Film Review: Thor

Director: Kenneth Branagh

The opening superhero action movie in the Thor franchise which is part of the larger Marvel Avengers universe. The film was directed by Kenneth Branagh is mostly known of cinema for his adaptations of Shakespeare plays onto the big screen and will have drawn on his experience of the Greek mythology in working on this piece. The production of the film dates back to 1991 when Sam Raimi worked on the project but he quit leaving it to be picked up by many production companies who all promptly dropped it before it was finally released in 2011.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is preparing to ascend to his place as King of Asgard, taking over from his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) but Thor's refusal to follow his fathers orders means that he is labelled as reckless and not fit for the crown. So he is exiled to Earth without his powers and accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it. So Thor must learn to change his way to be able to use the hammer and fight the evil Frost Giants who threaten Earth.

Thor trying to lift the hammer from the ground

Unfortunately the film does get bogged down in the creation of Thor's backstory which is a rather clichéd fable about a wayward son who learns the error of his ways. It meant the evil that he fights are more of an afterthought whilst Thor gains his powers and also sparks a romance with Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). The setup for the premise on Asgard was entertaining with the introduction of Loki (Tim Hiddleston) but Thor's banishment to Earth is where the film starts to lose its way but it finishes in grand style which gives it a leg up on it's sequel.

2/4 Has its problems but shows promise ahead of the franchise