Best Marvel film, second best superhero film I've ever seen

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2011)

Marvel really have outdone themselves this time with their independent films, creating a mind-blowing motion picture with Thor, the Viking God of thunder, that I consider to be the best superhero film behind The Dark Knight I've ever seen. It's rare that I get this kind of excitement out of watching a film; it's even rarer that I go to see a film twice in the theatre, but Thor has brought about these phenomenons.
These are easily some of the greatest visuals if not the best visuals to date, and for me it trumped Avatar in the special effects department. Yeah, I said it. But it's so much more than just the spectacle that Avatar was (that's all Avatar was to me, Yeah I said it), the action is fantastic, the characters are endlessly entertaining (especially the Viking God on Earth) and both story and script are tight and well-paced, no slow points.
An interesting thing is that one of the things I really liked about Thor, but that possibly kept it from being even better, was it's focus of narrative. It is simply about a super-powered God finding his way, that's it. About as deep as it gets. And that's exactly what I love; you awe at the entertainment the characters, action and the thrill of experiencing it provide, without delving into extreme darkness or emotion that a lot films tend toward nowadays; the notion of 'gritty' and 'realistic'. This is why I compare it to the The Dark Knight; Nolan did the realistic thing extremely well to great success, yet Thor is the opposite - a completely outlandish tale involving Gods and magic that, although while dealing with some of Thor's personal problems, never goes too deep, that keeps you entertained, not shocked or moved.
You'll know the best part in this film when you see it, and it just childishly excites to a level that I have never felt with any of the previous Marvel films. My favourite Marvel film was Iron Man, but this makes Iron Man look dated.
Overall I highly, highly recommend this film and if you haven't seen it yet, DO. ASAP. AND THEN BUY IT ON BLU-RAY.