Review: Thor

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Written by: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings

Rating: [3/5]

As said when someone battles with addictions, sometimes you just have to hit rock bottom in order to fully comprehend the way back up. A reality many have to face even in the case of a Norse God who does not necessarily battle addiction but rather a level of arrogance that needs some course correction. This establishes what we get in Thor as this tragedy between brothers starts out quite the introduction of this character to the big screen. 

In line for the throne of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in search of payback, attacks the Frost Giants on their planet breaking a peace treaty that has stood for many years. Cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) because of insolence, Thor must prove to be worthy to wield his trusty hammer once again while his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) seeks to take down their father from within.

This idea of bringing the character of Thor to live action still to this day seems like quite the miracle in what they managed to pull off. Someone who could come off entirely too goofy for the general audiences but they did quite a wondrous job here with casting Chris Hemsworth. It’s impossible to think of any other actor who could have stepped in and brought the God of Thunder to life as done in this feature and the many subsequent films thereafter. Here he brings all of the physicality needed for the role and then some as well as this air of arrogance and necessity in portraying someone who needs a dose of reality, which this feature demonstrates. 

Split between time on Asgard and Earth, the feature becomes quite fractured but not in a manner that necessarily works all of the time. With the construction of Asrgard, this film needs to build it out to fully understand where this character comes from and how it all works, but then the exile of Thor on Earth requires him to spend time with the Earthlings. While Thor has some good moments on Earth, namely the scene where he demands more of a drink and does so not truly kosher amongst humans but evidently standard practice on Asagard. Everything else on Earth feels as dry as the desert these characters traverse in moments, which makes us wish we could go back to Asgard where the real action occurs. 

Building out Asgard shows quite the set of characters and where the drama of the feature truly unfolds. This transpires with the contentious brotherly bond of Thor and Loki in the way they care for each other but the latter certainly carries some jealousy for the former. This bond and break between them makes for the most fascinating subject of the feature on top of their relationship with their father Odin. Thor has this unabashed love for his brother while Loki always felt different when compared to the other Asgardians allowing him to work in his trickster ways as the comic book fans know. This rapport built between the brothers makes for quite the treat to watch allowing the time in Asgard to be quite fruitful. 

Where this feature lies in the timeline of Marvel films displays its importance as it serves as the first film following Iron Man in trying to build out this universe and build a connectedness between all of the movies as one big cinematic universe. While definitely something quite exciting at the time, it does display why so much time gets spent on Earth as the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D. must be established and how they relate to everything that will be seen later. This therefore demonstrates the first time these series of films have struggled and broken the momentum of their individual stories in order to continue to have this connectedness occur. Something at a time that was not as evident, but this review looking back upon it allows for an interesting observation and an explanation for its flaws. 

Having Kenneth Branagh take on a giant studio project always comes with fear of the worst but he does fairly well with Thor. A feature that shines bright when it focuses on its better aspects, like exploring the machinations of Asgard and the tragic relationship between the two brothers in Thor and Loki. Even in the moments, namely on Earth, where it struggles the film manages to still bring some entertainment to the table all culminating as a decent film fixed into a larger universe where we had no idea how big it would eventually grow.