Review of Thor (2011) by Stefan G — 28 Jul 2015

A few years ago, I would have liked this film, and to be fair, it's not bad. I like that the film aims for a creative interpretation of the mythology and comic book that film is derived from. While the film's creative vision obviously has a lot of potential, much of it is chained to a typical comic book film narrative, and because the film focuses on Earth more than its nine realms (which I would really liked to have seen more of), the narrative often struggles with juggling good fantasy with bad sci-fi.

The characters are alright, backed by some mostly good performances, but all too often it seems like half the cast was populated by throwaway characters. Also, I find that the script tends to focus too much on Thor and Jane, perhaps as a consequence of the narrative spending too much time on Earth.

For me, the film could have done far better if it were set across all the nine realms as more of a mythological fantasy setting. The film certainly looks as though this could be accomplished, and the visuals were very well-done.

The battle at the first part of the film also shows a lot of promise, but the film as a whole is weighed down by a narrative that is zealously oriented towards the comic book formula. One could only imagine what might have been possible if the film was made with a different direction in mind.

If only Marvel didn't want yet another superpowered cash cow.