Thor, 2011.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Joshua Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Clark Gregg, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson.
SYNOPSIS:
The arrogant and reckless warrior Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is stripped of his powers by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and exiled to Earth, where he discovers what it takes to be a true hero.
2011 has the potential to be a strong year for fans of cinematic superheroes and director Kenneth Branagh has ensured things get off to a positive start with Thor, the fourth entry in Marvel Studios’ ‘Cinematic Universe’ and the first of four superhero movies to arrive this year. Based on another of their second-tier characters, Thor continues to pave the way for next year’s The Avengers by serving as an origin story for Marvel’s God of Thunder, with Branagh delivering a highly entertaining film that is a marked improvement over the studio’s previous effort, the underwhelming sequel Iron Man 2.
Having defended Earth centuries earlier from the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), ruler of Asgard, has presided over a period of peace within the Nine Realms while raising his sons, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), in the knowledge that Thor will one day succeed him as King. However, on the day of Thor’s ascension to the throne a group of Frost Giants breach Asgard’s defences; demanding retribution – and encouraged by Loki – Thor defies Odin and sets off to Juttenheim to confront the King of the Frost Giants, an act that threatens war between the two realms.
In response to his disobedience, Odin strips Thor of his powers – and his hammer, Mjolnir – banishing him to Earth where he is discovered in the New Mexico desert by astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her colleagues Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). After taking him to a hospital in a nearby town, Jane comes to suspect that Thor may hold the answers to her research and assists him in tracking down Mjolnir to a site in the desert, which is heavily guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. and good old Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). Thor confronts the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents but finds himself unable to lift the hammer, while back on Asgard the treacherous Loki assumes the throne and despatches the fearsome Destroyer to Earth in order to vanquish his brother.
Injecting the fantastical elements of Thor into the previously established and ‘grounded-in-reality’ universe inhabited by Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk was always going to be tricky, but Branagh succeeds in pulling this off, aided in no small part by a well-crafted screenplay and strong, believable performances from an impressive cast. Chris Hemsworth steps up from a supporting role in the Star Trek reboot to leading man status with a fine performance as Thor, proving himself more than capable both in terms of action and humour. Hemsworth does well to stand out among a quality supporting cast that includes the likes of Portman, Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård and Rene Russo, while Tom Hiddleston is also effective in the role of the manipulative God of Mischief, although it would have been nice to see his character developed a little further.
Spanning three ‘realms’, Thor is truly epic in scope and both Asgard and Jotunheim are wonderfully realised, with Branagh employing plenty of sweeping cinematography and decent use of the 3D format to fully explore the intricately detailed environments. It really injects something new into the Marvel Universe, while the Earth-bound action continues in the same tone as its predecessors, featuring a good mix of humour and action along with several references to previous films. There’s also cameos by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), not to mention a nice nod to the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger, which also seems to set the stage for The Avengers.
While it doesn’t quite manage to reach the heights of the first Iron Man movie, Thor is a more-than-worthy addition to the Marvel cinematic canon and firmly sets the bar for the remainder of the superhero class of 2011.
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