After Iron Man and X-Men comes Thor , the latest from the Marvel stable to get a celluloid makeover. The Norse god Thor made his comic book debut in 1962 as ‘The Mighty Thor', created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The god of thunder makes his silverscreen debut a year short of the 50th anniversary.
Reading the production notes, two names immediately catch the eye — director Kenneth Branagh and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Branagh has made a name for working with his interpretations of Shakespeare. He made his directorial debut with Henry V (1989). His adaptation of the Shakespeare play, which he also starred in, won him Academy Award nominations for best director and actor. Apart from directing Robert De Niro in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dead Again , Branagh adapted Shakespeare's Love's Labour Lost , Much Ado About Nothing and a full-length version of Hamlet .
While Branagh might not be the first name that comes to mind to helm a superhero film, the man himself says: “It's got everything that I love. A hero who is a reckless, headstrong young man, and who has to confront his past and deal with a complicated relationship with his father. There are a lot of savage Europeans hacking each other to death at various points, and actually, it sounds very much like Henry V to me. You could say I started in superhero films — the only difference in my previous ones, is that people talk funny!”
Anthony Hopkins, who scared us witless with his interpretation of the refined, cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs divides his time equally between classic and camp. And, both kinds of outings are thoroughly enjoyable for the audience, thanks to the effortless skill he brings to the scene.
Thor tells the story of a headstrong prince, who disobeys his father, Odin, and endangers the fragile peace between golden Asgard and frozen Jotunheim ruled by Odin's enemy Laufey.
For this transgression, Thor is stripped of his power, including his hammer Mjolnir, and sent down to earth. A superhero origin story working backwards! He descends with a thump somewhere in the New Mexico desert and meets astrophysicist Jane Foster. In Asgard, Thor's brother Loki, who shares a strained relationship with Thor, ascends the throne when Odin falls ill. Thor's friends and supporters come down to earth to help Thor. However, there are also other evil things that land on earth. Now, like all good superheroes, Thor must save the world, get the girl, and address his angst.
Apart from Hopkins, the film features Oscar winner Natalie Portman, who comes fresh off her deranged ballerina act in Black Swan to play Jane Foster. There is Rene Russo playing Odin's wife Frigga and Stellan Skarsgard playing Foster's mentor Erik Selvig. Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, while Tom Hiddleston plays Loki.
To bring the three worlds of the film to life, Branagh chose production designer Bo Welch. “He was unafraid of the challenge of presenting contemporary Earth, cosmic Asgard, and terribly scary snow planet Jotunheim,” Branagh says. Costumes, including Thor's expressive cape, was designed by veteran costumer Alexandra Byrne, who won an Oscar for her work on Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age .
Apart from our daily dose of Vikings with the comic strip ‘Hagar the Horrible', our last cinematic tryst with the Vikings was with last year's lovely animated adventure How to Train Your Dragon . With all the impressive names attached to Thor, will the film prove as much fun as Hiccup, Toothless, Ruffnut and Tuffnut? Time will tell.
