Behold the Mighty Start of the Summer!

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2011)

Thor was the Marvel property that, at first blush, I thought was a dumb idea to make into a movie. A Norse God becomes a superhero? To a novice comic follower like myself, it sounded ridiculous. But what do you know? Marvel Studios shut me up again like when they released the first Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk reboot. Behold the mighty Thor in all his glory!
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is an arrogant warrior from beyond the stars trying to prove himself to his wise father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in their home realm of Asgard. Thor and his band of warriors assault a realm filled with ice giants (just go with it, it totally works) after a few giants infiltrated Asgard to steal a powerful weapon. For Thor's brazen foolishness, he is banished by Odin to the realm of Earth and stripped of his godlike powers. When Thor slams down to Earth, he is greeted by young astronomer, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who has questions of her own of the stars. But Thor's brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has some dark plans now that Thor is exiled from Asgard.
The plot's a little complex, but it's easier to see on the big screen. The film is split between telling the epic and chaotic war on Asgard and the classic fish-out-of-water story on Earth. Some people (comic fanboys) were concerned that the whole film would be focused on the Earth side story, which is not at all the case. The goofy Earth stuff you see in the trailer is all there, but surprisingly, that's all there was to the goofiness. A good portion of the film is dedicated to Thor getting back his powers and learning humility while his time on Earth. Thanks in no small part to Natalie Portman, but if you were getting checked out by someone like her you'd be damn sure to reform any of your character flaws.
From this setup, Kenneth Branagh directs his actors to say Shakespearean-like dialogue with such gusto that it almost seems believable. When Thor is speaking in such a way in Asgard, you never laugh because his and others dialogue feels natural in this setting. It's when he arrives on Earth that Thor's mannerisms and speech become funny, but that's how it usually seemed to me in the shows I've seen with Thor. All the actors turn in solid performances with a great script that manages to balance humor and adventure into a nice package.
Then there's the action and wow does it work. Branagh, who's only versed in directing Shakespearean films, shows a little knack for making epic fight sequences between Thor and his various enemies. They feel immense and awe-inspiring, with the computer-generated images never bothering you for a second. Everything just feels right and amazing. You want to see a fun, summer adventure film? You'll find it right here.
My only complaints are small ones. The beginning dragged a bit for the first ten minutes, but when it picks up, it gets going to the very end. The other problem I had was with Loki. While Tom Hiddleston does a fine job with what he's given, Loki never feels like a great threat to Thor. While I'm happy to see they gave some dimension to his character by giving him valid reasons for his actions, he still comes across as a sniveling weasel. For setting up Thor's origin story, he works, but I'm left wanting more from the villain department.
So is Thor worth checking out? That's a resounding, thunderous yes. It's an epic adventure with the right amount of humor and pathos to make this an entertaining summer blockbuster. What's more, it paves the way for the larger-than-life Avengers film coming next summer and shows that no hero under Marvel's control is not good enough for the big screen. Watch it and enjoy the beginning the summer.