Pride comes before a fall

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2016)

After Marvel Studios had great success in bringing Iron Man, a character perceived to be only popular in the comics, to the big screen, they began working on other solo hero projects with the overall aim to produce The Avengers; the first time a movie would be made using multiple characters from individual movies to share one universe
Thor is another one of Marvel's lesser-known characters outside the comic-books, compared to the likes of Spider-Man and Wolverine. Based loosely on the Norse legends, which are referenced in the movie as being inspired by the fictional Asgardian race, which is a nice bit of confusing 'chicken and the egg' theorem. Thor lives in Asgard with his father, Odin and brother, Loki, and acts as protectors of the nine realms across more insidious races such as the Frost Giants, but when the fragile truce between the Asgardians and Frost Giants of Jotunheim is threatened by Thor's strong-minded techniques, the Asgardian prince is banished to Midgard, better known to me and you as Earth.
I was unsure whether I would like the Norse mythology aspects to the story, but the film manages to make it seem convincing by portraying the Asgardians as otherworldly gods that inhabit another 'realm' as opposed to being spiritual. The mixture of magic and technology that is showcased in the frankly stunning CGI city of Asgard helps us identify with the characters and grounds them nicely into our world, explaining that the more primitive humans in the past had to explain their technology away as being Gods, which created our myths and legends.
The action scenes were very entertaining, and there was a healthy sense of humour to the proceedings too, which made the film very enjoyable. The 'fish out of water' scenes with Thor on Earth were handled well, but it was the sequences on Asgard that were the most visually and dramatically stunning. While I understand that the film needed to be set on Earth to both help the audience identify with the storyline, and secondly set up the forthcoming Avengers film, I do wish there had been more sequences in the fantastical Asgardian worlds. Perhaps a sequel would explore this area more, since it is something seldom shown in comic-book movies, which are so determined to set things in 'our universe'.
The cast is really strong, with great performances from Chris Hemsworth (Thor) who manages to start the film as brash and impatient, but evolves into a charming and thoughtful character. I also liked the calculating and sly Loki, played by Tom Middleston, who is so subtle in his performance that those watching the film unaware of the characters histories would not expect him to change allegiances throughout the movie. He also plays Loki much more complicated than I would have expected.
As a relatively novice to Thor (but not to comics), I really enjoyed this and found that it didn't require any prior knowledge from the comics, as it explained all of the characters well, and their relationship with each other. The robotic villain known as The Destroyer was actually quite threatening, despite looking too similar to Iron Man (something that is poked fun at in the dialogue, when The Destroyer first appears) and the Ice Giants didn't look quite as visually interesting as they could have been, so for any sequels, I would appreciate more varied designs for the enemies drawing on the fantastical elements of Thor's mythology once more.