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Out
of all of the
superheroes from the
Marvel Universe,
Thor
would be the last
one anybody would
expect COULD be
turned into a proper
movie. How do you
turn Viking myth and
lore, crazy
costumes, and a dude
that has wings on
his helmet into an
updated live action
movie? Kenneth
Branagh and Marvel
managed to do it
wonderfully with
Thor
and between set
design, production
design, digital
effects, a fun
story, and an
outstanding
performance by Chris
Hemsworth; it’s hard
to think that there
won’t be a sequel
after the release of
The
Avengers.
Thor
is the comic book
icon from Marvel
with probably the
most elaborate back
story. He’s not just
an ordinary man and
he’s not even a man
with some special
mutation or power…
he’s a God. Out of
all of the realms,
he comes from Asgard,
the realm that
watches over all of
the others including
Midgard (what us
humans know as
Earth.) He’s the son
of Odin, King of
Asgard and the God
of Thunder. In Thor
we see him and his
brother Loki as
children briefly but
the story really
gets going when
they’re young
adults. Thor is set
to become King of
Asgard in a big
ceremony, but during
the ceremony frost
giants storm the
kingdom’s armory to
steal a powerful
relic. The ceremony
is interrupted and
Odin remains King. A
furious Thor decides
to make a quest to
the realm of the
frost giants to
investigate and
question them. He
brings along the
Warriors Three,
Loki, and Sif. When
things escalate,
Thor attacks the
frost giants and
ends an unsteady
truce between the
two realms. Odin,
furious at Thor’s
ignorance and
disregard for peace
banishes him
powerless to Midgard
where he meets Jane
Foster, and has to
figure out how to
regain his powers
and save Asgard and
Midgard from a
wicked plot.
This
movie’s power begins
with Kenneth
Branagh’s excellent
direction. It’s
extremely hard to
envision someone
without a
Shakespearean
background being
able to pull off the
Asgard portion of
Thor
properly. Branagh
and the production
team’s Asgard is
nothing short of
brilliant. They took
concepts and artwork
from the comics,
updated them and
polished them so
they looked amazing.
More than the set
design and the
grandeur approach to
Asgard, the costume
design of all of the
character’s
(especially Loki) is
amazing. That’s
where comic book
fans were the most
skeptical of Branagh
and Marvel of
pulling off in a
movie and they did
it. It’s not just
how things look with
Thor,
it’s the action,
it’s the pacing,
it’s the story… it’s
everything all
wrapped up into one
that make it a great
movie. Production
was brilliant and so
was the direction by
Branagh.
Branagh is huge to
the film’s success
but the other thing
is newcomer Chris
Hemsworth’s
performance. It
really is nothing
short of inspiring.
This movie works
because Hemsworth
delivers lines and
expressions
perfectly. When he’s
in Asgard in the
beginning of the
movie and he has to
be this cocky,
hard-headed warrior
who thinks he can do
anything… he does it
amazingly. After he
gets sent to Earth
and is humbled, you
buy that transition
of the character
because of
Hemsworth’s
brilliance.
Thor comes in an
amazing package for
Marvel fans. There’s
a package that comes
with 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray,
DVD, and Digital
copy. The Blu-ray
bonus features are
incredible too.
There’s a deep
commentary with
Branagh. There are
tons of featurettes
including stuff on
the set and costume
design. There’s also
an Avengers sneak
peak and that’s just
scratching the
surface. It’s a
package worthy of a
great movie and all
of the extras are
great to watch.
Thor
is easily my
favorite movie of
the summer of 2011,
it’s an incredible
story that looks
amazing and comes
across that way too.
Branagh and
Hemsworth’s teaming
is nothing short of
brilliant and the
cast surrounding
Hemsworth works
perfectly too. I’m
excited for
The
Avengers
sure, but after
Thor
I’m just as excited
to see how that
character develops.
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