Thor (2011) - Film Review

Director: Kenneth Branagh 

 

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Stellen Skarsgard, 

 

Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence

The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Initial Reaction:

Growing up on Marvel and DC comics there are few characters I never really had any interest in and Thor was one of them. I've never been a fan of Greek gods and invincible superheroes pretty much what Thor is. When the film was highlighted at the end of "Iron Man 2" as the next Marvel Cinematic Universe film I was disappointed. It felt like Thor was being used because they lacked the rights to other big name characters. I watched the film mainly because I wanted to keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even though I wasn't interested in Thor in the slightest I still had faith that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would put something good together and they did. Despite its flaws in story, Thor was definitely a surprise to me and gave probably the best depiction I could imagine on-screen of Thor.

Plot: (2.75/5)

I mentioned above that the main problem with this film was the story. The film wanted to be to much highlighting the Asgardian setting for the comic book fans and the earth story for the casual movie goers and both plots end up feeling like two separate films. The beginning of the film begins on Asgard at that is probably my favorite part of the film. Asgard is set up as a very interesting place with the most interesting characters, I'm glad that it'll be featured more heavily in "Thor: The Dark World." Once Thor gets banished to Earth by Odin and he meets up with Natalie Portman the story drags a little. The fish out of water setting for Thor on Earth is funny mainly because of Chris Hemsworth's performance but the story really features no points but to highlight SHIELD and watch Thor learn some lessons which weren't that interesting to me. The film innercuts with Loki causing trouble on Asgard and that was far more interesting and felt weird cutting between that and Earth. The romance the film features between Portman and Thor is really forced and someone mentioned that it was a three day romance which makes it feel weird. Also Kat Dennings as the sarcastic side kick was one of the most annoying things I have ever had to deal with in a movie. Her lines were never funny and were forced, she also has way to much screen time for a nothing character and the third act was probably where the film picks up but even then you can still find problems in it. Loki's plan really doesn't make that much since and all the emotional conclusion brought in the film are retconned in the "Avengers" such as the bridge being closed and Loki falling to his death, so the plot ended up wanting to appeal to too many audiences and ended up feeling incomplete and rushed.

Directing: (3/5)

Giving Kenneth Branagh the directing reigns of the movie felt like a smart but odd choice when first announced since he had dealt with a lot of films from Shakespeare stories. He does good on the parts of most importance on Asgard but when dealing with the story on Earth you can really tell he doesn't have that much of a budget in comparison to the Iron Man movies. The desolate New Mexico town this is filmed in looks very fake and just weird in its location. He does action surprisingly well though on both Asgard and Earth as the fight scenes were all pretty entertaining. The story though is the thing that hurts the film though because when the filming gets standard and generic on Earth it doesn't help that the story is kind of boring. I believe Brannagh did the best Ashley Miller's screenplay but in the end it didn't feel like any thing special. Nothing bad just didn't really do a lot to elevate the story.

Acting: (3.5/5)

One of the best things this film did was introduce us to Chris Hemsworth. Hemsworth is a very charming and charasmatic character-actor in his portrayal of Thor. Even in Thor's unlikable moments when he is dealing with his pride it was still entertaining to watch his portrayal because you felt the layers to this character. Tom Hiddleston was also very good as Loki and played very well off Hemsworth. Them two are the best thing about this movie and seems to be from early reviews the best thing about the sequel as well. The rest of the cast while featuring big names don't get much to do (Renee Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba) especially Anthony Hopkins who spends most of the film incapacitated. Natalie Portman as Thor's love interest didn't feel right, there was just something about her character that made her feel as she was only a love interest for Thor and not a real character despite being a scientist. 

Replay Ability/ Recommendation: (3/5)

While this isn't the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was still a very enjoyable film. The film features great acting and entertaining action, it only becomes slightly worse when you start to pick apart the story. That be the film paved the way for some interesting character and after the avengers has me excited to see "Thor: The Dark World" especially with Allan Taylor directing.

FINAL GRADE: 3.1/5 (B-)