The filmmakers set the movie in two distinctively different worlds. In the desert of the American Southwest, a banished Thor (played by
Chris Hemsworth) is taken for a crazy homeless guy. In his homeland, the golden realm of
Asgard, the thunder god tangles with his dysfunctional royal family.
In both settings, the bulked-up Hemsworth reads like the real deal: a hero on a journey. Whether he’s brawling or swinging his mighty hammer Mjolnir, the action looks convincing. And while a leaked image of The Destroyer failed to impress, rest assured that the appearance of the enchanted suit of armor at the end of the trailer makes for a blazing big-screen moment.
The trailer, shown in 3-D at Comic-Con, blows away any fears aroused by an early publicity still of Thor’s Asgardian family. Director Kenneth Branagh, best known for his cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, has captured on film an Asgard of sweeping scale. As with Avatar, stills from the movie look a little on the cheesy side, but the lush moving images prove impressive.
And then there’s the acting: Anthony Hopkins, who plays Thor’s father Odin, brings enough power to the role — at least in the trailer — to salve the harsh memory of that weird golden eye patch and crazy grin.
