Thor (3D)
08 May 2011. Location: Cinema
Fuck. Yeah.
Kenneth Branagh's at the helm for the most outlandish Marvel adaptation so far, and it delivers in spades. It's visually gorgeous* and gleefully hands over everything I want from a Summer blockbuster. I've been excited for this ever since we saw Mjolnir in the post-credits closing scene in Iron Man 2, and the movie is every bit as ridiculously over the top as I'd hoped.
The script's a little heavy on the exposition at times, but when one of your principle characters is an astrophysicist and your audience demographic isn't, that's only to be expected. But the plot is simple and well executed, and the action piles on and on and doesn't let up until a (to be honest) slightly anticlimactic ending.
Chris Hemsworth is a good choice for the god of thunder, mixing the right levels of power and humility to carry off the role (although he does suffer from Stark Syndrome a little: at the beginning of the film, he's meant to be a largely unsympathetic character, brash and arrogant. Unfortunately, he's just as likeable (a little more, actually) then, so the character development loses out a little). The rest of the cast are, for the most part, spot on. I couldn't quite warm to Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, and didn't quite buy the relationship that forms between her and Thor, but that's not a biggie in itself. Thor's posse, Sif and the Warriors Three are great fun and keep the humour levels up (as well as the action).
We get to spend a fair amount of time in Thor's home Asgard, which pleased me greatly as I was worried it'd get shoved into the first ten minutes of the movie then we'd not see it again. What's better, the film cuts between our world and Asgard as the plot moves between them. It's a bold move, even for a Marvel film, and I appreciated it.
I called the ending anticlimactic; it's actually just what's needed for the movie, concentrating on tying up plot points rather than having a massive battle for the sake of it. It just seems a little empty as the movie builds and builds, then Thor's nemesis goes out with something of a whimper (although as usual, hang around until the very end of the credits for a nice closing scene).
* The only thing that's stopping me rating this as a 7/7 is the pointless 3D. It wasn't badly done, it was just barely noticeable and completely unnecessary. It added nothing to the visuals and the film would be just as great without it.
For me, this is film-of-the-year material. I'll be seeing it again, but subsequent viewings will be in 2D.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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