Pure THORnography

Back in the old days (er, pre-2008) if Marvel Comics wanted to transfer one of their comic book properties to the big screen they'd have to sell the rights to a Hollywood studio. Thus Spider-man went to Sony, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four went to Fox and the Incredible Hulk went to Universal. But now Marvel have got their own production company they can adapt their own properties, starting with Iron Man.
Now, that's both a good thing and a bad thing. The good is they can create a consistent tone, feel and aesthetic to their superhero universe across many movies, meaning that not only do they create and define a cinema brand for Marvel, they can have crossover stories between characters that feel natural and unforced. And that's great as no one's attempted to do this in cinema (we'll ignore the disastrous attempts to do so in the Incredible Hulk TV movies of the 90's). The downside is that you'll never get a truly visionary superhero Marvel movie along the lines of a Nolan or Burton Batman, a Rodriguez/Miller Sin City or an Ang Lee Hulk.

Thor, the latest Marvel Studios production falls squarely into the brand mold, but it fortunately lands at the high end of the quality spectrum (with the mediocrity of 2009's The Incredible Hulk at one end and 2008's Iron Man at the top). It's a fun, broadly appealing, action-packed, engaging spectacle of a super-hero blockbuster that's immensely watchable from start to finish.

There's a few reasons why Thor works. The hiring of director Kenneth Branagh was a (mostly) great idea. The man's spent an entire career making Shakespeare's melodramatic stories about kings, destiny, family and power all seem grounded and relatable. Shakespeare's dialogue might be unfamiliar and odd, but it's the timeless ways in which the actors communicate the emotions through gestures, facial ticks, vocal pitch, etc, all honed by the director, that makes the story understandable to a contemporary audience. Branagh's trick here is to turn the bullshit comic book dialogue into something real and grounded.

He's helped by a great cast headed by true-movie-star-in-the-making Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Not only does the newbie put his balls on the railway track by going head to head with a bellowing Anthony Hopkins (also brilliant), but he confidently handles the various sides of the Thunder God from cocky, arrogant, confused, charming and funny. Also impressive is Tom Hiddleson as Thor's trouble making brother Loki, his skill making him somewhat sympathetic even though he's the big bad of the film. Oscar winner Natalie Portman gets to do the thankless love-interest role, but it's refreshing to see her spread her wings and do something light and humorous with an infectious energy and natural sex-appeal. While the story never convinces that Portman and Hemsworth could fall in love in a couple of days to provide the selfish hero with some humility, they do at least convey to the audience that they lust for each other, big time.

Other than that Thor is a rollicking big funfair ride. The effects are expansive and solid in quality, but still have a CGI ness about them that's become ILM's trademark in the days where the superior WETA have emerged on the scene. The story is tight, fast paced and frequently funny (especially the fish-out-of-water stuff) without being overly dumb. The S.H.I.E.L.D sequences are much better integrated than Iron Man 2 while the Jeremy Renner Hawkeye cameo neatly sets up his larger role in next years Avengers movie. The action is frequent and occasionally tense, although the fights and set-pieces could hardly be ranked as classics. The score too is solid, but forgettable while the production design ranks among the strongest of the movie Marvel Universe to date, with the off-world Asgard stuff being particularly stunning.

I have only one major gripe. Someone really should tell Branagh to lay off the Dutch camera angles. Sure, every body uses them as they're a useful too to suggest to an audience that something is amiss in the story, but overuse, as it's borderline on doing in Thor, is not only distracting but can sink a movie (Battlefield Earth is comprised entirely of Dutch angles!) Rant over.

Thor's to be recommended and it makes me all the more giddy with anticipation for the Viking superhero's participation in the bold Avengers experiment.