Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, had some cool ideas coming into the film, but due to a weak back story, and poor execution of the characters and script, this film ended up being decently boring compared to some of the other films we've seen in phase one. Branagh brought his Shakespearian style to Thor, that worked for better and for worse. He utilized a few decent sweeping scenery shots, but the over abundance of dutch angles, really threw me off. Just like most of the other phase one films, Thor had some production issues, hiring, firing, and rehiring castings, while swapping through directors like it was going out of style. After all the smoke was cleared, they casted great talent, and a good director.

Thor had a good amount of potential to be at least decent, but it simply felt like another set up film. With such a poor fish out of water story, the expositions were left underdeveloped and dry, while the tones are completely uneven. The first half hour is pretty good, seeming to be setting up for something interesting, but come the rest of the eighty minutes, it dragged at such a slow pace, relying on the characters to drive the film, and that just didn't work in this application.

From a stand-alone film prospective, Thor probably has the most talented cast, selected by Sarah Finn and Randi Hiller; all the team needed to do was make a good script, to compliment the characters, and they couldn't do it. Most of these characters are pretty disposable, lacking charm, wit, humor, and overall likability. Chris Hemsworth seems like he was made for this role. At first, he was denied the role of Thor, but he tried out again, and solidified his casting. Hemsworth does bring a lot of charm and good comedic timing to the character, but he can overcook it at times, making Thor a little more over the top than usual. With such a powerful hero, it's hard to make a solo film for him because he is just so strong, that the risks just won't be there, and that's the risk Kenneth Branagh wanted to take, and it didn't quite pay off. Branagh tried to give him a character arch, but it was just so cliché, setting up for a predictable third act. Natalie Portman is such a talented actress, but she is one of the worst love intrests of the MCU, solely because the relationship with Thor is so laughably forced and underdeveloped. Her character is just so boring, I couldn't invest myself into her. Tom Hiddleston puts on the best performance of the film, as Loki, having a good motive, and great emotional connection with Thor. He sold all of his emotions seamlessly, making everything he did and say, feel genuine. I was honestly pretty excited to hear that Anthony Hopkins was going to be in this film, not just as a side character, but as Odin! Other than him trying his best, with great delivery, he basically just hung around the whole time, while Thor and Loki got all the best lines.

The action really wasn't all that present, nor memorable at that. The only halfway decent action sequence there was, was the first battle; other than that, the action was just ehh, being a massive downfall considering the power of Thor.

The film has a pretty weird production scale. Asgard was ginormous, with all these vibrant colors that pop all over the screen, but when it came to when they were on earth, the small town looked way too much like a movie set, being so dull and boring.

Overall, it's like salt in an open wound to say that I didn't really like this movie. It had it's moments here and there, but there was nothing that stood out to make this film stand out on it's own, and hold it's value.