A Review From A Former MCU Hater

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2019)

Thor (2011)
Marvel Cinematic Universe #4
Director: Kenneth Branagh
I am going to go straight into my verdict for this one: I love this movie. There are no doubts about this at all in my mind. I absolutely love it.
Recently, it has been said that one of the best Marvel movies to date is Thor: Ragnorok. Now I have yet to see this movie, but it is true that my desire to watch these movies again came about as a result of seeing stills of some of the art direction, and truth be told they blew me away. But I do not want to jump into the more recent movies without fully catching up with the rest of the franchise.
Now the reason I brought up Ragnorok is because it has come to my attention that it has delighted many fans because it is laugh out loud funny. Like, rioutously so. This in itself does not surprise me. The issue I have is that it appears to have taken many people aback.
How? Because before tonight, my very memories of Thor and Thor: The Dark World are highly positive, because they were to my mind absolutely hilarious! After the snarky and fairly serious Iron Movies, and the rather humourless and safe The Incredible Hulk, the first Thor movie came out and left me laughing hysterically. Which for a certain amount of its initial runtime, is an aspect I did not see coming.
Initially starting in the other dimensional world of Asgard, the apparent source of all Norse mythology, we are treated to a visual feast for the eyes. With a strong fantasy element, director Kenneth Branagh (responsible for one of my all time favourite movies, the very underrated 1994 Robert De Niro lead Frankenstein), weaves a rather wondrous tale of royal intrigue and treachery, a simple it seems story of two brothers fighting for the approval of their father. It is perfect, and endearingly basic, fantasy fare, as we follow two princes who desire to work hard to defend the kingdom for honour, but most importantly to try and make for themselves a lasting reputation, to live up to the legends that preceded them.
It is visually stunning too. Reminding me of the underrated Ridley Scott epic Legend. Also, the visuals are striking and more than stand up to the likes of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies, the finest Harry Potter films and even some of the more fantastical visual elements of the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies. But the tone at first is serious, almost as if someone had tried to turn a Saturday morning serial cartoon from the 80s into a larger than life Shakespearean drama. Which, lets not kid ourselves, is not largely off the mark. Kenneth Branagh is also responsible for masterful adaptations of Henry V (1989) and Hamlet (1996), and Thor was of course a beloved cartoon. Based on his prior work in the directors chair, Branagh may not have made sense initially as the ideal choice for one of the MCU's more difficult characters, but he works movie magic here.
After the first three movies, the change of pace from contemporary superhero action movie to alternate universe fantasy does appear to be jarring. But once, for reasons I won't go into, Thor lands on planet earth (in an isolated New Mexico town of all places), the film changes tone and becomes a literal laugh a minute ride. We have a God, a powerful being, thrown into a world which views him as a madman.
And it is great!
The ever beautiful Natalie Portman plays love interest Jane Foster in a whimsical and adorable manner. It is inevitable that looking like Chris Hemsworth, Thor would be a major magnet for the ladies. And yet it's still really sweet to watch our strong, independent and serious minded scientist fall so in love with this strange handsome, otherworldly or completely delusional beefcake. What has always surprised me, and I find this a charming and adequate comparison, is how similar this blooming little romance reminds me of Disney's similarly themed fairy tale parody Enchanted. In that movie, repressed and overworked Patrick Dempsey is living a humdrum existence, working hard and striving to make ends meet and balance it with a private life. A bit like the real world really. One dull day, while feeling snowed under and dissatisfied with his current situation and future outlook, out of nowhere, a strange woman emerges babbling amusingly about her princess ways and her old talking animal friends, the trees she'd sleep in, knights in shining armour only to then, in the best Hollywood fashion, stop caring about what is normal to just give in to the unashamed romance of the situation. When the woman in question is played so endearingly whacky by none other than Any Adams, it is easy to see why!
Here, we have the big budget superhero equivalent. It works wonderfully! We have an out of this world comedy, complete with old fashioned romance, spectacular special effects, and for once, a small scale final battle in which the hero isn't striving to save an entire planet, but just his few friends and the small town they live in. This really is a fun movie. And I haven't even covered all the positives!
Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Tom Hiddleston as Loki (I have avoided reviewing his outstanding performance as the greatest villian so far in the franchise because, let us be honest, we have talked this to death for years already), Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings (yes, I love her and find her hilarious), the fun with the hammer, the rainbow bridge, the hilarious scenes where various men try too, King Arthur style, pick up the hammer...The way we have a giant killing machine emerge from the sky only to initially be dismissed as one of Starks creations... Thor is a TERRIFIC action comedy masterpiece! After a rather inconsistent start with three movies of varying quality, Thor blew me away with its old fashioned charm, it's wild sense of humour, a flawless cast and a stunning collision of two completely different worlds. It also amazingly builds onto the first three movies, offering us more insight into the inner workings of the mysterious S.H.I.E.L.D., opening up the franchise to include far more than just earth bound heroes, and a real sense of universal grandeur. It is exciting, perfectly paced (the first MCU movie to not drag at all), and for all my discussion of the tonal changes, it balances serious themes in a responsible and forward thinking way for the franchise. And keeping the earth bound action on a small scale allows the franchise a little breathing space to find its feet. To hear of the entire events surrounding this New Mexico town referred to as apparent rumour or hearsay as suggested in the post-credits scene (no spoilers, but the best one yet!), helps to ground this franchise in something closer to our perception of this world. Not every game changing event is covered by our media, we live in dark times full of fear and rumour regarding the goings on in other countries. Should it be surprising that in a world of superheroes, sometimes the biggest changes and developments can also emerge on a far smaller scale?
I could write a million words here in praise of this fantastic movie, but I won't. It has I am sure been covered many times before, which is why I tried to highlight some of my favourite elements of this movie that I do not often see covered.
After a rather mixed bag of movies, the fourth entry in the MCU arrives at just the right time, and it only entices me to further explore this still ever growing cinematic universe.
9/10