Thor Review

Some say comic book movies has reached there limit. That they have run there course and that general audience will be sick to death of them soon. For those people, I point them towards Kenneth Branagh's Thor. A comic book movie like no other. That transports the viewer to a fantastical world whilst making the seemingly average Earth just as fun and intriguing.

Thor tells the tale of an exiled son of a Norse god and the king of Asgard, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is exiled for bringing war to a realm that has been peaceful for years. After being goaded by his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) into invading another realm. He is cast out of Asgard and sent to Earth were he is found in New Mexico by Jane Foster, (Natalie Portman)  Erik (Stellan Skarsgard) and Darcy (Kat Dennings). Thor's hammer, or Mjolnir to fans of the comic book is also cast down to Earth were it is found by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) of S.H.I.E.L.D. With Thor now on Earth, his brother Loki attempts to take his place as the new king of Asgard.

I loved Thor. I thought it was fun, exciting, action packed with an interesting story and good humour too. For every obstacle that is placed in front of this film, it smashes them down with a large hammer. I have always thought Thor would never convey well on screen. I thought it would look cheesy and that I wouldn't be able to take it seriously. With the help of a great director like Branagh, Thor takes itself very seriously but doesn't get bogged down in it all. At moments it stands back and makes a joke or two. It's a crowd pleaser in every sense. The action sequences are exciting and have everything a comic book blockbuster desires.

The acting across the board is fantastic. But the standouts for me were the two brothers Thor and Loki, played by Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. These two actors are brilliant and have a chemistry that is very entertaining to watch. There is one exception is this film for me. Kat Dennings, everything that came out of her mouth was either unfunny and annoying or a blatant piece of product placement. It felt like she spent her whole time on screen saying "iPod" and "Facebook". Natalie Portman was fine in the roll of Astrophysicist Jane Foster, but it felt like her relationship with Thor was rushed. She also felt like a minor character, but a minor character being played by Natalie Portman, so that was sometimes distracting.

Another negative I have about the film is the editing. There are moments in the film that are terribly rushed. There is a section at the end, were so much happens in mere minutes. I think it could either have been handled better in editing or they could of just added more minutes on to the running time cause it just feels a little rushed.

In the Marvel Universe, Thor is a component in a larger machine called The Avengers. Unlike Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Thor doesn't get bogged down in trying to build the impending 2012 comic book blockbuster. It creates its own origin, tells a great story and has elements and hints from other properties in the Marvel Universe, not once does it let those things drag it down. It also eclipses both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in the section I'm going to call "Final Battle". The ending fight sequence in Thor was brilliant. The encounter between Thor and Loki felt like a great Shakespearean showdown between two brothers with love and animosity for each other. Whereas in both Iron Man films they just felt empty and not at all exciting.

Overall, Thor is just great. In my opinion I rate this higher than both Iron Man films. I put Thor in the upper tier of great comic book movies. It's not with The Dark Knight, but it's neatly placed alongside X-Men 2. Which for me, as a huge comic book movie fan is high regard. Just about everything works in the film. The juxtaposition between the fantastical Asgard and the normal looking Earth. The characters are interesting and the story is great. I'm looking forward to The Avengers, but right now. I want Thor 2!

8.5/10

Thanks

Chris.