Its hammer time!...for the God of Thunder...and Rock & Roll

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2011)

When I was reading reports that Kenneth Branagh was going to direct the upcoming adaptation of the Marvel Comics character Thor,my very first feeling was one of mostly excitement,and some nervousness.The nervousness was due to me being a bit worried that Branagh may not treat the material with the same level of focus that he gives to his stunning Shakespeare adaptations,and the he would instead turn the movie into being similar to the terrible 80s Conan movies.Although from the first five minutes of the film,I could tell that all my fears for the film being a disappointment had faded away,and that I can now buckle myself in for a non-stop thrill-ride.
The plot:
In 965 AD,a king (Odin) decides that it is time to call a truce on the war that has been taking place on his planet (Asgard) and the planet of Jotunheim.Just before the truce is declared Odin steals the main power source for the people of Jotunheim,after finding out that the power source was going to be used to destroy a small planet called Earth.With having the upper hand,Odin spends the next years of his life looking over his kingdom,and seeing both of his young sons Thor and Loki grow up
Over the years,Odin started to feel that he was getting close to the end of his life,and that it was now time to appoint Thor as the new king of Asgard.During the inauguration,three people of the Jotunheim planet,break into the palace to try and steal their power source back.Whilst they are easily defeated,Thor and Odin have a huge disagreement about showing the Jotunheim people "whoses really in charge".With his father not wanting to risk the destruction of the truce,Thor gets hold of his brother and friends,and tell them that he is going to disobey his fathers orders,to show the Jotunheim people what they are messing with.When they arrive at the planet,Thor starts beating up any of the warriors that he can get his hands on.Sadly for Thor,his brother and friends they are easily out numbered by the warriors of the planet.Just as the warriors are about to finish them off,Odin arrives to try and stop all of this fighting,to regain the truce,he is told that it is "too little,too late",and that they all should prepare for war.Returning to the palace Odin has a huge argument with Thor over the action he has taken.When Thor says he did it because his father is now seen as "weak and old".Hearing this,Odins temper explodes,which leads him to disrobing Thor of all his titles (as well as his main choice of weapon:an extremely powerful hammer.) For the final blow to Thor,Odin vanishes Thor to stay on the planet earth.After vanishing Thor to earth,a grave feeling starts to sink into Odin,when he begins to wonder if his other son Loki (who would never have become king,due to Thor being first in line) has been hiding in the shadows,secretly playing a game against both of them,so that their falling out would lead to him taking the throne (and there powers) right behind their backs...
View on the film:
The first thing which I feel should be praised about this film is the performance of Chris Hemsworth in the title role.Along with Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr,Hemsworth shows that he is a perfect fit for this role,with Chris being able to do the amazing fight scenes, (which help to show the intense level of training that Hemsworth put himself through for the role) and the more dramatic/light-hearted scenes where Hemsworth shows Thor slowly transform,from a self-centre,blood thirsty warrior,into a warrior that is (beginning) to understand the art of war.After losing her mind for her Oscar winning performance for Black Swan,Natalie Portman really lets her hair down for this role,with a light breezy performance.Although she sadly does not get the chance to participate in the stunning fight scenes,Portman still does a very entertaining performance,with the many scenes she shares with Chris Hemsworth brilliantly showing the natural chemistry that both actors have with each other,which also helps to side a very different side to Thor.Whilst the story,which is co-written by J. Michael Stracznski (who has a very funny cameo) is not as complex as his astonishing screenplay to the 2008 film Changeling,Kenneth Branagh is able to show a side which I never would have expected.For the action scenes Branagh executes them brilliantly,with the first battle on the planet of Jotunheim being a true thrill-ride,with the mix of hand (or hammer) to hand combat,blending in seamlessly with the CGI created warriors and monsters. During the opening of the film,my first thoughts were that Branagh would have his well-known Shakespeare influence be the main centre of the films direction.Instead,Branagh shows a very unexpected J.R.R Tolkien side for this film,with the world of Thor being given a stunningly beautiful,epic scope.For the sections of the film which take place on Asgard,Kenneth Branagh stunningly shows the world he is creating,with fantastic sweeping shots,that help to turn this film into a very epic adventure.
Final view on the film:
A gripping,action/adventure comic-book film,with a fantastic performance from Hemsworth,and unexpectedly stunning action scenes from Branagh.