Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgaard, Kat Dennings, Jamie Alexander, Colm Feore, Clark Gregg
Written by Ashley Edward Miller & Zach Stentz and Don Payne
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Synopsis: After his impulsiveness nearly starts a war, Asgardian prince Thor is banished to Earth until he can prove he is capable of handling the responsibilities that face him.
Visuals and Audio: This is an interesting film in terms of its visuals. While comic book films until this point had stayed pretty close to Earth, Thor's source material comes from another realm. As such, this was the first film in the MCU to have the opportunity to create a world. It handles this regard beautifully. Asgard is gorgeously rendered, mixing its Ancient Norse influences with the technological enhancements that would come about with a civilization this old. The main problem with this is that the other realms pale in comparison. Half of the film takes place in a small town in New Mexico. Said town has very little of note visually, and provides little in the way of flavor or character. This can't be anything but a letdown from the beauty and epicness off Thor's home realm. Thankfully the film still cuts back to Asgard throughout the runtime, and the first and third acts are primarily based in this realm, but the second act really drags, largely because there's nothing interesting to look at most of the time. It also constantly uses dutch angles. While this has been used effectively to throw off the audience's comfort level, but here they just feel like they're being used for no reason, which does little but distract the audience. Thankfully the film's score is very strong, serving as the best in the MCU at this point in time. It's stirring and melodic, effortlessly combining romance and adventure together. "Sons of Odin" still ranks as the MCU theme I was most sorry to see be forgotten, and "Can You See Jane" helps end the film on a very strong note.
Cast: By this point, Marvel was starting to fill their casts with heavy hitters. While some would be wasted, Thor mostly uses them somewhat well. Thor's father Odin would have been fine in many hands, but entrusting the character to Anthony Hopkins gives the role a sense of prestige and legitimacy that could otherwise have been lacking. On the downside is that Idris Elba was cast in a minor role just before he hit it big. He makes Heimdall one of the coolest characters, but his slim screen time feels like a waste. (Though future attempts to expand the character's role would feel forced.) The human characters are the weakest, by far. Though Stellan Skarsgaard is fine, Kat Dennings' comic relief character is more annoying than funny. Natalie Portman's Jane Foster is also supremely disappointing as a character. While Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts was a character who could easily have been one-note, a smart script and strong performance gave her some real agency and nuance. Here, Jane Foster feels like she could have been a stone's throw away from being empowering, but both Natalie Portman and the screenplay only see her importance as being a thing for Thor to fall in love with. In addition, Portman's performance is just... odd. Her line readings are all over the map, like she could never tell whether a moment was supposed to be serious or funny. As a result, she bounces all over the spectrum, leaving little ability to be taken seriously as a person or as a realistic love interest.
Thankfully the film really nails its two most important roles. Chris Hemsworth's role as Thor is textbook star-making. He brings such a natural charisma to the role that you are interested in his story, even when he is at his least likable. He also handles the character's growth well. Thor has clearly become a better person by the end, but you can still see first act Thor within third act Thor and vice versa. The real breakout by far, though, is Tom Hiddleston as Thor's trickster brother Loki. Hiddleston brings heart, fun and a real sense of mischief to the role. He takes full advantage of the brotherly connection between the hero and villain of the film, using that connection to hammer in the emotion at the heart of the film's main narrative. The chemistry between these two leads is astounding, and helps to make up for the films other flaws.
Writing: Again, the screenplay is a mixed bag. The decision to set half of the film in a podunk town in New Mexico proves to be a mistake. The narrative of the film really stalls while we are introduced to the film's least interesting characters. This section also attempts a lot of comic relief with Jane Foster and Darcy, but very little of it actually lands, largely due to the performances. The best part about this sequence is Hemsworth himself, as his dialogue sounds accurately different, and he has the best comedic timing. The real narrative weight, however, comes from Asgard. Though Thor's storyline is pretty straightforward, Loki's arc is actually more emotional and interesting. Loki has some real tragedy in his backstory, and a sense of pathos and motivation that is lost elsewhere in the film. The best decision the screenplay makes is to have the connection between the two brothers be the heart of the story. While they spend most of act 2 separated, the first and third acts bring them togethers, highlighting the changes the brothers have gone through. As such, the screenplay makes up for its mistakes by really making the most important storylines work.
Directing: Kenneth Branagh was a very inspired choice to direct this film. His Shakespearian past adds a feeling of history and grandeur to the film's scenes on Asgard. This film marks the closes the Thor series has come to feeling like the mythology on which it's based. The scenes with Thor and Loki have a sense of intensity and passion that are not often seen in the superhero genre, and as such Loki's sudden but inevitable betrayal hurts a lot more than it could have. However, sounding like a broken record at this point, Branagh struggles to make Earth as interesting. His efforts seem to suggest that he was trying to use comedy to cover up the narrative stalling and relative boredom of the Earth segment, but lacking any visual comedy, and leaving most of the comedy to the film's more confused actors, it doesn't work, and the film really drags through the middle. Thankfully, the Asgard sequences turn out to be more important, and so Branagh's directing works more than it doesn't, although it's close.
Verdict: Though it struggles in a lot of moments, Thor's strengths manage to outweigh it's weaknesses. The Asgard scenes are still some of the most epic and emotional scenes that Marvel has produced, although there's a lot of weak earth material in between them. If you're looking for action or humor, Thor really isn't the film for you, but if you want your superhero with a heavy portion of epic drama and world building, it will absolutely satisfy.
Grade: 7.0
No comments:
Post a Comment