Thor was yet another Marvel film that was stuck in development hell. Originally meant to be a made-for-TV movie for UPN, Sony eventually bought the film rights. Through more legal shenanigans, the rights to make the film ended up with Marvel, while Sony got the distribution rights. After trying for years to find a director and a script writer, eventually the story was written by Mark Protosevich and J. Michael Straczynski, who had a successful run writing for both Thor and Spider-Man, in addition to being the creator of Babylon 5. The script itself was written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne. Knowing that they needed a director who could capture the Shakespearean elements of the story, Kenneth Branagh was finally approached to direct, and the pre-production work was over. Now all that was needed was the cast.
After a failed audition, Chris Hemsworth was called back to read again, at was eventually given the part of Thor. For the part of Loki, Branagh brought in Tom Hiddleston, whom he had worked with before. Eventually Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Jamie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Joshua Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Colm Feore, and Idris Elba were cast as main and supporting characters. Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg were brought on to reprise their roles as Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, and the filming began.
When creating the effects for the Bifrost Bridge, many of the visuals took inspiration from pictures from the Hubble telescope. These effects were worked on by BUF Compagnie and Digital Domain. While the film was filmed in regular 2-D, the effects were shot with 3-D in mind, a format Branagh believed would be to the movie's benefit. The Frost Giants were created through Motion Capture CGI.
The film was released on May 6, 2011. While the box office score wasn't out of the park, it was still very successful, and nearly tripled its $150 million budget, and currently holds fourth place among the MCU films for worldwide gross. Critically, it received mostly positive reviews, though some figures like Roger Ebert, and A.O. Scott disliked it. On Rotten Tomatoes it received a 77%, being hailed as a 'mighty Marvel achievement'. As for me?
Thor is a very different film from the Iron Man movies and The Incredible Hulk. The scope is enormous, stretching across three dimensions. However, one thing that makes it similar to its predecessors (except for Iron Man 2) is that the heart of the film is the main character's journey, and his relationship with the people around him. This is one of the reasons Branagh was an absolutely brilliant choice to direct because the family dynamic between Thor, Loki, and Odin is something that genuinely feels like it was plucked from a lost Shakespeare play. Their story is incredibly moving, as they go from close to strained, to all-out brawling with each other. The supporting cast does well too. Stellan Skarsgard is brilliant as Selvig, portraying a character who, while cautious and skeptical, is very likeable, and his viewpoint is easy to understand. Kat Dennings does a good job with the comic relief, though beyond that she has little to do in the film. Sif and the Warriors Three do what they can with what they have, but unfortunately they receive little screen time. However, the real show-stealer is Idris Elba as Heimdall, who makes every single scene count. In about six minutes of screen time, he turns in one of the most memorable performances of the movie. However, now the main characters need to be addressed. Starting with the most normal of the four, Natalie Portman does a fairly good job as Jane Foster, but for some reason. I can't help but feel she falls a little flat. Maybe it's the writing, maybe it's the acting, maybe it's the direction, I don't know. Something just doesn't sell me with her character. Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins, is yet another case of 'I make what little I'm in count' as he's the main cast member with the least screen time. Though we probably shouldn't be surprised that he does well, because, well, it's Anthony Hopkins. Tom Hiddleston knocks it out of the park as Loki, managing to turn an annoying, bratty twat of a villain from the source material into a genuinely sympathetic character. Sure, he may be doing things that are wrong, but you can understand where he comes from. This is part of what makes the final fight of the film so engaging. While as an action piece it's nothing we haven't seen before, it ripples with raw emotion. You're so engaged in both characters, you can't help but feel a sense of futility in the fight, that all this could've been avoided. However, this brings us to Thor. Chris Hemsworth brings his A-game, as Thor starts out the film brash and arrogant, yet still charming and likeable. You really get a sense for why he and the Warriors Three are such good friends. His growth as a person feels natural, and leaves us all the more engaged in the aforementioned final fight. Also, kudos to the writers for using the scene where Thor smashes the mug not only for comic relief, but also character development. As a character piece, this film is very solid. However, the romance between Foster and Thor felt a little forced, and it was definitely their scenes that were the low point of the movie. They weren't bad, there just wasn't much chemistry there. Where the film really works is Thor's relationship with Loki, and how it deteriorates over the course of the film. When I first saw it, I genuinely believed Loki when he said Odin was dead, and nearly bought into his ruse. He was a difficult one to predict, which is a very welcome change, considering the last several villains. The fight scenes were pretty good to, though sadly the first one is the highlight. The visual creativity behind Jotenheim was astounding, and definitely deserved an award. This really helped the fight, as it was clear that all of the budget and then some was on display. The Destroyer battle is powerful in it's representation of Thor's growth, but other than that it's nothing really special. The same can be said for the final battle with Loki, though the emotions ratchet up further. Overall, Thor was a success, even if it felt more like an epic fantasy than a super hero movie.
Trivia:
Stan Lee cameos as a truck driver trying to pull Thor's hammer out of the ditch.
Before the UPN movie, Sam Raimi approached studios with an idea for a Thor movie. They didn't get it, and subsequently rejected the notion.
Guillermo del Toro was in talks to direct, but backed down to work on The Hobbit.
Joshua Dallas, who played Fandral of the Warriors Three, was unable to return for Thor: The Dark World due to schedule conflicts. He will be replaced by Zachary Levi. Ironically, Levi was the original choice for the part, but also left for scheduling reasons. I love the twists and turns of life.
Samuel L. Jackson nearly didn't appear in the movie, though once again, negotiations ended up working out.
The post-credits scene with Dr. Selvig and Nick Fury discussing a cube that could potentially be an unlimited energy source was directed by Joss Whedon.
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