'Thor' Review
Thor follows the origin tale of Asgardian prince Thor and his lesson of humility. Thor recklessly ventures out of his boundaries, seeking conflict and is banished to Earth as a mortal man by his father and king Oden. Thor then must understand what it means to be worthy if he is to ever lift Mjionir, his might hammer, again.
While I'm a huge Marvel fan, I honestly have never really liked any of the
Thor movies to this point, but am admittedly ecstatic for
Thor: Ragnarok thanks to new creative control with Taika Waititi. My biggest problem with
Thor is that it's really gimmicky and
cliché for a majority of the nearly two hour runtime, there's a total of about four action sequences in the entire film considering Thor is stripped of his power and none of them are very interesting. The third act showdown between Loki and Thor at least offers some interest conflict of ideals, but the actual fight itself is boring. I think this is in large part to director Kenneth Branagh and the screenwriters.
Branagh's decision to look at the events through a Shakespearean angle may allow for great dialogue but that's just it, the film is filled with monotonous, dull expositional dialogue. Branagh's grandest ventures involve his collaboration with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos that paints a nice sheeny picture of Asgard and gives the film a nice look throughout and the technical work (visual effects, production design, sound design, and costuming) bringing Asgard, Thor's abilities, and the other otherworldly elements to life.
Outside of the look of
Thor, mostly everything else feels incredibly dry aside from a few choice performances. The score by Patrick Doyle is incredibly generic, it feels fantastical but never resonant. The screenwriters Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne have great ideas in their screenplay but most of it's not executed very well. The one-liners and fish out of humor work and the character arcs explored are somewhat interesting but Thor is made to look like an oafish brute and his change of heart isn't entirely convincing.
The performances are mixed bag as well including a few remarkable standouts and other muddled supporting players. Chris Hemsworth does the best he can with the role of Thor, making for a believable fish out of water and heroic oafish figure. Hemsworth doesn't finds his ground till his subsequent turns as the character.
Tom Hiddleston however, shines above all others in his scene stealing turn as Loki, only to get increasingly better in the role in successive appearances. Hiddleston makes the family drama exceptionally entertaining and his conviction is arresting.
For the Asgardians, Anthony Hopkins brings natural gravitas to Odin but literally spends a majority of the film asleep, Idris Elba isn't afforded much to do as Heimdall but he fills the capacity needed, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, and Josh Dallas make a nice friend support group for Thor as Lady Sif and the respective Warriors Three but also don't have much importance in the grand scheme of things so naturally are relegated to a small supporting capacity.
Thor's human allies Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Erik Selvig played by Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, and Stellan Skarsg
ård are all provided with funny moments but are thinly sketched caricatures for the most part. Natalie Portman's Jane Foster feels forced opposite Hemsworth as Thor's love interest and muddles the plot in a bland romance.
Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson is a nice touch, bringing his trademark wit and sarcasm but is given minuscule screen time as well.
In conclusion, I deem
Thor to not be a worthy part of the MCU. It serves its purpose of introducing the characters and surrounding realms and is an interesting first watch, but beyond that doesn't hold up to repetitive viewing.
Thor offers grand visuals, but lacks the spectacle that should have accompanied it.
Film Assessment: C
No comments:
Post a Comment