'Thor' is indeed almighty!

Rating: 6/10 (29 April 2011)

Kenneth Branagh, the man who brought us Shakespearean masterpieces such as 'Hamlet' and 'Henry V', directs 'Thor', a marvelous summer-starter (even though there's still one month till summer begins).
'Thor' stars Chris Hemsworth, a relatively unknown actor, as, you guessed it, Thor. Now from the trailers, it seemed to me that this was going to be yet another wannabe superhero flick with kick ass special effects and fight scenes, lacking any depth, and starring a talentless six-pack. Well I was wrong. 'Thor' is probably Marvel's best film, and I'd even go as far as saying that it is the third best superhero film of all time (right behind Christopher Nolan's masterpieces).
The plot is as follows... Thor, the bloodthirsty warrior and heir, is banished from the eternal kingdom of Asgard by his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), after disobeying his command, to a distant realm... called Earth! Now he needs to get back, but his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who was previously living in Thor's shadow, is proclaimed temporary king after his father collapses on a staircase, or something, and he doesn't want to let his cool brother back home, so Thor has to stay on Earth, with all the puny beings. He then falls in love with Jane (Natalie Portman), who is somewhat of a scientist, and changes his mind from "kill everybody who threatens my well-being" to "now wait a second, let's reason a bit here".
The movie's directed by Kenneth Branagh, the director of masterpieces such as 'Henry V', in which his also starred in, and received two Oscar nominations for both directing and acting. He may also be known to some as the goof-ball professor Gilderoy Lockhart from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. Here, he takes a break from acting, or producing, or writing, and just directs this masterpiece. Hollywood is really heading in the right direction with hiring artsy directors to direct explosion-explosion films. Another great example would be the upcoming 'Captain America: The First Avenger', directed by Joe Johnston, who brought us the very good coming-of-age story, 'October Sky'. I hope 'Captain America' is gonna be as good as 'Thor'. A part inside me somehow doesn't want it to be better, I don't why though.
Alongside Hemsworth, star Jane's friends Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), and Darcy... something (Kat Dennings); Thor's friends Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Sif (Jaimie Alexander), and Fandral (Josh Dallas/Cary Elwes-lookalike); and the nosy SHIELD agent, Coulson (Clark Gregg). The ensemble cast all give great performances, which aren't meant for you to remember, aside from Ray Stevenson, who is always awesome.
The movie references a few other superhero films/comics, which is quite appropriate given the fact that 'The Avengers' movie is getting closer and closer. We can also see Jeremy Renner in a cameo probably as Hawkeye, he's also gonna play Hawkeye in 'The Avengers'. And, I didn't stay in the theater until the credits were over, but IMDb tells me that Samuel L. Jackson has a cameo after the credits as Nick Fury. - How exciting! I'm thinking of seeing it again just for that.
'Thor' is the second superhero film out this year so far. The previous one was 'The Green Hornet', which was just a horrible attempt at mixing comedy with action. 'The Green Hornet' was however the first 3-D superhero flick. 'Thor' is in 3-D too, but I'd rather go with 2-D on this one, since there are too many shiny lights in the Asgard scenes, which would make my brain explode with 3-D glasses on.
There are five superhero films in 2011, three of them are still unreleased. They are: the crappy '...Green Hornet'; the amazing 'Thor'; the comes-out-on-my-birthday 'X-Men: First Class'; the gonna-be-awesome 'Green Lantern; and my most anticipated film of the year, 'Captain America: The First Avenger'. I sincerely hope that they are all on the level of 'Thor'. I don't like repeating myself here, but something inside me forbids me from wanting the other films be better than 'Thor'. Maybe I'm crazy, I don't know.
'Thor's special effects are spectacular, and deserving a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination. From the epic battle scenes between the almighty gods, to the amazing scenes in Asgard, 'Thor's special effects are probably the greatest ones I've seen since 'Avatar', yeah! Plus, 'Avatar' kinda sucked from the story perspective, and 'Thor' is good on every level, so 'Thor' > 'Avatar', that's probably gonna set a certain individual off, I hope.
Anyway... Under Branagh's gentle direction, 'Thor' is by far one of the best films of 2011, and right behind Nolan's Batmans as one of the greatest superhero films of all time, featuring a star-making turn by Chris Hemsworth - a Hollywood newcomer with a six-pack, and brains!
Rating: ★★★★
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