Great. Could have easily been screwed, but exceeded expectations.

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2011)

Thor is a weird character even in the Marvel comic universe, he feels a little out of place compared to the super science of the X-Men, FF, Spiderman and others. Yet, comic fans been attracted to this weird tale of Gods and Monsters since the 1960s. Marvel made great decisions with the director, cast and production. Kenneth Baranaugh creates Asgard as though it was ripped from Hamlet or King Henry V with a sense of wonderment of olden times. Chris Hemmolth is awesome as Thor. As dead on RDJ was Tony Stark, Chris nails Thor which is a much harder role then being a drunk jackass in a metal suit. Hopkins as Odin is a real treat as well.
The story does a great job of laying the foundation of the Norse myth with Frost Giants, Loki, the Casket of Winter and the rest of the gods. I loved how they made Thor, the cocky warrior and didn't hold back on how much of spoiled brat he was. Kenneth did a smart move of giving Loki a decent story as well. Instead of being evil upfront, Loki just wanted to ruin Thor's day and through that action realizes he is a monster. All the stuff in Asgard with the Three Warriors and Sif give the movie a good scope.
I have heard people complain about the Earth scenes. I disagree to a point, the love story is a bit weak, but they usually are in these movies. Superman, Spiderman and to some extent Iron Man series are really the only ones to nail the love story. It does as Kevin Smith point out that Jane is just lusting for Thor and his hammer. Thor fighting Shield was great as was the Hawkeye cameo. The humans interacting with Thor was fun which the movie needed to be. I also disagree with the assessment Thor's redemption was quick. Thor's redemption starts with Loki lying about Odin's death that breaks him. Its a subtle bit which most audience would miss. Plus, he was willing sacrifice his life when he had no way of knowing he would be brought to life. So, I am OK with the redemption story.
The end was a nice touch of destroying the Rainbow bridge. I did not see that coming at all consideirng how important it is in the comics. As good as the end was, the after credit scene was balls. Fury with the briefcase was a nice nod to Pulp Fiction as well as nice Usual Suspects ending of Loki maybe being the human doctor all along. This was a great start for the summer and what I thought would be the giant speed bump for Avengers has turned out to be more gas on the pedal. Bring on Cap and GL.