Flashback: MCU Edition: Thor (2011)

     Hey, guys welcome back to Flashback: MCU Edition. Today we’re talking about the original 2011 Thor also known as the most underrated Marvel film. Thor was a risk back then: sure audiences accepted Iron Man, but he was still grounded in reality. No one knew if audiences would accept a literal Norse God. Well, the film was a critical hit and an audience one and pushed the MCU even farther forward. So let’s look back on Thor.

  So when I hit play tonight to re-watch this movie I was nervous I know while most people like this movie it’s not considered one of the best films in the universe either. For the first eight minutes, I was getting concerned, I was not enjoying the exposition at all. Thankfully, from the scene where Thor is about to get crowned King, it became the film I remembered, a film I loved. Chris Hemsworth is another example of Marvel’s pitch-perfect casting. Like Downey Jr., I cannot picture anyone else in the role. While they evolved his character over time, I still love his portrayal here. Anthony Hopkins is a good Odin he is such a talented actor that he sells the material well even if you can tell he doesn’t care much. Idris Elba is also great, but despite having one of my favorite moments in the film, never gets too much to do. Clark Gregg returns as Coulson, but he is a cameo here compared to the Iron Man films. Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kat Dennings all do well in their roles. Portman has fantastic chemistry with Hemsworth, but her character doesn’t get much development. Skarsgard and Dennings have good comedic beats, but nothing more. The star of this movie is the introduction of the fan-favorite Loki played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston. He is one of the best castings ever in Hollywood, minutes into his screen time you love and hate him at the same time. 

  Kenneth Branagh directs the movie like it’s Shakespeare. It works well with the tone of the film though if this is your first time through the constant Dutch angles can be distracting. Over time, I’ve found that they work with the style. I also can understand how some people can be off-put by the tonal shifts between Shakspeare and fish out of water story, but it works great for me. The script is fairly lite on action sequences and to be honest it doesn’t bother me at all. While the action that is there is thrilling and fun but it comes more from the characters than the fights themselves. The humor is also my favorite in the MCU up to this point. Almost every one-liner gets at least a chuckle out of me with the majority getting laughs. At 115 minutes, once you get past the opening exposition the film flies by but also knows when to slow down for the right moments. The visual effects are already a little dated, but the designs are so strong I can get past that.

  Now for the post-credits sequence, arguably the most important one so far. They show us Selvig being recruited by Fury to help with a mysterious blue cube that we now know to be the Tesseract. We also get the revelation that Loki survived his fall and that he influences Selvig. I remember sitting in the theater back in 2011 and the whole theater sat shocked as it felt like the Avengers were coming. 

  Overall, I love this movie despite my few nitpicks especially with the opening. You can make an argument that Iron Man is the best MCU film up to this point, but for me, it’s this movie. The mix of character, humor, and just enough action and introducing one of the universe’s greatest characters with Loki pushes this over the edge for me. So guys that it for this Flashback: MCU Edition. Next time we’ll be covering Captain America: The First Avenger.