David O'ConnellThor
May 9th 2011 04:48
Another Marvel superhero is eased off the conveyor belt as the former Nordic God with his mighty hammer in hand attempts to survive a stint as a mere mortal before returning home to deal with some pressing sibling rivalry issues. Director Kenneth Brannagh must have intuited Shakepearean qualities inherent in the tale before signing up; though this formulaic but fun adaptation will appeal to geeky insiders as well as comic-book novices, it does begin to fade into the mists of generic action fare pretty damn swiftly once the end credits begin their scroll.
There’s plenty to enjoy, no doubt; perhaps most surprising of all is the transformation of Home and Away escapee Chris Hemsworth as the impetuous, lion-hearted Thor. With a physique that might have had Tony Atlas performing self-conscious double-takes, Hemsworth skilfully adapts to the requirements of the dual-personality God of Thunder: infantile with rage when his family’s homeland, Asgard, is threatened, and yet sweetly adaptive to the slightest female attention when stripped of his powers; his gentlemanly handing over of a plate of scrambled eggs to petite scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is as incongruous a sight as any in the Marvel universe.
Brannagh keeps the narrative ticking over with the earth-bound tale interwoven with the power struggle waged in the Heavens as Thor’s genetically-flawed brother Loki (Hiddleston) manipulates his father Odin's ailing health to render a world of his own configuration. Simultaneously he sets about assisting their enemies, the vaguely scary Frost Giants, on a revenge-staked infiltration of Asgard. Keeping Thor from his rightful place as their father’s successor is Loki's underlying objective but he wasn't counting on the determination of Thor’s mostly impotent quartet of buddies to upset Loki’s future perception of equilibrium under a new regime.
The design of Asgard is eye-poppingly good. The special effects-enhanced showdowns of the last hour an hour are mindlessly engaging but hardly awe-inspiring, mainly due to how utterly juvenile the whole thing is. The means by which Thor re-acquires his hammer and then despatches his opponent is just laughably silly. In fact, so weak in meaty spectacle - and hollowly puffed-up with CGI excess - are the big action set-pieces that it’s difficult to avoid placing more value on the disarming scenes of the mortal realm, in which actual characterisation is attempted by the slew of screenwriters. It’s all entertaining to be sure but there’s no spirited verbal jousting or memorable twists; in the final wash-up all the nastiness boils down to very familiar and simplistic motivations.
Anthony Hopkins as the boys’ father and ruler of Asgard, could perform his fiery bursts of speechifying in his sleep. I can’t imagine he’s taking any of this stuff seriously at his age but it’s hard to knock back the over-inflated cheques and opportunity to pose before the green screens. Rene Russo clearly missed the cinema experience enough to sign up for a paltry third-tier role, whilst British newcomer Hiddleston adds a compelling strain of polite venom to the almost apologetically nefarious Loki.
Thor (2011) is an enjoyable romp while it lasts. If nothing else it provides a revealing showcase for Hemsworth, the actor and the human specimen.
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Comment by Bryn
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Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
I thoroughly enjoyed it too for what it was worth - which, at the end of the day, isn't a whole lot. It's a very generic, minor piece of entertainment. When you think of Spiderman, Batman or other superheroes and the bag of tricks they have at their disposal, well, a guy who flies about and throws his hammer at people..............in a sense, as much as I enjoyed it, it's hard to get past the innate silliness of it. I can see how 12 year boys love it........................... with that said, all things considered, it scares me quite a bit that I didn't actually hate this!
Comment by Concretethreads
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
So now we wait for Captain America.
And then The Avengers.
Green Lantern looks over-CGIed.