Thor

Thor is a character whose cartoons I loved as a child (I still remember the theme song going “The God of Thunder –  Miiiiiiiiighty Thor!”) but as far as live-action depictions he’d been restricted to a supporting appearance in a TV movie based on the Incredible Hulk show. It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago most Americans couldn’t name any superheroes besides Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and maybe Wonder Woman. The best thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how it’s turned people like Thor into household names.

Of course in order for that to happen you need a good movie. The summer of 2011 brought us three superhero films. Green Lantern showed that years before DC started its cinematic universe and created appallingly bad stuff, it was still capable of giving us something that was utterly boring and cliched. The good news is that the other two films were both Marvel and this was one.

I loved Thor. Chris Hemsworth’s charisma is otherworldly (pun kind of intended). Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses (as well as one of the most beautiful ones in the world) and her chemistry with Hemsworth is stellar (no pun intended that time). Kat Dennings is hilarious in her supporting role and Stellan Skarsgard as the mentor to Portman’s scientist character adds great presence to the film. Those three are just in the Earth scenes; Hemsworth is also in the scenes on Asgard that feature amazing work from Anthony Hopkins as his wise but short-tempered father and Tom Hiddleston as the brother whom he loves but who will always be the bane of his existence. Their battles are captivating partly because they are a family feud and thus the emotional stakes are so high. The laughs are plentiful, not just from Dennings but from fish-out-of-water humor when Thor’s on our planet. As a scholar myself I loved that two Ph.Ds. are among the main characters. The film’s visuals certainly add to the flair, as Thor’s flying looks so real and Asgard takes your breath away.

Tying it all together is Kenneth Branagh’s confident direction. A one-time wunderkind who was hailed as the new Olivier after his triumphant directorial debut Henry V got him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Actor before he even turned 30, Branagh seems to have lost his chance to direct Shakespeare on screen after his lauded Hamlet that included every last line of dialogue from the play flopped. Since then he’s made more commercial films but I’ve mentioned what a bang-up job he did in the fairy tale realm with Cinderella. He excels just as much with a superhero story here.

I thought of the game I mentioned because this is the one MCU movie with an Oscar nominee behind the camera. As far as in front, we have two winners (Portman and Hopkins) and two nominees (both Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner briefly).

I’m hardly alone in my love for this movie. It grossed nearly $450 million off of a $100 million budget and has a 77% at Rotten Tomatoes. Well deserved.

Up next: The other summer 2011 theatrical debut of a long-time Marvel hero.

Bottom line: As that Paramount boss I mentioned would say, faaaaaaaaaantastic.