MCU Rewind #4 - Thor - Review
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
Rating: PG-13
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 4.3/10
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 4.3/10
Expectations/Background: As the minute rating for the film suggests, I HATED this movie. Before rewatching the film, I HATED this movie so much. This was by far my least favorite MCU movie. Don't ask me why, but when I last watched the film, I remember absolutely hating this movie with a passion. To be quite honest with you, I don't remember why. I just remember hating this movie with a passion. I went into the film expecting to continue hating this film. And what I got was...
The Movie: I mean I don't hate it anymore. But I certainly don't like it. I like it a little more, but make no mistake, this is still my least favorite MCU film. There are certainly good things about this film, for sure, but there are things that I did not are for in the slightest.
Positives: First of all, I think that the storyline is fine. Great. After Iron Man 2, the MCU needed a movie that was cut-and-dry and had an arc. I think that the story isn't anything spectacular, but it had intrigue and it had good character development. And that was one of its strengths.
The performances, for the most part, are fine. Nothing in particular stands out. Even Tom Hiddleston's Loki, whom we would grow to love, doesn't have the typical charisma that he has in future films - it's there for sure, but it's clear that Hiddleston wasn't given full reign with the character.
What I do like about this movie is that its unique. This film has its own very distinct voice. While Iron Man was more of a "comic book" movie, and Incredible Hulk had no idea what it wanted to be (we don't talk about Iron Man 2), Thor is very distinctly different in tone. Thor director Kenneth Branagh wanted to make a Shakespearean kind of film focusing primarily on family drama between the main characters, and he achieved this much. He was able to take very comic-book-y characters and make them seem "real" in a fantastical sense. They were set in a medieval world and were allowed to play in those kinds of constraints.
I also did like how the characters were developed. Unlike other films in the MCU, this film took the time to develop Thor as a real human who was brash, bold, and arrogant, who learned humility. Perhaps these character traits were taken to extremes in some cases, but at least time was taken to develop these characters in the first place.
But other than that...
Negatives: This film suffers from the things that plague the other Phase 1 MCU films - story and villains. While the tone of the film is very defined, this story is rather generic. Now, granted, Kenneth Branagh does manage to make take this rather generic romantic/drama and give it a little flair, adding some intrigue with Loki in particular as a Frost Giant. But when you really take a step back, the story is fairly bland.
Again, the villains (as will be touched upon later) are weak. Loki is not allowed to really develop. His motivations are very clear though, which is great, but he is not allowed to take the lead in a film that takes way too much time to focus on Thor and Jane (more on them later).
And for the record, I have no idea what the Destroyer was about. I think that the only reason the Destroyer was there was because Loki wasn't really a physical match for Thor (even though he was for the rest of the Avengers) and they wanted some muscle to go against Thor.
Thor and Jane - I'm conflicted. Sometimes you really can see that it works. There are a couple scenes where they did have some chemistry. But many, many of the scenes show exactly why Natalie Portman was one of the worst parts of the sequel and was cut out of the third movie altogether. And the unfortunate thing for this movie was that they relied too heavily on their romance in the film, which completely fell flat.
I mean, overall, this film is fine, and it's more unique than the other MCU films, but it suffers greatly from a forced romance, weak villain characterization (though the villain himself was not weak) and a rather weak storyline.
Positives: First of all, I think that the storyline is fine. Great. After Iron Man 2, the MCU needed a movie that was cut-and-dry and had an arc. I think that the story isn't anything spectacular, but it had intrigue and it had good character development. And that was one of its strengths.
The performances, for the most part, are fine. Nothing in particular stands out. Even Tom Hiddleston's Loki, whom we would grow to love, doesn't have the typical charisma that he has in future films - it's there for sure, but it's clear that Hiddleston wasn't given full reign with the character.
What I do like about this movie is that its unique. This film has its own very distinct voice. While Iron Man was more of a "comic book" movie, and Incredible Hulk had no idea what it wanted to be (we don't talk about Iron Man 2), Thor is very distinctly different in tone. Thor director Kenneth Branagh wanted to make a Shakespearean kind of film focusing primarily on family drama between the main characters, and he achieved this much. He was able to take very comic-book-y characters and make them seem "real" in a fantastical sense. They were set in a medieval world and were allowed to play in those kinds of constraints.
I also did like how the characters were developed. Unlike other films in the MCU, this film took the time to develop Thor as a real human who was brash, bold, and arrogant, who learned humility. Perhaps these character traits were taken to extremes in some cases, but at least time was taken to develop these characters in the first place.
But other than that...
