This version of Thor is pretty cool. In Marvel fashion, the Asgardians are depicted not really as gods but rather as an alien race of warriors. This is coincidental since recently I've been watching this series on the History channel where they propose that aliens had visited Earth thousands of years ago and were interpreted by the inhabitants as gods.
The movie is a sort of origin story regarding how Thor grew up from a war-hungry champion of Asgard into a wise heir-apparent to Odin, the king of Asgard. It also is an origin story for the Asgardian god of mischief and deceit Loki, Thor's brother in Asgard and the one who would in Norse lore bring about the death of the most beloved Asgardian Balder and be Thor's arch-nemesis. It also features the start of the love between Thor and Jane Foster, played by the ever-beautiful and adorable Natalie Portman. Though in the comics Jane Foster is actually in a relationship with Thor's mortal alter-ego Donald Blake (who gets mentioned as an ex-boyfriend of Foster), in this version the romance is with the hero himself.
The acting performances were good. Chris Hemsworth, I think was a serviceable choice to play the lead role and Tom Hiddleston was effective as Loki. I don't have anything to say but good things about Natalie Portman, and Sir Anthony Hopkins delivered a good performance as Odin.
I say that Hemsworth was serviceable because I personally did not feel much of the change that Thor went through. Yes there was a dramatic moment when he realized that he could not lift Mjolnir from where it landed, but the follow-through after that and Hemsworth's performance did nothing to show the change. Instead, the film jumped right through to a romantic angle between Thor and Foster. They didn't spend enough time for Thor to introspect and let go of his war-loving emotions enough to usher in the warm and fuzzy feelings he was starting to have for Foster. All they did was let him drink with Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgaard) and then after that he was accepting of his new role as a human being. Even when confronted with news of his father's apparent death, Hemsworth was unable to deliver the softer emotions that would help plunge him further into losing hope of getting back to Asgard.
Hiddleston, on the other hamd, was a perfect fit for Loki. His small reactions (made obvious because of the heft of close-ups that were taken and the huge movie screen at the movie house where we watched the film) to things - from a change in the eyes when he turns his back from Thor after "breaking the news" of Odin's death, to the look of realization that he wasn't affected by the Frost Giant's touch, Hiddleston gave a performance that would have dominated the film had Loki figured even more in the script. But then again, since this is an origin story and Loki hasn't quite acquired the evil mind that he has in the comics just yet, the lesser role was sufficient. He was able to pull off that role really well, though.
The two big names in the film (Portman and Hopkins) both gave good performances. Portman brought her cute quirkiness to the role of Jane Foster. Her kilig moments while getting to know Thor better, especially on the ride to the crater of Mjolnir, added a lightness of the film. Hopkins, on the other hand, provided a steady performance that is a staple for one so experienced an actor as he is. Both the strength and weakness he portrayed as the All-father were done well.
The other support characters (Kat Dennings as Darcy and Skarsgaard) added something else to the mix. Darcy added more lightness with humor in her dealings with Thor (who would have thought that the god of thunder and lightning would get subdued with a taser?) while Selvig gave the Norse connection.
One gripe I have about the film is that I think it is over-scored. And what's more, the music didn't work for me. One specific instance where the music didn't do it for me was when Thor finally offered to sacrifice himself in the stead of the humans. The music was too cheesy, perhaps trying to make up for the lack of emotional connect with Thor, but it was just out of place for me. Add the solo slow-motion head shots of the other characters and it made for the scene becoming a very awkward scene to watch.
Now that I think about it, the film struck me as how I perceive a play would in the height of Greek civilization where people already knew the story. That might have worked for them, but it didn't work for the film. The performance mainly of the lead (Hemsworth) didn't push the story along with the right emotions. Add the fact that the emotional performance of Hiddleston was the center of what was supposed to be story B (Loki's self-discovery) and the whole film became unbalanced.
A couple of nice touches to the film were Clint Barton/Hawkeye's (Jeremy Renner) cameo and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in the Easter Egg with what was probably the cosmic cube. It all helps build up to the Avengers film coming next year and, if my guess is right, a glimpse of what could be the center of the story for the Captain America film due out sometime this year.
I will also admit that when it first came out, I was not a fan of the armor. To me it looked too much like something that a cosplay fan would come up with. But seeing it move and everyone else, I came to really like all the armor, whether it be Thor's, Odin's, Loki's, or even Sif's and the Warriors Three.
All in all, I think that this was a sufficient film. Not the best work of Branagh that I've seen (I think that his Much Ado About Nothing was better) but he did well enough. I would rate Thor as seven and a half lightning strikes out of ten.
photo taken from http://exquisitelyboredinnacogdoches.blogspot.com/2008/03/1960s-tv-marvel-comics-intros.html
other info taken from imdb.com
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