Dir. Kenneth Branagh, USA, 2011, 114 mins
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston
Review by Matthew Rodgers
A wave of kaleidoscopic costumed superheroes is about to crash onto our cinema screens: the X-Men are back with their origin story, Captain America gets his own vehicle, and even the little known Green Lantern is the subject of a movie with a budget the size of a third world country’s deficit. Love ‘em or loathe ‘em (Catwoman anyone? Did you say Ghostrider?), this sub-genre is set to dominate the summer seasons for a good while yet.
But one grows tired of the recycled nature of products of the Hollywood machine, so I approached Thor, directed by Shakespearean puppet master, Kenneth Branagh, with some trepidation. Thor is part of the ensemble for Joss Whedon’s Avengers movie (scheduled for release next year and combing the iconic characters of Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man, amongst others) and hardly a tentpole name when it comes to the Marvel universe. So it appears to be something of a gamble to launch such a prospectively lucrative adventure with one of the lesser known heroes.
You know he has a hammer and that’s about it, but we are transferred to the wonderfully rendered Asgard, a playground of the Gods and one of the universe’s fantastical realms. Brothers Thor (Hemsworth) and Loki (Hiddleston) share a close relationship, but only one can be the true heir to the throne once Odin (Hopkins) abdicates. When the heroic but arrogantly headstrong Thor is banished from the Kingdom for putting Asgard in jeopardy, he is cast down to Earth. There the poetic mechanisms of a house of power, which is what presumably attracted Branagh to the project, kick in: sibling rivalry, warring Gods, and some unexpected humour.
Thor is an unexpected lightning bolt of an experience that without question is the most successful comic book franchise launch of any of the lesser known characters. Even better than Iron Man? Infinitely. It’s hard to single out one aspect of the movie for praise, as all of the elements combine perfectly, but this is a victory for two men: Branagh and Hemsworth.
Branagh strikes a perfect balance between the pomposity required for the warring Kingdoms and a lightness of touch that qualifies this as a genuine buster of blocks. For example, the ye-olde dialogue may not sit comfortably with the target audience, so the script pokes fun at it once the action relocates to Earth. Thor also looks stunning, both the earth-bound and other-worldly aspects of it – the set designs and CGI of Asgard are requisitely magnificent.
And if Thor is a studio gamble, what about resting and, judging by the marketing campaign, selling the film on the shoulders of a relative unknown? By Thor’s hammer, Hemsworth shouldn’t be unknown after this. Heroically square-jawed when required and brilliantly self deprecating during the excellent earth based adventures, he brings more to the role than simply his Scandinavian looks.
In fact, the entire cast is terrific: Portman, Skarsgard, and Dennings form a Spielberg style family unit that plays off Hemsworth’s “alien” wonderfully, whilst on Asgard we are treated to a pontificating but never hammy Hopkins and the conflicted Loki is played perfectly by Hiddleston.
Throw in a couple of geek pleasing cameos, although geeks will surely have been sated by the quality of the adaptation; one-liners that genuine comedies would struggle to match; consistently thrilling set-pieces; and there is only one outcome: Thor is Marvel-ous.
Click Here to go to the Thor Interactive Guide – The Universe of Thor
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