Written by J. Michael Straczynski And Mark Protosevich And Ashley Edward Miller And Zack Stentz And Don Payne
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Thor: "Why have you done this?"
Loki: "To prove to Father that I am a worthy son! When he wakes, I will have saved his life, I will have destroyed that race of monsters, and I will be true heir to the throne!"
Remember the days when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was a lot more on the Shakespeare side of things? Well, now I do, seeing as I went back to reviewing this first movie. I mean he still sort of does have that side to him but not as pronounced these days.
Anyways getting back to this movie, we started with our leading lady Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her friend, Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) accidentally running over a banished Thor. Then we cut to what led to his banishment.
Yup, that meant seeing the glory of Asgard and it's gloriously depicted onscreen. You've got it's ruler, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) along with his wife, Frigga (Rebecca Russo) and their two sons, Thor and the rather mischievous Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Thor was desperate to prove himself a worthy successor to his father should the time come for him to rule. Loki had other ideas.
One of those ideas being to cause war with Laufey (Colm Feore) and the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. It was a good idea on Loki's part because Thor's action led to him igniting a war and also to Odin banishing him to Earth and placing his powers into the hammer Mjölnir. This meant Thor had to do a lot of growing up.
Being stuck in New Mexico and bonding with Jane, Darcy and Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) somewhat forced his hand into doing that. While Thor did bond with his Earth friends and Agent Colson (Clark Gregg), his own allies Sif (Jaime Alexander), Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Josh Dallas) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano) also provided some much needed support. Not to mention Heimdall (Idris Elba) was pretty much team Thor as well.
Anyways the fight scenes with Thor and the Destroyer added some nice visual spectacle but it was the final confrontation between Thor and Loki with Odin caught in the middle that highlighted the family dynamics beautifully. Despite being a scheming little shit, it's hard not to feel a bit bad for Loki. As for that portal, well it had it's own complications.
- A post credit scene saw Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) reaching out to Selvig. The latter being influenced by Loki. Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was introduced in this movie.
- Loki knew that Laufey was his real father but still had no issue with killing him in order to get Odin's approval.
- Various actors were considered for the role of Thor, including Hemsworth's own brother, Liam.
- Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Fandral before being recast with Josh Dallas. The latter would also be recast with Zachary Levi in the next movie.
- Standout music: Foo Fighters Walk as well as Patrick Doyle's score music.
- Chronology: 2011 New Mexico as well as 965 AD Asgard.
Thor does hold pretty well as a movie. It's a good debut outing for the larger than life hero and both Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston knock it out of the park with the Thor/Loki dynamic. I do like this one a lot.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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