Negatives: This film suffers from the things that plague the other Phase 1 MCU films - story and villains. While the tone of the film is very defined, this story is rather generic. Now, granted, Kenneth Branagh does manage to make take this rather generic romantic/drama and give it a little flair, adding some intrigue with Loki in particular as a Frost Giant. But when you really take a step back, the story is fairly bland.
Again, the villains (as will be touched upon later) are weak. Loki is not allowed to really develop. His motivations are very clear though, which is great, but he is not allowed to take the lead in a film that takes way too much time to focus on Thor and Jane (more on them later).
And for the record, I have no idea what the Destroyer was about. I think that the only reason the Destroyer was there was because Loki wasn't really a physical match for Thor (even though he was for the rest of the Avengers) and they wanted some muscle to go against Thor.
Thor and Jane - I'm conflicted. Sometimes you really can see that it works. There are a couple scenes where they did have some chemistry. But many, many of the scenes show exactly why Natalie Portman was one of the worst parts of the sequel and was cut out of the third movie altogether. And the unfortunate thing for this movie was that they relied too heavily on their romance in the film, which completely fell flat.
I mean, overall, this film is fine, and it's more unique than the other MCU films, but it suffers greatly from a forced romance, weak villain characterization (though the villain himself was not weak) and a rather weak storyline.
The Villain(s): As mentioned before, Loki was not given enough time to be a full-fledged villain. His subtle manipulation and quiet cunning were so great to watch, but he wasn't on screen enough that by the time the third act comes, I was left wanting more (which we got later). And as stated earlier, I have no idea what the Destroyer was doing.
The Verdict: Now, on paper, I think Thor is a serviceable movie. There is nothing "wrong" with it, and by all means, it's not boring. Thanks to Kenneth Branagh, this movie has a unique imprint and it's relatively interesting to watch. That being said, from a personal standpoint, I do not like this movie at all. Just on a personal level, It think that this movie is contrived, it's ham-fisted, and it's hard to watch. Many of you may disagree, but from the beginning, I knew that this movie was not for me. Letter Grade: C. Number Score: 7.1/10
Should I Skip?: This one's up to you. Through the MCU binge, if your goal is streamline the MCU before Infinity War, I would say no. This movie does do a great job at setting up Asgard for future films, and it does set up Loki as the villain for The Avengers. Would it be detrimental if you skipped it? I don't think so, but I would recommend sitting through this one to better understand the MCU in the future.
TLDR: Thor, son of Odin, is about to be crowned king, when the Frost Giants (an antagonistic race of beings opposed to Asgard and the throne) invade and take the Casket of Ancient Winters. Thor and his gangs stupidly invade Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants) and Thor is banished to earth where he can no longer lift his hammer. Meanwhile Loki finds that he is the son of Laufey, king of the Frost Giants, and is adopted by Odin. When he confronts Odin, Odin falls into a deep trane, and Loki takes the throne. Thor, meanwhile, meets Jane Foster and they fall in love. Thor can't lift his hammer, but Loki sends the Destroyer to Earth and "kills" Thor, but Thor proves himself worthy and returns to Asgard to confront Loki. Odin awakens, and Loki falls down into the abyss after Thor destroys the Rainbow Bridge (the Bifrost - this really doesn't have any affect on anything later in the MCU). Thor remains on Asgard while Loki meets Thanos somewhere in deep space before his invasion of Earth.
9-10: Nearly Perfect
Should I Skip?: This one's up to you. Through the MCU binge, if your goal is streamline the MCU before Infinity War, I would say no. This movie does do a great job at setting up Asgard for future films, and it does set up Loki as the villain for The Avengers. Would it be detrimental if you skipped it? I don't think so, but I would recommend sitting through this one to better understand the MCU in the future.
TLDR: Thor, son of Odin, is about to be crowned king, when the Frost Giants (an antagonistic race of beings opposed to Asgard and the throne) invade and take the Casket of Ancient Winters. Thor and his gangs stupidly invade Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants) and Thor is banished to earth where he can no longer lift his hammer. Meanwhile Loki finds that he is the son of Laufey, king of the Frost Giants, and is adopted by Odin. When he confronts Odin, Odin falls into a deep trane, and Loki takes the throne. Thor, meanwhile, meets Jane Foster and they fall in love. Thor can't lift his hammer, but Loki sends the Destroyer to Earth and "kills" Thor, but Thor proves himself worthy and returns to Asgard to confront Loki. Odin awakens, and Loki falls down into the abyss after Thor destroys the Rainbow Bridge (the Bifrost - this really doesn't have any affect on anything later in the MCU). Thor remains on Asgard while Loki meets Thanos somewhere in deep space before his invasion of Earth.
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
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