Review of Thor (2011) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is an action adventure film with obvious fantasy (in a mythological, almost science fiction sense) elements presents. It covers themes including father and son relationship and betrayal.

The first half an hour or so is set in the 'realm' or other world and I felt less bothered or interested in it during these scenes as everything just looked so clearly artificial. For me it was when Thor was sent to Earth and forced to get the help of humans, that it really started to interest me. There were definitely some awkward scenes with Thor, finding himself unsure of his surroundings and acting unsurprisingly peculiar to the eyes of onlookers and I found those scenes quite amusing. Of course the plot is somewhat ludicrous but to me it was a mostly enjoyable watch, a bit of fun. I felt that there were some quite impressive special effects used - the visuals are quite good (explosions etc.), with bright lights, fast paced scenes, and plenty to keep you watching. The camerawork is quite good too, with various angles used and quick cutting between them, meaning that it doesn't get especially boring (in terms of looking too bland or stale) while characters are in discussion.

Cast wise, Chris Hemsworth plays the title role of Thor - he very much looks the part in as much as he sounds quite reverential and looks to have a steely, determined expression on his face for most of the film. Jane Foster is portrayed by Natalie Portman, who plays a fairly typical somewhat air-headed young American adolescent. She seems quite excited by the prospect of finding some proof that things science say aren't real, are. She seemed pretty believable in her role. Anthony Hopkins plays Thors father, Odin, an aged yet wise man who clearly has learnt a lot in his time. I thought Hopkins role was particularly good and he was well suited to it. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki, Thors brother.I also thought he was well cast as he seemed very much to be enjoying playing the role of the somewhat meddling brother, who always has something to say and another way of seeing things. Other cast members include Clark Gregg as agent Coulson, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Ray Stevenson as Vostagg and Jaimie Alexander as Sif.

Yes this film is a bit silly and it does take itself seriously but I thought it was an entertaining watch. I'm no massive fan of Marvel comics per se but I can enjoy some film adaptations if made with good quality effects, cast and scripting. The effects and cast were all quite high quality and the camerawork was good too. The characterisation wasn't too bad either.

Content wise, this film contains some mild sex references and partial nudity (such as scenes in which Thor is topless). There is violence present, although it isn't particularly bloody, if anything its more comic in style, with people, or beings, attacked by blades and hammers. There are some scenes which may be relatively frightening to young children, with the music played in the background and the effects used making it clear that things are perilous, although nothing graphic is shown. Language wise, some fairly mild profanities are used but again nothing very explicit. The film has a 12a rating to reflect this content.

There is undeniably an amount of cheese present and I felt that, if anything, in one or two parts it was a bit too over the top, with loud booming/looming orchestral music pieces played, characters trying desperately to out wit one another with potentially worrying outcomes and the sense of doom is over done in my opinion but I did think that overall it was an adequately entertaining film, which was certainly mildly immersive and had its funny moments too.

Yes I'd recommend this as an entertaining watch. It features a good cast, some decent characterisation, good special effects and decent camerawork, although it is definitely relatively cheesy in parts and a bit over the top. I enjoyed it in any case and I'm not always keen on such types of film.