and Thor.
The first of the movies to hit us was Thor, and what a good start to the proceedings.
Many were a bit surprised when Marvel made the decision to have Kenneth Brannagh (Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets, Wild Wild West) take the directors chair. In his career so far Brannagh has had some hit and miss movie choices, and is most well know as a classic Shakespearean actor. After watching this movie for the second time, once again I fully appreciate how good a decision Marvel made in their director.
Brannaghs strength in character acting and development really shows through out. His direction has brought out some wonderful moments in a mixed cast of youth and experience.
Old-timers Anthony Hopkins and Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting, Angels & Demons) who plays aging scientist Erik Selvig, keep the ship steady while the young and excitable Hemsworth and Hiddleston run a-mock.
Hemsworth in particular has struck an excellent balance between arrogance and sensitivity, that really makes the viewer root for Thor in a way that other actors may have struggled to achieve.
Hiddleston meanwhile, though on occasion over milks it, does a solid job at portraying the cunning and slippery Loki.
The interaction between Thor and Selvig is all I could have hoped for, though the same could not be said for that of Thor and Jane Foster ( Natalie Portman). Jane is a brilliant young Physicist on paper, but in reality is let down by a script that does not allow her to really flourish, making her just a pleasant distraction as we go along.
That said for the most part the script writers have done a reasonable job at bringing both humour, and gravity, where many others would have taken things a whole lot more seriously. For me the best thing about Thor for is this ‘not taking itself too seriously’ attitude, that unfortunately is rarely seen in comic book movies.
Finally I’ll touch on the technical aspect. The special effects crews have done a wonderful job in portraying Asgard, Mjolnir (the golden Hammer) and in particular the Bifrost (the rainbow highway).
The Bifrost for me is better than I could have hoped it would be, the journey between realms are an absolute visual delight.
The Verdict
An excellent start to a few big years for Marvel, Thor is well paced, well delivered and fun to watch. Its got enough substance to please the comic book fans, and enough of everything else to entertain the average punter. It stumbles occasionally in the script, but is overall a thoroughly enjoyable affair!
8/10
Blu-Ray Extras
The extras are fairly regular fodder for a standard release. A handful of ‘the making of’ featurettes and a couple of entertaining shorts. It also includes a feature length commentary with the director and a dozen or so deleted scenes, the highlight being that of Thor and Selvig enjoying a drunken sing-song on their way home.
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