Film Review: Thor

Thor. Rated M (action violence). 111 minutes. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Screenplay by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne.

Marvel Comics devotees have, justifiably, been waiting patiently for someone to get the big-screen adaptation of their beloved superheros’ worlds and adventures absolutely right. Iron Man (2008) was great fun (mostly due to Robert Downey Jnr’s wonderful tilt at the title role), while The Incredible Hulk (2008, starring Edward Norton) and the uninspiring Iron Man 2 (2010) sit uneasily in the back catalogue of ‘here’s what it looks like when we try too hard’ efforts.

Thor, on the other hand, is a spectacular achievement – boasting an ensemble of spirited performances (led by Australian-born Chris Hemsworth’s, pictured, star turn in the title role), Haris Zambarloukos’s (Mamma Mia!) ravishing cinematography, Bo Welch’s (Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands) consummate production design and Patrick Doyle’s (Eragon, Nanny McPhee) thunderingly perfect score.

Mr Branagh (who staked his claim in Hollywood way back in 1989 with his magnificent take on Shakespeare’s Henry V) might, at first glance, have been a peculiar choice to helm a superhero’s adventure – but it takes about five minutes of screen time to realise that nothing could be further from the truth. As Thor, his brother Loki (a perfect Tom Hiddleston) and their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins, more at home than he has been in some his recent outings) debate the rights and privileges of succession, war and responsibility, it is clear that the stakes at play here are purely Shakespearian.

Brimming with supreme confidence, unexpected humour and magnificent visual effects (of which the Bifrost Bridge that connects the Universal Nine Realms to each other is an absolute highpoint) – Thor is the kind of film that has the power to convert the superhero cynic to the franchise once and for all.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.