Boosted by the runaway success of both Iron Man films, Marvel Studios finally began to begin developing projects on several more projects starring whatever characters they had the rights to. These included developing a movie based on Runaways (which eventually became last year's hit Hulu show), an ABC series based on Alias to be titled AKA Jessica Jones (which would later move to Netflix), and of course, the films that would directly lead into The Avengers: films based on Thor, Captain America, and Ant-Man. While the latter would be delayed by numerous factors, 2011 saw the release of films based on the mighty Avenger and the first Avenger produced simultaneously and released only two months apart.
Today, we will be looking at Thor. Directed by Shakespearean legend Kenneth Branagh, Thor was possibly the riskiest project Marvel Studios had signed off on to date. The film not only had to accustom audiences, who were already used to the more grounded tone of the Iron Man films and The Incredible Hulk, to the idea that this universe contained cosmic beings hundreds of years old, but it was also the first MCU film to star an actor who had not been previously established. Thor was the breakout role of one Chris Hemsworth, whose most famous role to date was his brief appearance as Kirk's father in the opening sequence of JJ Abrams's Star Trek. Marvel had already proven they could bring a star back from obscurity. Now they had to prove they could build a star from scratch. But the funny thing is: they built two stars out of this film. We'll get into that in a bit.
With all that being said, was Marvel successful? In my opinion, yes and no. Yes, they not only made Hemsworth a star, but they also made it acceptable to audiences that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was much huger than they had previously expected. However, I believe Thor is one of, if not the, weakest installments of the MCU. It's not a bad film at all, but to me, it is one of the hardest to rewatch. Let's explore why I feel that way.
For starters, this movie is shot terribly. That is hands-down the biggest sin this film commits. Both Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos have it in their minds that dutch angles make a comic book movie feel more like a comic book, but instead the constant tilting of the camera is just distracting and obnoxious. Honestly, this film is almost as bad of an offender at abusing this cinematic technique as Battlefield Earth. However, the dutch angles aren't the only crime committed here. The fights are shot like garbage, with a majority of them shot in extreme close-up with drowned out colors and shaking the camera to add "intensity", but instead makes these action scenes utterly impossible to follow. The battle on Jotunheim is easily the biggest offender, not helped by sporadic editing to mask the fact that the choreography in this film is especially poor. In terms of action, this film has by far the worst in terms of execution in the MCU to date, and proves that action is far from Branagh's strong suit.
Another issue this film has is pacing. The first thirty minutes of the film feel choppy and rushed. There are three scenes of action in the first act of the film: the prologue, the infiltration by the Frost Giants, and the battle on Jotunheim. The film goes at such a brisk pace that it's hard to feel attached to Thor's plight when he is cast down to Earth. This problem is later fixed, but the emotional hook should be there from the start of the story, as Iron Man proved could be done expertly. Instead of building its characters, this film sets out to establish its plot and world early on instead. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it forces the second act to do all of the heavy lifting to make us learn to like Thor at all.
Finally, the supporting cast is full of colorful characters who don't really amount to much of anything. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three all get some charming moments, but we don't spend nearly enough time with them to feel attached when one or more of them are injured. Rene Russo is so wasted as Frigga, that I had to look up her character's name because I had forgotten it despite watching the film last night. Idris Elba's Heimdall is not given enough to do as well, but he nails many of the best lines in the film when they're given to him. And Kat Dennings' Darcy crosses the line from charming dork into annoying comic relief far too much through no fault of Dennings but the script that insists that the scientists have a comic relief.
That all being said, that's where the downsides of this film end. By far the film's strongest point is the strong chemistry and performances of Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the two stars I referred to from earlier. Hemsworth owns the screen every time he's on, boasting the arrogant confidence befitting of the God of Thunder with the physique and booming yet eloquent voice to match. It's as if the casting directors somehow managed to find a god among men. Surprisingly, Hemsworth's greatest strength comes from his comedic timing. When he becomes the fish out of water, Thor truly comes alive thanks to brilliant moments of humor executed perfectly by its star ("I need a horse!"). However, Hemsworth's performance would not be as good with Tom Hiddleston serving as his foil.
Hiddleston gives the MCU its first great villain because while the character may be mischievous and conniving, he imbues the role with genuine emotions such as sadness or anger. Loki is not much more than a boy throwing a major temper-tantrum, and you can see the flashes of regret every so often as he knows the rage is consuming him. My favorite scene in the film is his confrontation with Odin over his true identity, and the fact that Hiddleston could hold his own against Sir freaking Anthony Hopkins despite this being his first major movie role is a testament to the strength Hiddleston has as an actor. It is no exaggeration to say this film would have sucked without the chemistry between Hemsworth and Hiddleston; one can buy that they are brothers who love yet hate each other. And that does more to save this movie than any amount of dazzling special effects or extravagant production design.
Hemsworth doesn't just bounce off of Hiddleston, though. Natalie Portman plays Jane Foster and her constant bashfulness against Thor is not only extremely cute, but is believable because Hemsworth is just so damned charming. Portman struggles a bit with the scientific mumbo-jumbo, and it is apparent in hindsight how little of a shit she gave about Thor: The Dark World after watching this performance. But the romance here works because it's so much fun, and it's one of the film's most surprising strengths.
Thor exists as one of the few fish out of water stories that actually work better once the fantastical element is removed. Although the other realms look marvelous, the core of the story is drowned out by over-the-top special effects and production design. Ironically, it takes grounding the film before we can learn to relate with Thor and the rest of the story.
The movie is jam-packed with surprises for fans and, of course, more teases of what to come that manage to not be too distracting like they were in Iron Man 2. We get a cool cameo from Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Agent Coulson is even more lovable than ever in his third appearance, and the post credits scene introduces the first major MacGuffin of the MCU: the Tesseract. The post-credits scene also reveals that Loki will be the first villain to return, and return in a big way he shall.
But next time, the MCU is going to go back in time to make what I truly believe is the most underrated installment of the entire series. A film with so much heart and passion packed into every frame, that I can easily look past its flaws. It's a good old fashioned adventure, what more can I say?
Next time: Captain America: The First Avenger
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