It Gets Better Every Time

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2015)

It really does get better every time. I can say that because I didn't much care for this movie when I saw it in the theater, but after having seen it for maybe the fourth time over the weekend, I'm now prepared to give this film 9/10 stars. Here's why:
The problem with Thor, as a movie, as a comic book, and as a character in general--is that it's Thor. He's at one and the same time a great character that does have a legendary mythical story to his name, and yet the issue is that his story is so removed from the genus of superheroes that are most common and that so many of us are most comfortable with. There's nothing wrong with that, per say, but Batman, Daredevil, Spider-man, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, etc, etc, all have the advantage that their stories take place in the world we know. Even Superman is set on earth, albeit with an out-of-this-world origin, but the extra-terrestrial origin of Superman or other alien sci-fi heroes is yet a different sort of tale than Thor's.
Thor is, literally, a mythical god. He comes from Asgard, and his father is Odin--just like in the Norse myths. That's the first thing that makes him stand out as a character. But then he gets thrust into adventures on earth, and his destiny becomes wrapped up with the earth. Add in the fact that Marvel then constructs a unique origin story so that Thor and his ilk are actually just a race of aliens, but who happen to have magical powers and weaponry that equate to those of the Norse gods, and the final product, in my view, is a jumbled up mess of a storyline.
In other words, I have a pre-existing prejudice against Thor. I think he's great as a character in his own right, but when it comes to actually reading his comics, I'm not a big fan. And that distaste carried over into the movie for me the first time I saw it. It was hard for me to get into the Frost Giants storyline, and I felt like the whole Asgard thing was perhaps as well done as it could possibly be, but nevertheless couldn't escape the hokiness of the Thor franchise.
But, as I said above, the movie does grow on you the more you watch it, and in my particular case the repetition has warmed my heart to the Thunder God, and more precisely to this film. The truth is that once I got past my prejudices, the film itself is an outstanding addition to Marvel's MCU canon, and I can't really say too much negative about the film. The final showdown with Loki still sort of wreaks of the 1980's "He-Man" film a bit for me, but aside from that the movie is a well made, top notch production.
Of course, nothing could be as good as that 1960's animated "Thor" pilot. Google it. You'll thank me.