Thor, Marvel’s latest stop on the road to The Avengers, gets a wide release in the UK next week and when it does I’d recommend giving it a go. After stumbling with Iron Man 2 and letting it devolve into an extended trailer for The Avengers Marvel have re-found their feet with Thor and put together a surprisingly brilliant film that somehow manages to avoid the inherent cheese and absurdity that goes along with the material.

Marvel’s eye for spotting the right talent for their projects continues as well. Despite feeling and looking like an insane choice on paper in practice Kenneth Branagh helms Thor with confidence and style. The opening act in Asgard is particularly well handled; the visual scope in those scenes alone is phenomenal plus they fly by thanks to some expert pacing. Chris Hemsworth meanwhile showcases huge potential as a fully-fledged leading man. He handles the action sequences with ease but is equally good with the comedic elements of the script and the romance and it’s his central performance that helps hold Thor together and stops it becoming the ridiculous farce it could have been. Assuming he picks the right parts away from Thor he should be a huge star. The rest of the supporting cast is also very good.

There’s a couple of dips here and there [most noticeably a pointless Hawkeye cameo which plays out as a trailer for The Avengers] but on the whole it’s fantastically paced, visually stunning, features great set pieces and handles a huge amount of source material effectively and does a fine job of introducing the world and characters of Thor to a wider audience.

The fact that it's directed by Kenneth Brannagh is enough to intrigue me. Actually, the trailer looked quite good too.

i've heard that Stan Lee is amazing in it

It was mostly rubbish.

Loki wasn't evil, mischievous, or magical enough. Hawkeye was rubbish and ugly.

As a massive marvel and norse mythology fan, I was disappointed. Not unwatchable though, few funny bits. And CH is a BEAST.

6/10

I thought it was brilliant. The 3D was a waste as usual. If they had actually shot it in 3D it had the potential to look amazing with the flying and the hammer throwing. However that didn't stop my enjoyment and Chris Hemsworth is looking hotter than ever (although I don't like the face fuzz).

I think I'm more intrigued to see this than Captain America. Mostly because Hemsworth's performance looks a bit more charismatic than Evans' rather dull-looking turn as Cap.

Of course the main reason I'm seeing it is to get ready for Joss Whedon's Avengers. They started principle photography on it TODAY!

So there's that, plus the muscley hotness of Thory.

His accent was BIZARRE.

I didn't even get a "I say thee nay"

Just got back from seeing it and loved it, was like a breath of fresh air; with so much crap out nowadays it was good to just sit back and enjoy

and agree with everyone else Chris Hemsworth is hot!

I thought it was brilliant.

I actually loved the 3D too.. It was never garish, or tacky but really made the scenes pop

But the point of 3D is to make the movie like an immersive experience. If they'd actually shot in 3D the flying scenes would've looked amazing and they could have had the hammer flying towards the audience. Before the movie I saw a trailer for Priest 3D and you could actually tell it's been shot in 3D whereas Thor is just another conversion designed to rip off the audience.

Not always.

I think 3D shouldn't always be about the having things flying around at you, or making you feel sick or the "let's do this just 'cos it will look amazing in 3D rather than being beneficial to the film"..

3D can be, sometimes, really subtle and really quite beautiful.. Like, for instance with Thor seeing snow fall past the screen, or give depth to the scenes to make you feel even more in awe of the locales.

Need to see this.

Going tonight after work with my brother.

Went to see Thor again today (mainly to avoid the bloody Royal Wedding). Just as great second time around. This time it was the 2D version and there was virtually no difference between the 3D and 2D versions.

Well I just saw it (in 2D) and I thought it was okay, wasn't great. I enjoyed Hemsworth's performance - he was very likeable, and frankly HAWT. (I'm trying to find those sweet HD pics of that shirtless scene ).

I guess there was a lot of back story/ mythology to get through to progress anywhere, and with the constant back and forth between 'realms' it made the pacing a bit disjointed. Also the four warriors were so cheesy and their costumes way too plasticy looking - they reminded me of characters from a kids Saturday morning programme!

But if you embrace the inherent cheesiness of it then it's a lot more enjoyable on the whole. Also did I mention how friggin' hot Chris Hemsworth is?

I went to see it last night. I thought it was pretty good.

I didn't like what they did with Donald Blake though and the architecture of Asgard looked a bit too sci-fi for me. It reminded me of the videogame Too Human. I know the Asgardians in the comics are technologically advanced, but there's wasn't a trace of medixxxx architecture to be found in the movie.
Then again, I'm a bit confused as to what Marvel universe it's supposed to be based on anyway. Given Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, I'd say the Ultimate universe.

I also didn't find Chris Hemsworth particularly charismatic, but he sure was nice to look at. Those shirtless scenes were greatly appreaciated.

I also loved the post-credits clip. It's a good thing I know to expect these in Marvel movies nowadays.
As an avid comic fan I had a little Ooh! moment when they revealed what they revealed.
I imagine it'll play a big part in the Avengers movie. Still dreading it since Joss Wheadon's involvement was revealed.

Oh and the Captain America trailer was awesome too. I want to lick all over Chris Evans buff body.
Not sure about him using a gun though. I never really read Captain America, but he struck me as a hero that doesn't kill. But then maybe he did during the war. And I do believe he uses a gun in the Ultimate universe, so that supports my earlier theory.

O god I didn't realise there was an after credits clip can someone post on here what happened in it please?

spoiler (highlight to read)
Basically, the Scandanavian scientist guy is walking through a SHIELD facility and meets up with Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson. They talk a bit and then Fury shows the scientist an artifact they found. Said artifact turns out to be, dum dum duuuuuh, a cosmic cube.
We then see Loki reflected in a mirror standing next to the scientist, unseen by the other two men and he says how interesting it would be to study the artifact, which the scientist then repeats as if he's under Loki's influence.
/spoiler
And that's about it.

