After seeing this movie a handfull of times, I decided to give my review.
Thor, to put it simply, was incredible. This was a difficult movie to make, but I think Branagh pulled it off nearly flawlessly. Most of us were expecting a good movie but I don't think any of us expected to see a movie that was as good as the likes of Iron Man, Spider-Man, and yes, Batman. Hats off to Branagh and Marvel for giving us one of the more unique, big-budget blockbusters in recent memory. I won't say it's Lord of the Rings, but the fun I had watching this movie brought back memories of those movies.
Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins were brilliant in this movie. I don't think I am saying anything that hasn't been said but Hemsworth and Hiddleston are destined to become stars after this movie. Chris Hemsworth is funny, charming, the ladies love him, and he is good actor. I think he has a bright future, just like the other big actors out of Australia---Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson. Let's just hope that Chris doesn't go bats--t like Mel.
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I thought that he was as good as Thor was RDJ is Tony Stark, Reeve as Superman, and Heath Ledger was the Joker. He owned every scene he was in. The audience loved him. Hiddleston was also really great as Loki. I really thought his transformation from 'good' guy to villain was also well done. He really seemed to go 'full Loki' at the end of the movie and I thought it was a nice set up for being in the Avengers. Initially, I was kind of thinking Loki would be boring in the Avengers but now I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve. That final scene on the Bifrost Bridge was well done. The fight between the two was one of the best in a Marvel movie in my opinion. I liked the little things like Loki splitting into numerous holograms laughing, his spin kick, his crazy/angry voice at the end, and being completely held down by Mjolnir. Dare I say he is the Heath Ledger Joker of the Marvel Universe? And of course Anthony Hopkins was great. Great chemistry all around in the Odin family and hopefully he returns for a sequel!
The other characters in the movie were really good too. Wasn't expecting much out of Portman (from some of the reviews), but I thought she was great. Skarsgard was also really good in the movie and glad he is back for Avengers. Dennings was what I expected as comic relief, the crowd seemed to really enjoy her lines! Coulsen was good. As for the Warriors Three/Sif, they weren't in the movie that much but I really enjoyed the scenes they were in. I haven't heard much talk about him but I thought Joshua Dallas did a great job. Fandral was one of my favorite characters in the movie. I got a kick out his Errol Flynn, swashbuckling fighting style. Hopefully we get to see alot more of him and the others in a Thor sequel. Sif was better than I thought too. Another character that isn't getting too much buzz is Colm Feore as Laufey. The Frost Giants were awesome and I thought he did a great job playing a cool (no pun intended), collected monster biding his time. He was good in the same was as Faran Tahir's Raza in Iron Man 1. Not alot of buzz but both played memorable (in my opinion), menacing villains. Also liked Idris Elba as Heimdall. The one downside of the movie is they had all these great characters but not enough time to give them more scenes. Which is understandable.
The action was great, the story was simple but really enjoyable (as it should be for Thor), and the soundtrack was amazing. I haven't heard much buzz about that either but I thought it was one of the best. The songs at the beginning, the scene with Thor/Jane on the roof, and at the end were really nice. Hopefully this score is nominated for an Oscar but I doubt it will be. It wasn't as iconic as Batman but it was good in a similar fashion as Michael Giacchino's score was for Star Trek.
All that being said, this movie is for sure 9/10. The haters and American contrarians can frankly piss off. Anybody who says this is a bad movie not only lacks a brain but probally should see if they have a heart--because it doesn't sound like they have a pulse. Sadly, some people think they have to trash fun, popcorn movies to somehow prove they are real critics. Glad to see that some of the best critics in the business gave this high marks though. I knew that Thor would be a tough sell basically on it's name alone. It would never get a fair shake from the majority of critics because of that. It would be like somebody making a really good He-Man or Tarzan movie. The way I look at it, just think of Batman Begins. Just an awesome movie that got alot of hate (look at it's joke of a rating on RT) because it was a Batman movie when Batman wasn't cool.
I can't believe I saying this, but I am as excited about Thor 2 as I am Iron Man 3, Captain America, TDKR, and The Avengers. The world they built with Asgard and Jotunheim (which looked fantastic) has me really pumped for more Thor adventures with his allies in the other realms. Like I said, Thor isn't Lord of the Rings (nothing ever will be), but I think it's the next best thing. There are so many possibilities with a Thor franchise. I will say the same thing about Green Lantern. Both these movies are exciting because they feel bigger than the real world constraints of Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Batman.
