Borderline Good

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2019)

Thor is one of those movies that fuels film debates for me, because I cannot decide if it was good or bad.
On the good side, it's a very interesting take on a comic book movie. Kenneth Branagh does an excellent job of portraying the very Shakespearean relationship between Thor, Loki, and Odin. He also makes liberal use of dutch angles, which do evoke the comics somewhat. It's also quite fun to watch.
But the writing on this is terrible. The plot, really comes down to two things, the relationship between Thor, Loki, and Odin, and Thor needing to prove himself as king. If the whole movie was focused on that and not concerned with the love story or setting up The Avengers, it might have become great. Instead we get a crappy love story crammed between a more interesting one, that makes no sense, with two leads have absolutely zero chemistry.
I never once felt bad for Thor or felt like he was facing a credible threat like I did when watching other films in the Marvel series. Maybe it's me. He always felt a little too cartoony for me to take seriously.
That said the casting on this film was spot on. Anthony Hopkins is great as Odin, and Tom Hiddleston makes an excellent Loki. Although Marvel would redeem itself with its portrayal of Thor in later movies, for a first effort, this was a pretty terrible vehicle to introduce the character.