448th Review: better than most and Brannaugh does an excellent job

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2011)

This could have been the new Flash Gordon - cheesy and frankly bad, but with Ken Brannaugh in charge we get a film that frankly is one of the better superhero films. Brannaugh is best known for Shakespearean theater, and Shakespeare on film, as well as Mozart's Magic Flute; and it is perhaps these very qualities that carry the fantasy sections so well.
Thor, son of Odin, attacks the Norse gods enemies without permission, and is exiled to Earth, where he meets an astrophysicist (Natalie Portman). PLotting is get simple, but not simplistic, and the fact that we can follow the story clearly at all stages again says much for the director.
All in all, this is a very successful film: exciting, interesting, and surprisingly intelligent. We enjoyed it a lot.