Another fine Marvel film that breaks the superhero mold

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2013)

Movie review:OK, slightly behind (I kind of forgot to watch this) but excuses aside, I enjoyed this movie. Yes, I am a comic geek, so may be a tad biased, although admittedly I did not read "Thor" so the rating is on movie merits alone. The movie follows the life of a "G-d" in the form of Thor(Chris Hemsworth), who is the god of thunder. He is raised in Asgard to become the heir of the throne to a pseudo-Greek mythological type world of people with extraordinary powers. When Thors arrogance to unleash a war upon a race of frost giants that has been ensuing for many years breaks the code of a treaty of peace, Thor is banished from Asgard without his powers and his mighty hammer to the end of the worlds, or as we know it, Earth. Yes there is a side story to all this, but it is weaved between events on Asgard and Earth to tell the hows and whys of the occurrences leading to Thors punishment. Well, now on Earth, without any power and no sense of what being mortal actually is which leads to some humorous scenes, he meets his new friends by being hit by a car containing astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her associates Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgaard) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). These lucky folks decide that he isn't some wandering drunk and help him on his plight to retrieve his magical hammer. During the relationship with Jane and back in Asgard, Thors brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is able to seize the throne of king as Odin (Anthony Hopkins) falls ill, but does Loki have some ulterior motives here? The movie moves on with a steady hand of extremely well done character development that being helmed by Kenneth Branagh did not surprise me at all. A master of making you believe in the characters is something no one does much better, and in the unbelievable story material he was given, he scores an A+. The scenes in Asgard look absolutely breathtaking, the scenes in the frost kingdom look so dismal you can almost feel the chill, and earth, well, that is just New Mexico, nothing exciting (but some very good camera-work helps here). Of course, there is going to be some exciting action sequences to tide you over, but this movie is really about the acting and chemistry of the cast which is something to appreciate greatly. I only wish they would've given a bit more time to the romance between Thor and Jane (yes, I did just type that). Their love story seemed to be an afterthought swept under the rug to keep the comic book story going. Ultimately this movie, and Marvel studios, again bring out a quality picture about a superhero, but doesn't just use eye candy action to wow the viewer, but uses real emotions to draw the audience into the trials and turmoils that occur. 6.8/10 IMDb 7.0. Oh, after the credits, there is a bit of more info about the Shield that unfolds which is part of the ongoing story of the Avengers. Enjoy.