Thor

The first blockbuster of 2011 may be the best. They certainly set the bar very high. It's an exciting and certainly an all-around entertaining comic book adaptation. Nothing in this genre since LOTR has been any better. Everyone involved in the production should be proud to know that their movie can stand toe-to-toe with the likes of anything else that summer can throw at them.

They found the perfect combination of spectacle and guts and passion balanced with the human dynamic of the character. It delivers mind-bending visuals but it still very intelligent and thrilling. How many summer films can you say that about that you've seen over the past ten years or so???? The actors REALLY brought the characters to life. It was really amazing to see it develop on the big screen. There's no doubt that Hemsworth is a star in the making and a rather astounding leading man. Thor is a dazzling example of the superhero movie done right. There were some parts in the movie where I was just blown away. This film has a depth that no one could have expected and is very impressive in scale and design.

I love how the movie played out and it exceeded all my expectations. This was by far the adventure movie I've seen in years. Not too many movies continue to have character growth from start to finish but still pack in the action and heart.

I watched this last night at a preview screening in London.

I prayed that Kenneth Branagh would learn from his mistakes with handling a big budget movie, namely his Frankeinstein. Thankfully, I am glad to say he learnt a great deal from those mistakes. Of course, this is no Henry V, this is just pure popcorn entertainment but a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to Thor for the big screen. Chris Hemsworth played the part with a lot of energy, charisma and I have to admit from a bloke's point of view, annoying good looks. Anthony Hopkins added much needed heavyweight presence as Odin but its a role he has quite frankly played a gazillion times but I never tire of it, so I'm not complaining. In a year long span of brilliantly playing vastly different roles from psychotic to swashbuckling heroine, Natalie Portman this time plays the sweet determined scientist girl who falls for the strangely mannered good looking guy. Nothing too taxing for any of them but they do give a re-assuring aura about them.

The visuals were quite spectacular, mainly, the sweeping canvas of Asgard. The action scenes were also good though I thought could have been executed better with lesser use of the fast cut edit style that is too often the norm in action film these days.

There is plenty of humour when Thor is on Earth but not in a put-off way as there is a suitable contrast of a serious tone with everything set in Asgard. Even though the storyline was somewhat predictable, it was still a riveting one.

For those like me, who were concerned about how Thor fits into the established Marvel connected universe set by the Iron Man films need not worry. That is just another thing that Branagh and crew pulls off very well. We can now fully embrace the forthcoming Avengers where a God, a man who transforms into a giant green beast, and a man who flies in a hi tech amour suit can share the same screen. So its all coming together nicely.

And make sure you stay for the end credit scenes. In case you did not know of this before, I urge you to go back to the previous films (Iron Man 1 & 2, Incredible Hulk) and watch the end of credit sequences if you haven't already. They tell a separate story strand that will culminate to a certain upcoming Marvel movie. The end credit sequence of Thor is the most fascinating yet as it actually takes a major plot development in the story strand ;) And it was the longest bloody end of credit sequence I've ever seen in any movie! One last thing, the film I saw was in 3d and once again, it practically nearly ruined all the action scenes for me. In the non action scenes, it was pretty useless and just simply made the film much darker.

This is a throw-off piece of Marvel fiction that is packed full of cliché and predictability...to a point.

I found myself cringing at a lot of the scenes of heroism and there's a definite stink of pure cheetos-stained fanboyism in many of the scenes in general, with the usual over-the-top "glory" of this old four-color trope.

But certain things caught my attention as well-done.

First, Asgard is absolutely beautiful. They went all out in making a realm of metallic and elemental grandeur. I had no trouble in buying this as the realm of Asgard, the ultimate land of beautiful heroism. In particular, the rainbow bridge, the weaponry, and the interior scenes were very fitting in general style and specific detail. Very impressive visually and even thematically.

Second, Branagh's touch can be seen with Shakespearean flair in the family of Odin the AllFather. Odin himself is brimmed with both the rime of age and the wisdom that comes with it and yet his voice can instantly summon fearful authority. Hopkins does well with that balance, even through some cheesy scripting.

And the brothers... the sibling rivalry here is very very potent in that it is nuanced and fully realized by both actors. There is love there, but also a lack of understanding, envy, and hate. Loki is far from a cardboard villain, in that we see, all in one package - a fighter who protects his allies, an honest counselor, a liar, a cautious thinker, a smooth tongue, and an awkward one. He loves and reveres his father, but comes to almost fatally doubt him and even hate him...but it's all very real and very stirring. And even when it's clear that he's done very grim deeds, you can actually understand and accept his motives...and his last scene in the film brings all three of the family men together in a very poignant moment of utter loss.

I was pretty surprised how moving this all was, especially when put in the middle of some otherwise-uninspiring hero pablem.

So in summary, this movie both met my negative expectation of disappointment and surprised me with some purely moving content. See it to see if it surprises you at all as well, and forget the whole comic-book hero thing, since that's been done far better.

Thanks for reading.

Thor was much much better than I expected. I didn't know if they could pull of the balance between the Norse mythology stuff and the real world Marvel Universe. I should've known better because Marvel knows their characters and knows what we want to see. Spider-Man set a new standard for the superhero film genre back in the day. Iron Man upped the ante. Thor takes the ball and runs with it and places that bar even higher. I look forward to seeing it again and know it will do well enough to be worthy of a sequel because word of mouth is going to be great. Trust me when I say Thor REALLY IS as good as Iron Man and is most worthy to be called one of the greatest adaptations ever.

Chris Hemsworth as the Norse god Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as his villainous brother Loki show they have the acting ability and star quality to become mega-marquee names in the future. Marvel found two absolute diamonds in the rough. Both actors make a HUGE impression and are wonderful on screen. You knew Acedemy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman would bring it but these relative unkowns more than hold their own on screen. I know the script is written mostly for them but they carry it in a big way. From what I've read, Hemsworth and Hiddleston were cast almost a year in advance of filming the story so, they had time to get into shape and do character research. They certain did these long-time Marvel greats proud. Intelligent comic-book popcorn epics are rare and this one is definitely a cut above the usual fare.

Thor is a film that takes risks - and they pay off wonderfully. The movie grounds itself in reality while keeping a mythological and fantasy-esqe tone, and it never loses sight of the humanity within the characters, with elevates this above standard superhero fare.