Monday 25 April 2011

Film: Thor





The blockbuster season starts with a "mighty" bang as Marvel Studios bring us their latest comic book adaptation, directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Thor is the all conquering God of Thunder who wields his imposing hammer with complete confidence that he can defeat any foe. This confidence borders on arrogance and an act of agression enrages Thor's Father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) so much that he casts his Son out of the realm of Asguard to live as a mere mortal on Earth.

Of course Thor's troubles soon follow......

Chris Hemsworth is perfectly cast in the leading role, he looks as Thor should and puts in a charismatic performance. As well as Hopkins there is terrific support from Tom Hiddleston as Thor's brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane and Ray Stevenson as old ally Volstagg. Look carefully and you'll also spot Idris Elba as The Gatekeeper.

Anyone familiar with the comics will have an idea of how the story pans out but it's all done very well and it's laced with some nice "fish out of water" type humour.

It's a perfect way to kick off the Summer movie season and the best superhero film in a long time.

Ric's Rating: 90%

9 comments:

  1. You've already seen it? Lucky devil...

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  2. Nice encapsulation of the film. I can't wait to see it. The casting looks superb (as you point out, it actually delivers), and the story is epic.

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  3. I'm glad to hear that it delivers the goods, Ric. As many did, I grew up with Thor because I was a Marvel Comics kid. It wasn't that long ago that studios wouldn't even touch a comic story because they ended up being so laughable. I'm glad to see those days are far behind us.
    Thanks for the post.

    -Jimmy

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  4. Great review! This has a really good cast too. Big Ray Stevenson and Idris Elba fan.

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  5. I can't wait to see this. I love Anthony Hopkins and got to be a Hemsworth fan from the new Star Trek, though his role was brief.

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  6. Thanks for the great comments guys.
    Yep, previews (not press screening) in the UK yesterday Alex.
    Matt & Jimmy, yes this one delivers the goods and it's great to see a much loved character on screen.
    Ty, Stevenson and Elba both make their presence felt.
    Melissa, Hopkins is convincing as Odin.

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  7. Hi Talli,

    Yep, it's good fun.

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  8. What a good review. You almost had me willing to watch it before it's on dvd.


    Draven Ames
    http://dravenames.blogspot.com/

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  9. Go on Draven, treat yourself to a night at the cinema.

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