Thor (2011)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: It makes a lot of sense that Kenneth Branagh agreed to direct Marvel's 'Thor.' Two brothers fight for the throne and the approval of their difficult father. Spurred on by his ever-manipulative brother, the arrogant heir does something reckless and stupid and is cast-out by their father. There, he finds a love interest and learns some humility and the value of life, and returns home as a worthy ruler to defeat his scheming brother.
  
  It's a Shakespearean story of family, jealousy, greed, love and betrayal, and with Branagh behind the camera, the film squeezes every last drop out of the script with its magnificent performances. Hemsworth not only sells the physicality of Thor, but also the longing for family affection, the arrogance, and the eventual kindness and charm absolutely brilliantly. Hiddleston plays the tortured, confused and jealous Loki perfectly too with all of the sly mystery needed without ever fully losing the vulnerability. And then of course the brilliantly grand-standing Anthony Hopkins delivers every one of his lines with the utmost royal grandeur and bite.
  
  On top of that though, the film also has a lot of fun with the concept; from the genuinely funny fish out of water concept of Thor on Earth, or Branagh's textbook dutch angles, to the outlandishly garish costumes and world-building on Asgard.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The central romance doesn't get nearly enough development to feel real, and some of the action feels like an over-indulgent distraction from the character narrative you actually care about.
  
  VERICT: 'Thor,' is a Shakespearean story brought to life with equal measures of serious character work and goofy comic-book wonder. It remains one of Marvel's best.

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