High Expectations - Does it Disappoint?

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2011)

With a budget in excess of $150,000,000 and a stellar cast behind it, I went into Thor will high expectations, and hoped not to be disappointed. Over the past few years we have been treated to numerous superhero films from the Marvel franchise, and I think it would be fair to say many of them have been good, but not always lived up to the high expectations cinema-goers set for them.
Thor is not the traditional superhero film in the true sense of what we have come to expect from the genre – you will not see anyone prancing around in a lycra suit, chasing down a villain dressed as a clown here. Rather the film is based on a mysterious and legendary tale and in particular the Norse God Thor. An interesting theory is bought up with how modern day science is the equivalent ofancient magic, and this provides an effective link from the universe of Thor back to the universe we live in today. The film is focused around two brothers – Loki and Thor – and their rise/attempted rise to the throne of Asgard and the battles that need to be fought along the way. I won't give away too many details within this review, as I don't want to spoil the film, but let's just say they both do not tend to see eye to eye.
As a director Kenneth Branagh excels in what many will consider an unfamiliar genre for his direction. Branagh has long been associated with the stigma of being a director of drama (in particular Shakespeare) something well deserved as he does it so well, but it would be unfair to not give him credit for the work he has done with Thor. The fight scenes throughout the movie has obviously been well planned out, and all translate onto screen effectively under Branagh's direction. Humour is abundant as Thor is forced out of his comfort zone into the 'modern realm' – there is an particularly hilarious scene involving a cup early on in the movie – something that reminded me of a true life incident involving the girl sitting next to me in the cinema! These humorous moments really add to the movie, especially as they offer some light relief from what could have been continuous action sequences, whilst at the same time not taking away from the action too much.
One of the strongest points of this film are the characters themselves and the talented actors that portray them. As the lead Chris Hemsworth shines remarkably as Thor, bringing life to the character with just the right amount of cockiness and wit. Natalie Portman makes up for her terrible outing in Your Highness with an impeccable display as the love interest and modern day scientist, and it would be unfair to forget to mention her partners Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings who compliment her character perfectly. I thought Dennings in particular is an unsung hero in this movie and I look forward to seeing her career continue to blossom in the future. Veteran actor Anthony Hopkins cannot be faulted in his role as King Odin, and one cannot not compliment Tom Hiddleston who puts in perhaps the best performance of the whole film as Loki. He nails the character down to a tee, and it would be difficult to imagine anyone else taking up the role and the character being played in any other way. Tom Hiddleston is definitely another one to watch in the future.
The main issue I had with Thor is that the plot was sometimes slightly too far fetched and leaky. Too much of the film is used to set up for The Avengers next year, particularly with the presence of Shield (the government agency) who also made an appearance in Iron Man 2 last year. I also found the movie to be awfully predictable and it was easy to tell what was coming next, and how it was all going to play out at the end. That being said there was a few things I was slightly surprised over (I won't go into too much detail here) but this was a negative as I though parts were missing that could have been nicely tied up. The film does set up nicely for The Avengers movie, and of course the inevitable sequel of Thor 2 that I expect we shall see in Cinemas within the next two/three years at the latest.
Overall, not a bad outing from Marvel in the slightest. The cast really make this movie what is is, and the action doesn't disappoint. If the story has just been a little bit stronger and I hadn't been made to feel I was simply watching a 114 minute long build up trailer for The Avengers this film would have got a full ten stars from me. Still worth going to watch however, and this looked especially good on the big screen in 3D.
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