Marvel Month - Mini Review - Thor

Well, it’s time for another movie that isn’t an Iron Man one, and who better than the God of Thunder himself, Thor. Released in 2011 this movie earned nearly $450m on a $150m budget and has a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes But let’s just dive straight in shall we?

After a series of rash decisions lead Thor to reigniting a war with the frost giants, Thor is banished to Midgard, Earth, to relearn what it is to be worthy. But with S.H.I.E.L.D. laying claim to his hammer and Loki making claim to the throne of Asgard, it will not be easy for Thor.

So, let’s start with the positives. The film looks good, they captured something like what I’d imagine Asgard to look like, Chris Hemsworth is a great choice for Thor, Stellan Skarsgård was a good choice for Eric Selvig and Idris Elba makes a good Heimdall. Coulson’s more competent in this movie, there is some good action and the pacing never gets too boring, even with the premise limiting their action capabilities. There are some good humorous moments as they make fun of Thor being human but when they need to double down on the emotional aspects, they can do that too.

And then of course we have Loki, played perfectly by Tom Hiddleston, the best Marvel villain by far. It helps that he gets a lot of screen time and we do see his relationship with Thor develop during the movie. His motivations change and evolve as the movie goes on and he is genuinely threatening to Thor, Lady Sith and the Warriors 3. He’s the complete villain package that none of the Marvel movies before or since have managed to replicate.

But then I have to address some of the negatives. Firstly, Jane Foster. I don’t find her character that interesting. She’s a physicist but she’s one of 3 (if you count Darcy) so she really didn’t need to be. She’s also quite young, Natalie Portman was in her late 20s when she filmed this but looks younger, and when you consider Thor is potentially thousands of years old, there’s a bit of the Twilight effect there.

Hawkeye is just kinda there in the movie, same with Lady Sif and the Warriors 3, they don’t do much of value throughout the movie. The Frost Giants are really there as monsters for them to fight and not much else and Loki’s plan is kinda dumb. Darcy has really no reason to exist, her comic relief isn’t even that funny.

I also have to wonder about the portrayal of Odin in this movie (and the sequel) in the comics he’s arrogant, doesn’t listen, thinks mortals like those of Midgard are below him. Here he’s the voice of wisdom for both Thor and Loki. His antagonistic relationship with Loki really didn’t get enough screen time to be worth anything.

I’ll give them props for using the Destroyer as a weapon against Thor, a fight against a near unstoppable powerhouse really should’ve been more epic than it ended up being but I’ll take what I can get.

Thor is above average for this stage in Marvel’s history, whilst it’s not as good as Iron Man, it’s better than the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2. It has a strong villain and lead actor which elevates it but has weak development for the supporting cast and cameos rather for the sake of it.

Rating 70/100