Chris Hemsworth

In Transformers One (2024), Chris Hemsworth’s grin is audible. His Orion Pax breaks rules because he is bored, and Hemsworth makes the self-satisfaction funny without asking us to admire it. Brian Tyree Henry’s cautious D-16 gives him someone to bounce against, though Henry makes the stronger impression. Hemsworth is good company here, and losing the physical presence helps us hear how much of that comes from his timing.

Thor (2011) established the imposing heroic figure, but Rush (2013), in which he played James Hunt, offered an early reminder that he could carry a character-led drama. Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok (2017) made fuller use of the humour and his willingness to look foolish. By Avengers: Endgame (2019), that licence needed more restraint. We were irritated by the broad Thor jokes because they made his unhappiness harder to take seriously. Hemsworth can play the joke, but the writing gives him too little care alongside it.

George Miller finds a nastier use for that appetite for foolishness in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024). As Dementus, Hemsworth arrives in white robes on a chariot pulled by three motorbikes, with a teddy bear at his belt. He is funny, self-pitying and occasionally frightening, sometimes within the same speech. Miller gives him too long to talk, stopping the action for speeches that explain what the film has already made clear. The performance is worth seeing, but a firmer cut would have helped both actor and film.

Bart Layton’s Crime 101 (2026) tries the opposite approach, casting him as Davis, a disciplined jewel thief who seems determined to make himself smaller. Hemsworth drops the grin and pares back the voice, though the character has too little to want for the coldness to sustain much interest. The better scenes pair him with Halle Berry, whose insurance seller Sharon brings out a warmth missing elsewhere. Their exchanges suggest that he does not need a louder role, just a more responsive partner and more to do. Try it for their scenes together, with patience for the overlong heist film around them.