Thor Review

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston

Original Release Date: May 6th 2011

The first two Iron man movies and the Incredible Hulk continued to remind us that something big was on the horizon. Marvel Studios loved to tease that something incredible was certainly coming, but with each movie taking place on Earth we never really had that scope of enormity that comes with Marvel comics, that was until Thor was released. Thor was Marvels first real gamble, this was a hero not based on Earth in fact he had never even been to our world. Thor was otherworldly and this movie demanded to be set in another place mixing the modern day superhero movie with myths and legends.

There was always talk about making a Thor movie, but no one really thought audiences would fully commit to a character like this, Marvel Studios however thought it was time and with the first Thor movie we were given some of the most popular MCU characters, even one that rivals Tony Stark himself in popularity.

Thor tells the story of the god of thunder himself from Norse mythology. The son of Odin is about to ascend to the throne of Asgard and rule the nine realms, however not all goes according to plan. When Asgards ancient enemies the Frost Giants decide to attack and reclaim a stolen artifact Thor brashly retaliates against the race which gets him banished to Midgard (Earth). Stripped off his title and all of his power Thor must live as a mortal man in our realm, but when Thor’s jealous brother Loki takes the throne and threatens to destroy all realms the god of thunder must learn what it means to be a hero and reclaim his power.

Thor was a character I never really connected with as a kid. Sure I knew who he was but the character was never one that I wanted to go out and read and learn more about. I went into this movie hardly knowing anything about the character, which is always a good thing because I tend to know a little too much when I see a comic book movie. The extent of my Thor knowledge was that the main character had a hammer, was a Norse god and his brother Loki was an asshole. Thor wasn't really on the average movie goer’s conscious when the movie was first announced and director Kenneth Branagh really had his work cut out for him. Not only was this a movie unlike anything the director had done before, but he had to sell the world that this character live in and translate it on screen effectively.

An actor/director of Shakespearean background the Oscar nom was a solid choice for a movie like Thor. I never really realised how Shakespearian the character could be, Thor has the makings of a great story from the classic playwright. You have kings and warring nations, a conspiracy within the palace walls, family bonds and of course betrayal. Branagh really threw in all of his knowledge of his training into this movie, even throwing Thespian Anthony Hopkins in this film and Canada’s own Colm Feore. Thor works like a play, at least when it is in Asgard and not Earth, which leads to a few things that I feel should get out of the way first because they really bog this movie down.

Yes, Asgard is in this movie, and the realm eternal is like a character itself. Unfortunately not enough time is spent on Asgard, instead most of the movie is in a small New Mexico town on Earth. Every time a short Asgardian scene cuts to Earth you can’t help but feel the movie slows to a complete halt. Now I know you need to sell the few cautious people that Thor is from Asgard and make his character believable, but after that first amazing shot in the films prologue you can’t but already be sold on this world. Asgard is unlike anything we’ve seen before in a comic book movie, the visuals are jaw dropping and to go back to a dusty and boring New Mexico town is a major disservice. It also doesn’t help that most of the Human characters are annoying in their own right (I’m looking at you Darcy).

I don’t have anything against Kat Dennings, I think she’s a funny actress and I’ve never really been annoyed with her, but I cannot stand her in this movie. I know that the character has taken off and has generated her own little group of fans. That’s fine, I’m okay with that but I think the movie could have used less “Darcy Humour” as I’ll coin it. She’s always throwing out a stupid one liner that is hardly ever funny. Also if you took Darcy out of the movie the film's story would still flow in an effective manner, this is because Darcy does nothing for the story.  The stupid humour of Darcy is actually one of the major reasons why I don’t like Thor as much as I want to, because she’s in the vast majority of the movie.

Darcy aside the rest of the cast is fine, no one overstepped their boundaries in the film. Chris Hemsworth is a perfect fit for Thor, at the time he had only really been in J.J Abrams first Star Trek movie as Kirks father in the prologue, a small role but still an important role. Hemsworth is just perfect as Thor, it’s one of those roles where you can’t see the actor as anyone else. Sure, Hemsworth has tried his hardest to branch off of the Avengers films, doing movies like Rush and January's Black Hat, but you still can’t help but see the god of thunder. Chris is able to show us the ferocity of Thor, his emotional core and even the humour that is spread throughout this movie. Thor is a strong three dimensional character who hits all the right notes in his performance. During his workout schedule the actor actually got so big that they had to redesign the costume because he couldn’t fit in it, now that is some dedication.  

