Thor - one of Marvel's summer contribution. Now I was on the fence before watching it. Although I enjoyed most of the comics which later combined to become the Avengers (like Iron Man), I was never a huge Thor fan. It was certainly one of the stranger backgrounds – Norse mythology. The character rarely seemed very developed, but may be I missed those issues. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this movie.
The actors were of a surprising caliber for a super hero movie…Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Natalie Portman as Jane bring interesting touches to their roles. Yes, Natalie has Star Wars in her repertoire but she has a youthful innocent quality which suits the role. Chris Hemsworth gave a thunderous rendition as Thor (pun intended) and Tom Hiddleston had just the right amount of mischievousness and evil to make a perfect Loki. Actually, I think the movie was well cast throughout – including Stellan Skarsgard as Erik and Colm Foere as King Laufey.
Not to scare anyone off, but the story has a Shakespearean flair. It has the family tragedy of King Lear and ruthless violence of Titus Andronicus with a few puns and inside jokes thrown in for good measure. And why shouldn’t it, Kenneth Branagh - Olivier’s successor to the throne – helms this movie. Even I paused when I saw his name…but as a fan of the Bard, it makes perfect sense. Those who cannot get passed the language barrier often do not get to glimpse the wonders of Shakespeare. He has many stories with larger-than-life characters, such as Julius Caesar. Kenneth melds a classical story of a father and sons, good versus evil, and love conquers all.
So should you see it? Yes, if…you like comic book movies, you like action movies, you like redemption stories, you like special effects, or if you like to see things go boom. Have fun.
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