Thor (2011)

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Director: Kenneth Branaugh

Writers: Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne, from a story by J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich, from the comic book by Stan Lee & Larry Leiber & Jack Kirby

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg


The God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) is banished to Earth to live as a powerless human in payment for his arrogance, where he befriends mortals (Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kat Dennings) and comes to the notice of SHIELD, unaware of the cataclysmic political situation playing out back on his home world of Asgard.
 

This is a rousing adventure and a very successful adaptation of the comic book.
 

Hemsworth has the size, the arrogance, and the charm that his role requires.
 

Anthony Hopkins is imposing as Odin and Tom Hiddleston makes a surprisingly sympathetic Loki. 


The complex relationship between the father and his two sons is one of the film's greatest strengths. 


Unfortunately, the earthly segments are the weakest. 


Even though the filmmakers had a lot of story to get through, Thor seemed to settle into his exile on Earth a little too quickly.
 

I also didn't believe his romance with Jane Foster. 


I could understand why she might fall for a charismatic god who fell out of a wormhole, but it was harder to see why he would return the feeling when she was really nothing more to him than a kind stranger with a pretty face.
 

Fortunately, the film moves back to Asgard for its rousing finale.


















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