A part of the summer wave of established ideas is Thor, one of the many characters in the Marvel comic universe. Thor is one of two new additions to the Marvel franchise hitting theaters this summer, Captain America comes out in July.
I have to admit when I first heard there was going to be a Thor movie I was skeptical. A film about The God of Thunder who fights frozen people and gets banished to Earth... sounds realistic. Of all of the comic book movies we have seen, my favorites are the ones that are somewhat dipped in reality. This is the strongest feature in the recent Batman films. These movies work so well because halfway through them you forget you are watching a comic book movie because no "POW" bubbles are popping up and no villian with 7 arms, 4 eyes and purple skin flies onscreen.
So an Asgardian God with a magic hammer thing... not what I would call plausible.
However, everything changed when I read who would be directing this film, Kenneth Branagh. Branagh is a classicaly trained actor who is best known for performing and directing Shakespeare. Naturally any professional evolution should take you from Hamlet to the God of Thunder, right? I loved the idea and I thought it made complete sense.
Well, it worked. The entire film is a constant see-saw between suspense and humor.
Chris Hemsworth is outstanding. Hemsworth provides something which isn't often seen in an action film, a wonderful character arc. Throughout the film we see Thor grow, adapt and mold into a completely different person. It's subtle, it's justified and it's entertaining. We feel like we have gotten to know him and we come out really liking him. Natalie Portman is wonderful. She brings out the sweetness and "real-girl" charm that made me fall so hard for her in Garden State.
The film is not perfect however. The action scenes are a little too busy and many times the audience is left overwhelmed by quick back and forth cuts and overall muddiness of all the action happening at once. The middle part of the film drags a little bit, and I would have liked to see a little bit more of Tom Hiddleston's character Loki, who I thought was terrific.
Overall though this is a wonderful comic book adaptation. It is an amazing balance of action, comedy and heart. You are genuinely captivated throughout most of it, you laugh for a good majority of the time and most importantly, you care for all of these characters. And it does what every comic book movie should do, give you someone and something to root for.
With The Avengers currently in production I am very happy to know this is not the last we will see of Thor.
Nathan rating- 3 1/2 stars
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