Thor: The God Among Us

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2013)

I really enjoyed watching 'Thor' and thought it was an appealing film. I can't think of anybody better to have played Thor than Chris Hemsworth, I truly thought he fitted the role perfectly. In addition, Tom Hiddleston's performance as Loki was outstanding and I just love Natalie Portman, so the movie was quite compelling right from the beginning for me.
Firstly, I really appreciated that Loki wasn't the antagonist throughout the whole film. His character was particularly relatable because his underlying motives were to prove himself worthy to his father whilst Thor was receiving all the attention. Despite Thor's arrogant, reckless nature at the beginning of the film, Loki still ventured with him to Jotunhelm, exemplifying their reputable relationship with one another. Their relationship really is similar and relatable to anyone who has a brother, just theirs is in the context of being Gods who live in another dimension, but the message is still noticeable regardless of the circumstances.
I thought the humour was embedded nicely and it didn't feel as if it was forced, which gave the film an appreciated light-heartened feel at times. In addition, when Thor was first banished from Asgard and arrived on Earth, it was so amusing to watch him adapt to the culture on Earth and that by the end of the film it was really evident that his character had grown and became more dignified.
From a more critical perspective, I really wanted to see more action/fighting scenes with Thor. Primarily I'm satisfied with the balance between the amount of action to dialogue in the film, but the fact that Thor is just so powerful sees the demise of his opponents too quickly. For example, at the beginning when Loki, Thor and his companions travel to Jotunhelm to confront King Laufey, Thor kills that humungous troll monster in one hit by merely flying though his mouth. I was expecting an intense, epic battle, not just a one hit kill. Furthermore, when Thor regains his powers on Earth and protects everyone from The Destroyer, he takes about 30 seconds to kill him. I know it's all meant to portray how dominant, powerful and strong Thor is, but come on, the battle scenes could have lasted a little longer. Nonetheless, it was still a very fulfilling scene to watch Thor dominate his opponents.
In essence, I enjoyed watching this movie a lot. I thought the characters were flawless and the development within the characters themselves, mainly Thor, was very satisfying to see. The humour was embedded well and didn't seem forced, which I enjoyed, and I really appreciated that they didn't portray Loki as some heartless, pitiless antagonist. There was a considerable amount of time watching his character develop and because of this you felt some sympathy in the end for him, well, at least I did and I genuinely appreciated this. In so many films the 'bad guy' is always portrayed as someone so evil the viewer just wants him dead, and I'm truly glad that Loki was different. Despite the unfortunately short action scenes, there is still a good ratio of action to dialogue within the film and I cannot wait to watch the sequel 'Thor: The Dark World'.