We're all flushed with excitement from having just seen "Thor" in 3D this evening. We had heard good things about it, but we can't get over how impressed we were by the quality of the production, and Kenneth Branagh's direction. This is a movie that should not have worked... because if you think about the plot it might seem to be a lot of silliness; but we can report that everything about it is well done.
Not sure if we should bother to relate the story since anyone familiar with the Thor comic books will know about the big blond Norse god, with red cape and mighty hammer. Through some foolishness involving Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his fighting buddies taking on the Frost Giants, a hideous and frightening race, Thor's father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), banishes him to earth. Thor's adventures on earth are the most entertaining part of the movie. They take place in a small town in New Mexico, where Thor and his mystical hammer have fallen like meteors in the midst of what look like magnetic storms. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her team of scientific investigators have been investigating these phenomena in an outfitted camper, and they literally run into the the fallen god. Through their subsequent adventures together, his reactions to them and theirs to him are cleverly written and very entertaining.
The story is intercut with scenes set back in Asgard where Thor's brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), seeks to usurp the throne since the All-Father Odin has fallen into a deep sleep, and brother Thor, the real heir is trapped on earth. Loki's treachery seems to have the upper hand, but we know all is building to a final cosmic confrontation.
As we said, this should not have worked, but work it does. The script is well-written, the acting all around is superb, music and special effects top level, and we thought the 3D was better than average, since it's done to serve the story, rather than try to be "in your face" impressive. We think "Thor" does for the "comic book to movie genre," what "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" did for martial arts films, raising the standard to a whole new level. Hemsworth is quite a find. He fits the role physically (Wow!) and his acting chops are there too, especially in his scenes with Hopkins, and the growing tenderness he exhibits for Jane and her friends.
If the rest of the crop of "summer films" are as good as "Thor," or even close, we're in for a mighty fine season.
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