Thor Movie Review

I haven't done the first day movie thing for a number of years but I'd been looking forward to seeing Thor so I took the plunge. Glad I did. It was a little crowded but not enough to spoil the experience. Up front let me just say it is well worth going to see. I think superhero movies are finally coming into their own. This one had class and dignity and was really the story of self-discovery for the primary hero and maybe some of the secondary characters as well, both for good and ill. Kenneth Branagh, who directed, was apparently a fan of Thor in his youth, finding him different from the normal run of the mill superhero characters. There was always a certain regal quality to the character, even when he was being brash and head-strong and I think Branagh captures it well here. Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, does a good job of capturing the hero on his journey. Natalie Portman, playing Thor's love-interest Jane Foster, brings a sort of scientist geeky charm to the character that is quite endearing. Anthony Hopkins as Odin demonstrates once again that there is really no limit to his range as an actor. But Tom Hiddleston as Loki is really the guy to watch. I'm not sure what he's done in the past but he really captures my vision of the sneaky, conniving Loki and actually provides the glue that holds the movie together. OK, now for a couple of niddling little points. In the first scene where we see Thor for the first time it's from the back and he's wearing the helmet. But he takes the helmet off and we never see it on him again! I really like the helmet so that was a bit of a spoiler for me. I was also mildly amused by the casting of multi-ethnic actors in roles as Norse Gods, but I realize that we live in a PC world and didn't find it distracting. Then there's the fact that you have to wait around until all of the credits have rolled for a real teaser at the end. I'm not going to spoil it but, like all of the Marvel movies building up to the Avengers it gives a hint of what's to come. Oh, come on, I'm not going to tell. I had to sit through all the credits so you can too. All in all I think the movie was a credit to the character as I fondly remember him from the comics and I highly recommend it. But be on the look out for Stan the Man Lee, who makes his regular cameo, but if you blink fast you'll miss it.