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Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2013)

"I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!" – Loki
Marvel: Phase One is hurtling along the Bifrost (Norse Rainbow Road) at break-neck speed towards the eagerly awaited Avengers Assemble. Hold on a second though, as we're still missing a character: the God of Thunder, Thor son of Odin. With Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk's backgrounds already covered, Thor was the final major Avenger to appear on screen, and, similar to Black Widow's incorporation into Iron Man 2, we are introduced to the complete Avengers line-up by the end of Thor, as Clint Barton (Hawkeye) features in a small role as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Onto the small task of giving Thor a strong foothold then; Kenneth Branagh was arguably given the most arduous pre-Avenger movie to direct, having to create a story spanning across several worlds. Whilst it doesn't stand up to Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Thor is a decent enough film in its own right, greatly helped along the way by a strong cast.
Having disobeyed his father, King Odin (Hopkins), Thor (Hemsworth) is banished to Earth from his home realm of Asgard on war-mongering treason counts. Little brother Loki (Hiddlestone) becomes the de-facto heir to the throne. Whilst Thor tries to adjust to his human body and lifestyle, he meets an enchanting young scientist, Jane Foster (Portman), and gradually learns to quell his rash judgemental character. However, Loki has been secretly spinning a web to ensnare his extremely gullible blonde-haired brother, hatching a plot to wreak chaos wherever he possibly can.
Positives first: Kenneth Branagh did a very good job directing this film. He successfully got the best he could out of his actors. Hemsworth is commanding, loud, and has a perfect grasp of the term "fool-hardy". He shares a workable chemistry with Portman (some awkward moments, but nothing drastic), and plays extremely well off of the brilliant Hiddlestone. The two on screen brothers have an essence of polar opposition; one a devious, sincere and resolute thinker with patience in abundance, the other a foolish, brutalising warrior with a thirst for blood and glory. I'd like to have seen more of their relationship explored though, especially with their father. The supporting cast are also largely accomplished, Skarsgard, Hopkins and Elba in particular. Unfortunately I have to harshly critique both the character of Darcy and her portrayer, Kat Dennings. Pointless. She should never have been written into the film in the first place and genuinely ruined every scene she was in by being generally annoying and interrupting of any positivity taking place. Thor's crew were also fairly weak, and were merely there to serve a purpose of providing him an ally, nothing more, nothing less.
Storywise, Thor started very strongly; the mythical Lord of the Rings feel to the opening, and the exploration of Asgardian culture was all excellent, the visuals are mind-boggling to boot. The tone suggested at this point that Thor would be a sincere epic, detached from the general quirky Marvel superhero film feel. Enter Earth, and things change drastically. A let down at first, Thor's experiences on Earth are rife with comic relief, less in-your-face than Iron Man, but also less natural to the script. However, as the story develops, you begin to appreciate the change in tone between the two worlds as a representation of cultural differences. Branagh handles directing this complicated matter competently, but the story jumps around a bit too much to allow you to do the same (something I would suggest had something to do with the large number of writers). Along with a few questionable plot points (Loki knowing what Earthlings wear when he manifests himself onto the planet, Thor's regaining his powers from his comatose father's tear), the ending was fairly weak. Loki was beaten far too easily, and his story wasn't concluded properly, undeserving after a strong performance. The whole thing also felt a little rushed, possibly because the premise was to introduce Thor's background and set up his place in Avengers Assemble.
Thor is a mixed bag with regard to music. Asgard is littered with grandiose and majestic passages of music that would grace much more artistic films, and are befitting of the fantastic CGI scenery they are accompanying. However, Patrick Doyle is forced to work with the jagged tone of the film, and had to sacrifice building on the epic Asgardian themes for something more fitting with a general superhero score on planet Earth: piano for the romantic moments, standard percussion heavy action music for combat scenes, and so on.
Overall, Thor is an enjoyable film. You're not going to watch it if you're looking for something you have to immerse yourself within. It plays out exactly as a standard popcorn movie does: good guy versus bad guy, pretty, independent girl who suddenly is overcome by burly protagonist's masculinity etc. Where Thor excels beyond mediocrity is through its strong cast (Hiddlestone in particular), unbelievably stunning visuals (Asgard just blew me away) and a lack of reliance on action scenes to fill out the running time. It does, however, suffer from distinct changes in tone and disjointed plot elements, and a feeling of being three quarters finished due to the big rush towards Avengers Assemble.