Natalie Portman walked off of her Oscar winning performance in Black Swan strait onto the set of Thor. She plays Jane Foster, an astrophysicist who stumbles upon Thor and the realm of Asgard when he is banished to Earth.  In typical comic book fashion her character really doesn’t do that much, she’s supposed to be the audiences eyes into the world of Thor but her character is just used to shoehorn another romantic relationship in a comic book movie that unfortunately doesn’t really work. I’ve never really bought the relationship between Jane and Thor, sure Portman is a great actress and she gives a really strong performance, but when you really think about the movie her character is just there to swoon over Thor.

Now the movies real find unfortunately is not Hemsworth, it’s in fact the villain. At this point Marvel really was not having that much luck on it’s villains and still is to this day. Sure I love the Abomination, but Whiplash and Iron Monger really left more to desire. Loki on the other hand is a  revelation and is still the best villain in the MCU. Tom Hiddleston was virtually unheard of  but once Thor came out the man is now a household name. Loki isn’t your typical baddie, sure his legions of fans love to say he’s misunderstood (not the case the guy is a nut). His real endgame in Thor is far more complex than simply wanting to destroy the world and rule Asgard. All Loki wants is to be accepted by his father and be Thor’s equal, who always overshadowed his magic wielding younger brother. Finding out his true heritage simply breaks the man, sure he was always a trickster causing problems throughout Asgard, but as the movie goes on you see that there is a hidden madness and obsession with besting Thor and being a better king than even his father.

The great thing about the conflict between Thor and Loki is that our hero actually has a reason to not kill his arch nemesis. Unlike Batman who has a strong no kill rule and can never get around to killing the Joker (seriously if you just kill him the world would be a better place), Thor loves his brother no matter what and does not want to fight him. Even when Loki sends the Destroyer to kill Thor and his friends the god of thunder tries to talk his brother out of it, claiming that he does not know what he’s done to hurt him. This leads to a fantastic conflict, one that is the best within the MCU and has been a focal point for three movies now (including this one) .

The rest of the cast is great, you have Jamie Alexander as Sif, Ray Stevenson, Josh Dallas, Tadanobu Asano as the Warriors Three. Even Idris Elba, Stellen Skarsgard and Rene Russo make appearances in the films. However we must talk about Anthony Hopkins as Odin, there is just something about Anthony Hopkins, the man can make even the worst film a little classier. He is a fantastic choice as the All-Father and I really hope he sticks around for a long time, there is a strong commanding presence with Hopkins that resonates throughout the movie. I’m actually surprised he said yes to this movie, I never would have thought I’d see Anthony Hopkins in a big film like this, but here he is playing one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe.

I’m a big fan of movie soundtracks, I think that even if a bad movie has a solid score that it can enhance it tremendously. To this day and of course in my own opinion, Thor has one of the best soundtracks in the MCU. I always find myself humming the Asgard theme, the soundtrack scored by Patrick Doyle is amazing. I have no idea why he wasn’t put on Thor the Dark World, the music in Thor soars high above any comic book movie score. There's a powerful and emotional core to the music in this movie that makes even the most mundane scenes feel epic and grandiose. I’m very happy to have this score in my collection.

Now there aren’t many action scenes in Thor, probably the best action piece is about a half hour into the movie, after that the rest of the movie is on Earth. Now Thor is obviously stronger than anything that comes his way, this makes every fight seem short, and without any tension. You know Thor is going to clobber anyone but that's the fun of it. This was one of my major problems with Iron man 2, It seemed like Tony Stark would just press a button somewhere and destroy everything in his path. Thor on the other hand is a god, I can give this movie a pass because I know what I’m getting into. I’m here to see the god of thunder throw down on inferior enemies that for whatever reason think they could take the guy on one-on-one.

Thor is a pretty good movie, unfortunately the movie is filled with stupid humour that makes almost every scene on Earth feel annoying and like a chore. We also spend far to much time there as well which is completely uninteresting, I’d rather be in Asgard and see the amazing sets and costumes that inhabit the great realm. To much of the film focuses on things that don’t feel that necessary, and Natalie Portman is degraded to a stupid love story that does not feel earned.

I give Thor a 7/10

It’s a solid movie but it’s just missing the mark. I think Marvel didn’t feel that confident yet with their otherworldly characters. That’s why we got a lot of dumb Earth scenes instead of what people came to the movies to see, Asgard. Still check it out, you’re going to have to anyway since this movie has the strongest connections to the first Avengers film.