Thor

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2012)

From director Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Hamlet), I saw a trailer and some clips of this film, but I didn't realise until a little later that the story was based on Marvel comics, so that made me keen to see it. Basically in the outer space past world of Asgard, King Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) once waged a war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their King Laufey (Colm Feore) who want to take over the nine realms, starting with Earth, and now his son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is due to ascend to the throne. This ascending is interrupted when the frost giants attempt to steal the power source known as the Casket of Ancient Winters, and Thor with his arrogance takes his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), childhood friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three: Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Joshua Dallas) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano) to retrieve it. The battle that ensues causes the end of the truce between the two sides of the war, and Odin punishes Thor by taking his power and banishing him from the kingdom to be mortal on Earth, also sending his power source, the hammer Mjolnir, to be found by the worthy warrior. Landing in the deserts of Mexico he is found by astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), while the hammer is found by local people, and soon surrounded by officials from S.H.I.E.L.D., with Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in charge. Thor tries to retrieve Mjolnir, but he is unable to lift it from the ground, and he is captured by the agents, but Selvig helps him escape, and seemingly unable to gain his power back he focuses on a romance with Jane. Back in Asgard, Loki has discovered that he is not the real son of Odin, he was abandoned by the snow giants and taken at the end of the original war, so for revenge he forces Odin into a coma, becomes the new king, and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket, but the Warriors Three and Sif know of this plan. So they convince gatekeeper Heimdall (Idris Elba) to travel to Earth and find Thor, while Loki sends a Destroyer to find and kill his adversary, and after a battle Thor sacrifices himself to save everyone, and this act earns him his hammer and power to return. With his powers restored he defeats the Destroyer, he says a sad goodbye to Jane and the others, he returns to Asgard to confront Loki, who has betrayed and killed Laufey, and he destroys the bridge that allows them to go to Earth, and Loki falls into the abyss below, and he gives up Odin making him king. Also starring Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Rene Russo as Frigga, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Stan Lee as Stan the Man and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Hemsworth proves himself a worthy leading actor as the strong willed and heroic warrior, Portman is sweet as the hero's love interest, Hiddleston does a good job as the nasty villain, and Hopkins in his time brings his usual great seriousness, and director Branagh actually proves a director with good pace and vision. The story is an easy one to follow, and it obviously builds up to Avengers Assemble, just like Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk did, the special effects are fantastic, and there are some great moments of action to catch your eye, an enjoyable fantasy adventure. Good!