Film Review | Thor

It’s becoming more and more of a forgone conclusion that TV has trumped cinema. Quality television programmes are on the rise, and in every imaginable genre too – just give True Blood, Rome, Dexter and The Wire a spin – so it’s hardly surprising that the big studios are resorting to cheap gimmicks like long, prequel-heavy franchises and 3D to try and make amends.

That’s not to say the new crop of TV programmes is made up exclusively of gems… but the crappy ones are crappy in a harmless way: it’s no big deal, there will always be good programmes to spend time on to make up for the occasional dud.

Given this reality it seems more than obvious as to why comic books have been taken up as a life buoy in these tough times. The history of mainstream comics is – a lot like most TV sagas from Dallas and beyond – paved with audience-baiting continuity hooks. Basically, in their nearly century-long history, no superhero has ever died (though many a staged ‘death’ has taken place), and great efforts have been made to maintain the status quo right were it always was. To just make more. And more.

So perhaps the decision to ensnare the mythic god Thor into the Marvel universe was a perfectly cynical but also logical step. Thor was always a composite thunder deity –  he was bandied about in Germanic lore and beyond before finally settling into his most enduring Norse counterpart.

So being adapted into a serialised comic book – which is soon to become a serialised film saga as he joins Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man and Hawkeye in 2012’s superhero-superteamup epic The Avengers – should come as no real culture shock.
After all, the central premise remains simple enough to be transferable: he’s a giant dude with a giant hammer that commands thunder. Once that’s established, everything else tends to fall into place.

The celestial realm of Asgard – in Marvel’s universe, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his family of deities are basically advanced space aliens – has enjoyed a precarious truce with their archenemies the Frost Giants for some time, thanks to the diplomatic efforts of their august king, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). When the time comes to pass on the baton (or hammer, as it were) Odin chooses his older son as a successor. The well-meaning but hot-tempered Thor’s coronation is, however, sabotaged by an attack from the Frost Giants.

Craving revenge and resenting his father’s insistence on diplomacy, Thor barges into Jotunheim, the Frost Giants’ realm, rekindling the flames of war.

For this, he is banished to Earth, where he is discovered by UFO experts Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Dr Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård). As the trio attempt to understand the uncouth – and in Darcy’s words, “pretty cut” – alien, the secret government agency SHIELD (previously glimpsed in Iron Man) are hot on their trail.

But back in Asgard, real trouble brews as Thor’s bitter brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) works his way up to the throne…

Between X-Men 2 and the Iron Man films, Marvel’s cinematic output has been patchy, and while Thor suffers from being, at times, a glorified preview of the upcoming Avengers bonanza, director Kenneth Branagh – veteran of many a Shakespeare production – brings a certain camp poise which makes things just that little bit more special.

From the Space Dubai that is Asgard’s architecture to the lavish costumes and fantasy set-pieces, Thor certainly brings plenty of bang for your buck. And while it will doubtlessly attract the archetypally male geek contingent, I have it on good authority that Hemsworth’s torso has the power to bridge many a gender divide.