As the film opens, it's 965 A.D., we learn that Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of Asgard, has waged war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and his sworn enemy their leader Laufey (Colm Feore), to prevent them from conquering the Nine Realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors soon defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
Flash forward to the present Odin's son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when the Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey, accompanied by his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), childhood friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Josh Dallas) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano). The group is offered a chance to leave by the Frost Giant king but when one of the giants insults Thor he attacks. Thor easily holds his own even as the others are faced with increasing numbers of opponents. Odin intervenes to save them, destroying the fragile truce between the two races.
As a consequence of Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth, accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir — the source of his power, now protected by a spell to allow only the worthy to use it.
Thor lands in New Mexico, where scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) find him. Soon Mjolnir, is found and S.H.I.E.L.D agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) soon commandeers it while forcibly acquiring Jane's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered that his hammer is nearby sets out to retrieve it from S.H.I.E.L.D But when he finds himself unable to lift it, from its resting spot--He soon is captured.and unable to leave Earth....
To be honest before seeing the film I was a bit concerned how all of the Asgard backstory and depiction would translate on the big screen. Thanks to director Kenneth Branagh and screenplay writers Don Payne Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz everything turns out fine and that concern is quickly forgotten.
Branagh puts all of his Shakespeare skills as an actor/director to good use here--with all of the Asgard/father-son stuff and isn't too shabby with the Earth stuff either. Walking that tightrope with skills and precision that delivers both planes in an entertaining way perfectly paced.
Hemsworth makes a great Thor--Looking like he stepped right out of the comic. The hammer is in good hands. Portman radiates as Jane--And the couple share great chemistry--Much bettter in fact than Portman had with a certain young Jedi (Hayden Christensen) for the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy; Hopkins and Skarsgård are good here as well seeming to rellish the roles they play. Hiddleston is pitch pefect as Loki playing understated wickedness quite well-Can't wait to see where he takes the character down the road. It's nice to see Gregg's Colson get a bit more screen time than usually does in these Marvel flicks; Idris Elba and Rene Russo (Good to have you back on screen Rene) have a few nice moments. The weakest link here is Dennings who deserves better than 5 minutes of screen time commenting on how good our hero looks...
Groundwork for The Avengers continues to be laid out but unlike Iron Man 2 it does not hamper the film's main story.
A star is made in Hemsworth and another superhero franchise is born...Thor took forever to make it to the big screen...But it was well worth the wait.....
Great review! All hail Branagh!
ReplyDeleteThank ya kindly! Some Folks are sayin' it's as good as The Dark Knight...I would not go quite that far... Thor Gets An 8 TDK A 10!
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