There’s absolutely no reason why any of us must see “Thor,” the latest Marvel Comics big-screen adaptation.
The good news is that if you do see it, there’s no harm done.
This is a surprisingly effective (I’m tempted to call it smart) addition to the superhero canon, a moderate success for a most unlikely filmmaker: Kenneth Branagh.
The Irish-born Branagh, of course, is the theatrical wiz kid who burst upon the cinema scene with his terrific “Henry V” back in 1989 and who has periodically created and/or appeared in other Shakespearean films, among them “Othello,” “Hamlet” and “Much Ado About Nothing.”
His non-Bard movies, on the other hand, have been flops. While Branagh has proven himself a valuable supporting player in a variety of worthwhile films (“Rabbit Proof Fence,” the Harry Potter franchise), his credibility as a filmmaker for years has been on the skids. (more…)
Butler's Cinema Scene 