I was interested when I saw how fine Chris Hemsworth was looking, then I found out it was a Marvel Comic movie... I'll pass. Not so much into comics/comic book adaptations.

Saw the 2D version and thought it was ok but nothing special, I assume the 3D masked some of the special effects which were a little off times and as good a job Branagh did, it was fun to see a boom mic in shot.

Partly due to the setting it sort of reminded me of Superman 2 the Richard Lester version minus some of the slapstick in terms of quality of 'super hero' films. I thought the cast on a whole were good except for Hemworth's accent which did annoy me a little at times but the 'baddies' weren't really that bad, they just seemed like the Klingon fillers we had in Star Trek.

It did just seem like a massive ad for The Avengers though especially with the Stark comment, if he was on the planet then why didn't he show up...oh because of The Avengers, duh.

Um, the same reason the Avengers, Spiderman, Fantastic Four and countless others don't always show up to the same crisis at the same time in the comics, despite the fact that they all live in New York.
That's something I always like about DC, with its many diferent cities. It never felt like it was an entire fictional universe created solely in service of New Yorkers. Maybe someone needs to tell Marvel there's a whole world out there.

Yeah that what made the Marvel goes 9.11 special issue so ermm "good".

''I KNOW RIGHT!!!''absolutely hilarious.


The Green Lantern film looks HORRIBLE. The two villains look like something rejected from embarrassing bodies. One looks like (Hector) a stereotypical hill billy with a giant brain tumor. The other one, well I'd love to say cosmic horror but more like cosmic failure.

Audiences need to connect to villains just as much as heroes. I'll struggle to connect to a giant cosmic cloud, its fantastic four 2 all over again!

Marvel have announced Thor 2 for July 2013 (July 26 is the provisional date announced).

Chris Hemsworth will return as Thor but Kenneth Branagh will not return to the directors chair although he's expected to stay on board as a producer. No word yet on the rest of the cast.

Saw this yesterday.
I have mixed opinions about it.
In general I really liked it. I loved how they designed Asgard and created the whole mythology of superior Aliens being worshipped as gods by humans. Though they failed to create a proper timeline.
Just how old is Thor? He is portrait as young hot blooded guy but if he was worshipped millenniums ago he must be pretty old.
Also the gods don't seem to be proper immortal given that Odin is old and on the verge of dying.
I thought that was weird, though fair enough that might be nit picking.
What I loved most about the film was Loki. I think he was the best character in it and outshines everyone else.
Chris was alright but the script doesn't give him much to do. First half he is this arrogant dick and then he instantly switched to mister sensitive cause nothing makes you a better person like being a human for 2 (!) days. Yeah right, cause we're such a sensitive and reasonable race.
Obviously in that short time you not only can undergo a complete personality make over but also find the love of your life along the way. Duh!
I think they did a terrible job of making that change happen, there is not the slightest development. Thor seem to have no problem at all being just human when he was an almighty god all his life. It's like someone just snapped his fingers.
Anyway as said I found Lokis storyline so much more interesting and to me he deserves sympathy cause he is just the nerd who was bullied by the cool gang (Thor and his friends) all his life and suffered under his father who did a piss poor job of showing his love to him.
And the film wants us to root for the bullies?
Loki was a great King, he almost managed to destroy the Ice Giants and restore eternal peace to the realm. Which for some reason was bad because...?
I also hated Thors friends they were so smug. "Oh no Loki is King lets overthrow him" Why what for? Loki never gave them reason to believe he'd be a bad king. Yeah he lies a lot, so what? Odin banished Thor and I think he wanted him gone for a bit longer than 2 days anyway. As far as the warriors three and their bitch know Thor is still a dickhead (not knowing he completely changed his ways) so he would probably oppose his brother bringing war to Asgard if he returns. Didn't think that one through did they?
I did like the movie and yes Chris awakened the urge in me to put my male genitalia into various body openings of his but apart from that Loki was the star of the film. His character was the best developed and evolves the most.
Looking very much forward to see him again in Avengers.
I was surprised they left it open with Thor being stuck in Asgard cause now they have to explain how he returns in the Avengers movie


Oh oh I completely forgot. The most annoying thing in the film was Shield. God I hate that organization. They are so annoying. Yeah we steal all your stuff and hold your friend captive but do not worry we're the good guys.
And then Thor goes: We follow the same goal I am your ally from now on.
WTF would you say that for? They only showed their bad side, he has no reason to believe they are remotely on the same side.
Hawk Eyes cameo was completely pointless, it was so short you have probably forgotten he was there by the end of the movie if you wouldn't know he'll become important later on.
Funny enough him being there made more sense than Black Widow in Iron Man 2 despite her having a lot more airtime. Still on a scale of pointlessness I'd put them on the same level and I have no doubt they continue to be pointless in the Avengers Assemble movie.

I watched this a couple of weeks ago, and really enjoyed it. I must have been a lot more forgiving than you Astron, because I didn't really notice most of the things that bothered you! I think the character switch was allowed, because he wasn't super arrogant to begin with, he was just rebellious and headstrong. When he got cast out by his father and his powers taken away, he basically had nothing to hope for or live and decided to live a human life. Without his powers or leadership, he had no reason to be so arrogant.


I think they had a very very tough job with the film, given the 2 different worlds and all the fantastical elements, but Kenneth Bragagh (SP?) did a brilliant job overall. Really put Green Lantern to shame. I thought Chris Hemsworth was brilliant and is probably the avenger I want to see the most in the new film.

Oh no I did enjoy the film too even though I might sound very negative towards it.

To be fair, you sound negative towards anything that isn't Duncan from Blue.

I hate Duncan's tattoos.