Trailer Tuesday: Thor

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Happy Thor week!

The highly anticipated Marvel comic adaptation releases this Friday (29 April) in both 2D and 3D in South Africa. The film hits North American cinemas next week, on 6 May.


What's the big deal, you ask? Isn't Thor just another superhero film? Well, actually it isn't. There are several good reasons to be excited about Thor, apart from the ones I've already mentioned on this blog.

Thor is the first big superhero movie of the year, and like all of the superhero biggies of 2011 it's out to differentiate itself from the ton of comic adaptations released over the past decade. So while Green Lantern has loads of extra-terrestrial flavour, and Captain America: The First Avenger and X-Men: First Class have dumped present day settings in favour of the 1940s and 60s respectively, Thor elevates superheroes to the level of gods. Norse gods.

In fact, Thor is a nifty little inversion of the usual superhero origin tale. Unlike most cape-and-spandex stories where a normal, highly fallible person is gifted with god-like abilities, Thor - played by soon-to-be massive heartthrob Chris Hemsworth - actually IS a god, who is stripped of his powers and cast down to Earth from Asgard by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Life among pitiful mortals certainly won't be easy for Thor, who is dismissed as a madman for claiming to be a deity. At least skeptical scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is there for him. Or perhaps just his hot body.


Thor is a surprisingly pedigreed production, with Kenneth Branagh an astute choice for the film's director, given his Shakespearean background. After all, Thor is all about theatrical archetypes, high drama and family feuds at an epic level, particularly in regards to Thor's rivalry with adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) over Odin's love, and throne.

Out of interest, Thor is one of the characters (alongside the Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America) in next year's all-star superhero team-up movie The Avengers. As a result, Samuel L. Jackson appears in Thor as spy agency director Nick Fury, while Jeremy Renner pops up briefly as criminal turned good guy archer Hawkeye. So there's something extra for the fanboys to look out for.

Best of all, early word on Thor is that it's highly entertaining and solid all around. I'll certainly be in the cinema on opening night for this one. By Odin's beard! Or eyepatch.

Comments

MJenks said…
At first, I wasn't too keen on this.

But, now I want to go see it.

And my wife wants to go see it, too. So, I would erase that "soon-to-be" part ahead of the "heartthrob".
3:11 PM
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