Thor

I ventured back to the cinema this week for the first time in a few weeks to watch the latest Marvel marvel, Thor. I can't pretend to be any kind of expert on the comic books that have inspired the film but I am proud to say that I am hugely interested and excited in what Marvel are doing with their movie properties right now – building this universe populated with interacting superheroes who will one day in the not too distant future cross-over/team up into one ass-whooping Avengers blockbuster. Hell. Yeah.

Thor always seemed a bit of a strange fit into this Marvel universe for me, with so many high-fantasy other-worldly elements to the story, and after seeing the trailers and promotions for the movie I was concerned that it would all be a little too ridiculous to sit within the universe created in the likes of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. That's not to say that an invincible metal suited man and a guy that turns into a giant green monster doesn't already require some degree of suspension of disbelief of course, but some elements of Thor do seem to be nearer to Lord of the Rings territory than the superhero genre.

Thankfully, I needn't have worried. It's not a perfect film by any stretch, but it is plenty good enough not to derail the Marvel masterplan of uniting these characters/franchises (delete as applicable depending on how cynical you're feeling) for The Avengers.

The film is excellently cast, Chris Hemsworth is plenty charismatic to carry off the lead – and i'm told by my ogling girlfriend that he was plenty 'hot' enough to hold her attention during the boyish fighting stuff while waiting for him to take his shirt off... again. Anthony Hopkins lends some much needed weight to ensure we take the more fantastical elements seriously while Natalie Portman reminds people that she can act just as well in populist mainstream pictures as in award-chasing material, banishing all memories of the Star Wars prequels.

One stand-out supporting performer is The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner as a S.H.E.I.L.D. Marksman who has a single scene that makes him an instant hit with the audience with his smart and likeable patter with Clark Gregg's now familiar (to Marvel film buffs) Agent Coulson. Again, this is all part of the Marvel juggernaut that is leading us towards The Avengers with that particular character set to be a major player in the “team-up” movie in the guise of Hawkeye.

I guess, as this is a movie review I should nit-pick a little – it's what everyone expects isn't it? Although I can assure you, there's not much not to like about the film. My main irritation was concerning Thor's Asgardian warrior chums, they felt like they just strolled in from another, much lower budget movie, especially Ray Stevenson as fighting fatty Volstagg. Every time he was on screen my mind went back to the botched attempt to convert He-Man to the big screen with Masters of the Universe, I'm not sure why, but it was quite distracting.

I actually thought there were more negatives than that, but thinking about it now I think to mention anything else would be mighty harsh. Considering the tricky task of marrying the heavily fantasy-tinged origins of Thor with his Earthly adventures while maintaining the same feel of the Marvel universe we've already been introduced to, I'm well prepared to cut the movie some slack, particularly when it was so entertaining.

The reason I think the movie worked as well as it did is it refused to take itself at all seriously. There's so much that goes on here that could have looked goofy as hell, and I think everyone involved in the film knew it, but thought at the same time “yes it's goofy, but it's gonna be damn fun too”. Well done them.

Roll on Captain America and The Avengers!!