Super Frat

Kenneth Branagh directs this movie adaption of Marvel’s “The Mighty Thor” comic book.  Kirby’s epic saga gets a pretty respectable treatment, as Branagh does his best to infuse the movie with a Shakespearian tone.

The basic plot, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is on the verge of taking his rightful place as the King of Asgard, but his arrogance causes his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) to cast him out.  On Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is studying the after effects of wormholes.  This ties into Asgard as their magic is so huge and epic, it’s as if the gods are really a race of aliens.

Thor’s supporting cast, Sif, Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral steal some of the scenes and Tom Hiddleston is particularly effective as a nearly sympathetic Loki.  All the Asgardian scenes are pretty cool.  The Earth scenes, not so much, but Branagh’s pacing breezes through it.

The weakest part of the movie is probably the love story, which doesn’t take up much screentime. Portman characters is so smitten with Thor immediately, it’s almost like, “Geez, lady, get a grip.” Hemsworth does an excellent job as the God of Thunder.

There is a reveal after the credits that wasn’t all that exciting, but it does set up the Avengers movie. Thor is kind of a good stand alone and the Avengers sounds promising. Despite the quality of the movie, it feels like a one-shot deal. I don’t see how they are going to have a sequel with the same weight. J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich both get “story by” credits.

Worth seeing on the big screen, I give Thor 8.5 keggers out of 10.