Strangely Shakespearean superhero film; a bit rushed, but enjoyable

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2013)

'Thor' follows its eponymous protagonist, the Norse god of thunder, banished to Earth to learn humility, as his brash and arrogant attitudes provoke a war. Meanwhile, his brother Loki takes his chance to seize the Asgardian throne.
Part of Marvel's attempt to create a cinematic superhero universe (the Avengers franchise), 'Thor' stands apart as the most outworldly of the bunch despite its basic banishment and redemption plot. I did not know much of the superhero beforehand, but I know a lot of Norse mythology and I felt Marvel's attempt to recreate it within a real world to be very good. The visuals of Asgard (and Jotunheim) are stunning and truly worthy of gods, whereas the effects involved in the Bifrost scenes are also wonderful.
Kenneth Branagh, mostly known for his Shakespeare adaptations ('Henry V', 'Hamlet'), is quite an odd directorial choice. He brings a distinct Shakespearean feeling to this film: the Asgardian world has a distinct medieval structure, with Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in special evoking quite a lot the kings of old. Many other developments within the film reminds of 'King Lear', 'Henry V' and other Shakespeare's works, plus a very old-fashioned dialogue.
The cast is partially good. Anthony Hopkins, as Odin, is capable of transmitting the regal wisdom and imperative power of his character. Chris Hemsworth is well cast as Thor as far as looks are concerned, and manages to convey well the god's personality. Tom Hiddleston shines as Loki, a delightfully machiavellian villain, and gives quite a powerful performance as the film's most complex character (surprisingly so for a superhero film). The other Asgardian characters, in special Heimdall (a controversial Idris Elba), are also very good.
On the other hand, the film faces quite a bit of problem with the Earth setting. Not only is this part of the film very dull when compared to the Asgard one, the redemption part of the story is quite rushed with Thor somehow relearning his values far too fast to be believable. The rather weak performances from the human cast (Natalie Portman in particular is very bad, but Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings don't shine either) only makes the situation worse. There are some tries at humor, which doesn't work always, and some rather good action sequences.
The film is mostly successful thanks to the stunning Asgard portion of the story (8/10), but it suffers from the rather poor earthly development (5/10). Overall, still quite a fun superhero film.