Exceptionally coherent story and extraordinarily versatile cast

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2011)

There's no stopping – the Marvel family is coming. You probably recall seeing a glimpse of Thor's hammer a couple of years ago in the closing credit of "Iron Man 2", with Agent Coulson from Iron Man puzzling over it. Many realized immediately that it was Marvel family advertising. This time, there is more promised, a lot more, as we get glimpses of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in upcoming "The Avengers" which brings back the old, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), as well as more of the new – Captain America (Chris Evans). What a party for 2012!
But let's not stray too far from the present, Thor. As stated in the summary line, this movie offers an exceptionally coherent story. It's something like this, very roughly. Between the two most mighty of the nine "realms", Asgard and Jotunheim, a truce is about to be broken as a result of conspiracy and treachery. At the same time, in Asgard, with King Odin's two sons Thor and Loki just about ready to succeed him, a Boromir-Faramir syndrome (refer: Lord of the Rings) intensifies (but with a twist later). When against Odin's order Thor leads his favourite gang of warriors, Sif the Amazon and the "Warriors Three" (Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral) to attack Jotunheim (and what an action sequence!) he is banished to Earth (one of the nine "realms") where he encounters lovely scientific researcher Jane Foster and her fatherly mentor Erik Selvug. His banishment comes with the creator a huge crater in New Mexico and an Excalibur-like phenomenon that is his hammer (the aforementioned sneak preview). Agent Coulson is of course sent out to investigate. Meanwhile things are happening in both Asgard and Jotunheim. Revealing more specific details will be a disservice to the enjoyment of the movie, even with spoiler warnings. In general terms, I would say that on Earth, the stranger-in-a-strange-land development is somewhat predictable yet enjoyable to follow. In the mythical realms, the plot of double-double-double-crossing is surprisingly believable.
My summary line has also made reference to the extraordinary cast. For the titular role, little know Chris Hemsworth is well cast, so there's no need to clamour for Brad Pitt. After "Black Swan", it's simple pleasure to see Natalie Portman in a more normal role of Jane Foster (actually a good role also for a young Jodi Foster). Anthony Hopkins as King Odin is natural, and the same can almost be said for Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig. A majority of IMDb users in the IMDb discussion boards pick Tom Hiddleston's Loki as their favourite character and I can understand why. My own favourite actor (all-time) Canada's own Colm Feore nails King Laufey of Jotunheim, even behind the hideous mask of a makeup. Jaimie Alexander's cool beauty as Sif leave an impression even though this character is not depicted as Thor's love interest as in some of the published material. Tadanobu Asano, sometime referred to as "Japan's Johnny Depp", adds an exotic touch to the film as Hogun. Even though it's almost a cameo appearance, it's good to see as Frigga (Odin's queen) Rene Russo who have not had any major appearance for over a decade, since the remake of "The Thomas Crown affair". Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson you'll see a lot more of in future Marvel family releases.
There is one question that everybody has been asking: why Kenneth Branagh? What made him interested in directing a 3D comic book adapted action flick? But does it really matter. What we have is a product that in among the best lately in this genre.