Entertaining to watch, mostly for the novelty of an ancient god being ejected into modern day life.

Rating: Null/10 (28 September 2011)

After I see a movie I usually read a few professional reviews, to see what they saw vs what I got out of the viewing experience. I was particularly struck by the very poor review the critic Ebert wrote. While I don't always agree with him, I find his reviews are usually fair and balanced.
So I thought more about it, and eventually came closer to his points. There really isn't much of a story here. The god Odin is getting up in years and Thor is his natural successor. But Thor is arrogant, and seems to want to fight instead of seeking peace. (Did George Bush the Younger model his behavior after Thor?)
So Odin jettisons Thor to Earth, were he is discovered by a small group of scientists studying extraterrestrial phenomena. But Thor's hammer, which makes him mighty, was sent down nearby, and is now in a crater but nobody, even Thor, can dislodge it. Because he has to become humble first. This he will do by falling in love with the pretty, young scientist.
I enjoyed the movie, it was fun to see how Thor coped with his new environment. But in the end it is not that great of a movie, just a fun one to watch.
Chris Hemsworth is in fine form as Thor. The young scientist is Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. Thor's brother, with some secrets, is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Their dad is Anthony Hopkins as Odin. But my favorite is Idris Elba as Heimdall, the Gatekeeper, who allows or restricts passage to the different realms.