I'm now even more excited for Captain America and The Avengers!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2011)

Thor is a bit of a harder sell as far as comic book characters go. I mean, how do you transform an ancient Norse god and 60's comic book character into something a modern movie going audience is going to like? Start with great casting (Chris Hemsworth is a dead ringer for Thor), add a brilliant screenplay by J. Michael Strazynski, and mix it with top notch special effects and you end up with a movie that is halfway believable (in a comic book way) and very entertaining.
Thor is an arrogant, perhaps spoiled, young warrior that seeks glory for himself and Asgard but nearly reignites an ancient war with the Frost Giants in the process. For his arrogance and poor judgement, Thor is stripped of his power and banished to Earth by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and his hammer lands in New Mexico and becomes something akin to the sword in the stone of Arthurian legend, "Whoever holds this hammer, should they be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor". All of this is a result of the subtle manipulations of Thor's evil brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who seeks power only for himself. Throughout most of the film Loki works from the shadows to manipulate people and events towards an end of his design, as only the trickster god can do. Thor must then work to reclaim his power and stop his brother's machinations, gaining some wisdom and humility along the way.
There is really very little to dislike about the film, other than a couple of minor casting decisions, Hogun, one of the famed warriors three, is apparently Asian for some reason, and Heimdall is black. Both choices seem odd for Norse gods but it doesn't really harm the movie, they just seem out of place. I would have liked to see Thor get beat up a bit more in the final two fight scenes with The Destroyer and Loki as both were relatively short and could have benefited from a couple of extra minutes. Overall Thor is a very fun, very entertaining comic book movie that only heightens my anticipation for the upcoming Captain America and Avengers movies.