Thor (2011)

Running Time: 114 mins
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings,

Screenplay: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne

UK Release Date: Official release date is 29th April 2011

Quick Plot: Belligerent and powerful Thor and soon to be King of Asgard is banished to Earth by his Father for his selfish ways. With help of humans, Thor must be true to himself to get back to Asgard and fight his forever envying brother Loki.

Review: Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I thought Summer Blockbusters started for me once I saw Source Code, but now I must say it is official. Even though I rated Source Code 5 stars and Thor only 4, it still lives up to the Summer Blockbuster expectation and I think Thor is one of the best films I've seen this year regardless.
So to start on my non-spoiler review, I won't go into too much detail and ruin it but if you see Thor and you are a Marvel fan, be on the look out like you probably always are. And I will say this now in case I forget but please, oh please stay until the very end of the film for the credits. Last year when I saw Iron Man 2, my cousin and I were foolish and left once the credits started to roll only to come home to find a sensible person online telling everyone to wait until the very end. Luckily I watched the end credits Iron Man 2 (which I will post below) on youtube last week to make up for it (in bad quality but that's my fault).
Anyway, I first had my doubts of Thor if I'm honest. I LOVE Marvel films and am always excited for their next release but I haven't read enough Marvel comics to be an Avenger/Marvel wikipedia on them so the story of Thor wasn't something I knew a great deal about. Captain America, Iron Man, etc.. however I knew much more about but then after the first trailer of Thor my mind changed because Thor is a God. The God of Thunder to be precise. And Gods, myths and legends are something I always admire and love watching at the cinema. Thor however is in connection to modern day earth, looking after us from afar and the distinction between Earth and Asgard worked perfectly well. For those who are lucky and are not nerdy like me and didn't take part in unnecessary research into the production of Thor, Kenneth Branagh is new to directing this genre of film and I've got to hand it to him that Thor is fantastic and probably one of the best films I have seen this year!

I don't have to say anything about Natalie Portman to prove that because even if she was replaced with a terrible actress, Thor would have pulled it off because every aspect of the film is a grand achievement. I've just got to mention that Natalie was great as always just for me admiration but let's push her aside for a moment to talk about Chris Hemsworth as Thor. This has probably been one of the best film castings for Marvel in a long time because Hemsworth nailed everything about him. He's buff, solid, angry, powerful and this has started him off on something new. Kat Dennings too brings the humour to the film which I've got to mention because I'm a Dennings fan..go on hate me. I don't want to go on about it too much because my reviews are always bad because of this, but all the acting is great blah blah. Tom Hiddleston was also exceptional and I hope this brings him lots of other blockbuster and big budget films. The 'friends' or whatever they were of Thor's are all as great and have a good part throughout the film.
The sound effects were marvelous but I found the visuals extremely stunning. Thor is released as a 3D and 2D film. I watched it today in 2D because I think 3D is a waste of my money and 9/10 times 3D just makes trees, leafs and stars look brighter. With this I couldn't see any specific scenes that would have made any difference in 3D because I was hoping for a scene where Thor would maybe throw the hammer towards the screen but not a thing like this happened to my dissapointment. But regardless the special effects, especially when at Asgard were beautiful. The colours on both Earth and Asgard were vibrant and showed the newly reformed Marvel.
The film starts off with a pre credit scene of when three scientists in New Mexico are chasing a storm but instead find Thor. Then there is the long introductory to Thor, about his father and brother, the kingdom of which he lives with lots of action, battles and brilliant effects. Maybe there are much more greater scenes throughout, especially more epic battles and fights but I think the first few scenes is definitely what Marvel has been missing for the past few years with their films. Iron Man 2 wasn't a bad film but it got into the story too quick and lets us not begin with Wolverine..
I have yet to read this comic of Thor but I already think the plot is fantastic. Though I'm probably going to be the only one to admit it, Thor is very much similar to a feel good film. He's selfish and immature at first, no way fit to be a King but he learns how to respect people and when he finally has the strength to hold the iconic Hammer, you feel over the moon for him even though he is only a handsome fictional character. Thor too has funny lines, I laughed a great deal in this, maybe more than I did with Your Highness, the screenplay is quirky and the characters are funny.
A definite for Cineworld but most probably all cinema showings across the UK, you will be shown the X-Men: First Class and Captain America: First Avenger trailer which are both awesome in many ways and if you're anything like me, will get you right hyped up for Thor. Make sure you stay for the end credits and remember, keep an eye out for everything. But don't spend all your time looking I don't want anyone not paying attention to Thor too.
I have to recommend this film to everyone. Not everyone will enjoy it though. If you dislike superheros, action, myths and legends you won't like Thor but I'm not going to tell you to turn it away because I adored it and have fallen more in love with Marvel.

Thor was utterly perfect and so much more than I expect. I hope Captain America and X-Men possibly Green Lantern are just as exceptional and then I can assure you this will be a very good Summer indeed. I hope to see this film countless of times as it could possible be one of my favourite Marvel films..let us see how this year pans out.
Easily the film I recommend. Hopefully I will be seeing this film sometime soon again...

Thor Official trailer

Ending credits of Iron Man 2 that is used in Thor. 

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