Those who did not know Thor now know him

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2011)

Marvel does it again with another A-quality screen interpretation of the comic book hero The Mighty Thor. The heart-stopping action, the dark family drama and the well-placed humor were all perfectly realized on screen by Shakespearian director Kenneth Branagh. I wonder why the DC people could not do the same with their similarly iconic superheroes. (Really, Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern,? Please! But I digress.)
It is amazing that the two main characters Thor and Loki were played by new actors who were unknown to me. Chris Hemsworth is perfectly cast as the cocky Nordic thunder god. Not only does he look the part physically, the way he acted out his character's arc is well-done and worthy of audience empathy. It was not forced nor corny. Tom Hiddleston also convincingly plays out his character Loki with the unpredictability this god was known for. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin by ear, as he is well-known for. Natalie Portman, fresh from her Oscar for Best Actress, looks as beautiful as her character requires. It was also exciting to see a cameo by Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton ("Hawkeye") with his bow and arrow!
The story is solid. Those of us who did not know Thor now know him and care what happens to him. The fight scenes were very exciting. The special effects were very good for the most part. For negatives, I did not really like how fake Asgard looked and I did not like the metallic robot used to attack the earth. The costumes on Asgard also reminded me too much of various Bozanian bad guys from the old Voltes V cartoons. There were some inconsistencies about how Bifrost tele-porter works. Overall though, this was excellent and the first real big action blockbuster of this summer. I did not even watch the 3D version.