Film Review - Thor

3 and ½ out of 5 Stars

Marvel Comic’s ‘Thor’ is perhaps the biggest character in Marvel’s line up to have never received the live action film treatment…….until now. Opening this week is the brand spanking new adaptation directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring relative new comer Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder Thor and Tom Hiddlestone as the villainous God of Mischief, Loki.

The film centres on the Gods of Asgard, a civilisation of intergalactic beings with tremendous power and the ability to travel between their homeworld and nine other realms with the use of incredibly advanced technology. Chief among the Asgardians is Thor, the heir to the throne of Asgard and one of its most powerful and respected warriors. After inciting a war with Asgard’s mortal enemies, the Frost Giants, the arrogant and ego-driven Thor is stripped of his powers and cast out of Asgard; forced to live a life as a mortal being on the planet Earth. As Thor attempts to regain his God-like abilities, the forces of evil, led by Thor’s half-brother Loki, make their play for Asgard and the almighty power that lies within it.

While not in the quite in the league of ‘The Dark Knight’ or ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’ is still one of the more enjoyable comic book adaptations to come out over the past ten years. It has almost everything you want from a film of this sought: big action, powerful characters, a fantastical story and a few laughs thrown in for good measure. It also greatly succeeds as an adaptation; being true to the spirit of the comic book’s characters and story whilst simultaneously bringing a fresh, science-fiction style approach to the presentation. Here, the magical abilities of the Asgardians (such as Thor’s storm controlling hammer, Mjolnir) are the result of their advanced, alien technology. As Thor makes clear in the film, on Asgard, science and magic are “one and the same”. The filmmakers made this change primarily so the character could “blend in” a little easier with the more science-based heroes such as Iron Man and Hulk. After all, Thor is scheduled to appear in the upcoming ‘Avengers’ adaptation and the thought of having an actual God amongst the line up of more grounded superheroes may be a little difficult for the average film-goer to accept. As a Marvel comic book reader and fan of this character in particular, I personally loved this change. Something about it just seemed…….right. It was so right in fact that I found myself wondering why the science fiction explanation hadn’t been used in the modern line of ‘Thor’ comic books. I know a lot of hardcore fanboys (and girls) will whinge about this alteration (after all, that’s what they’re best at) but I personally felt this to be a welcome change and I’m happy that they went in this particular direction.

As far as the acting goes, ‘Thor’ features quite a few standout performances from a range of well known and not-quite-so-well known actors. I was particularly impressed with Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of the film’s titular character. At 6 foot 3 and with a physique that made my ego shrivel up and go cry in the corner, I didn’t need to suspend much of my disbelief to conceive of Hemsworth as an almighty, Asgardian God. He has great presence on screen and his chemistry with Natalie Portman (playing love interest Jane Foster) was one of the film’s many highlights. Of course, I’d be remiss if I failed to bring up Anthony Hopkins as the King of Asgard, Odin. He’s absolutely perfect for the role and his legendary presence is undeniable. I only wished we’d seen more of him in the film’s 2 hour long running time.

Of course, ‘Thor’ does have a couple of small weak points that prevent it from being a member of the comic book adaptation elite. Chief amongst them is the action and the fact that, well, we don’t get a whole lot of it. The film is undoubtingly at its best with Thor in full flight; annihilating foes left and right with the swing of his hammer and devastating the forces of evil with his God like powers. Unfortunately, scenes like these are few and far between. Thor is ‘depowered’ for the majority of the movie and although the filmmakers do a great job of pushing the story of a powerless Thor forward, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that we didn’t get a little more in the action department. Additionally, while the character’s of Thor, Loki and Jane Foster are all well developed, the characters of Sif and The Warriors Three are fairly underdeveloped. I understand that they only had 2 hours to establish the fantastical world of Thor and to tell a story filled with characters and creatures that require lengthy introductions and explanations but I still would of liked to have seen these characters ‘fleshed out’ a little more. Another small complaint I have regards the casting of Volstagg, played here by ‘Punisher: War Zone’ star Ray Stevenson. While I have no problem with Ray Stevenson as an actor, he simply doesn’t suit the part of Volstagg; a character best known for his voluminous appearance. I don’t quite understand why they couldn’t have just cast an actual obese actor as opposed to hiring the fairly fit Stevenson and simply stuffing his costume with padding. Still, the good thing about all of these complaints is that they are all easily rectifiable. If (or should I say when) the studio does decide to make a Thor sequel, most of these complaints could (and probably will) be easily taken care of.

More then anything else, Kenneth Branagh’s adaption of ‘Thor’ is a fun, fantastical popcorn flick that anyone who enjoys big action adventure films should enjoy. It’s a great adaptation with some well done performances and with just enough drama and comedy to keep everyone entertained. Good job, Marvel Studios! I can’t wait for a sequel.