The Single Biggest Mistake Each MCU Film And TV Show Has Made

37. Thor - Bland Action Scenes

Avengers Endgame Thor
Marvel Studios

Superhero films dabble in and borrow from many, many different genres, but at the end of the day, they are (usually) examples of action cinema, and therefore it's important to get the action right. This was the main reason why 2011's Thor, the not-particularly-good fourth film in the MCU, didn't work overall.

There are other issues with the movie, such as the annoying side characters and awful love story, but those issues would've been a lot easier to forgive had this also offered up some fun spectacle in the bargain, yet the film offers absolutely none of that. There isn't a single truly good action scene in Thor and this is why the film has such a bland, vanilla vibe. Put it this way: it's hard to imagine many people revisiting it outside of MCU marathons.

It's a shame, as Thor does have two great lead performances from Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, impressive direction from Kenneth Branagh, and Thor's character journey actually works, so there was some really good material in this one. Had the film done better on the action front, it's very likely this would've been seen as a solid mid-tier MCU offering, rather than as one of the weaker ones.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.