Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Colme Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comic
Rating: B+
Many years ago a bitter war was fought between the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and the warriors of Asgard, over the future of the nine realms which the Asgardians protect. Now, in the present, the king of Asgard, Odin (Hopkins), is preparing to adbicate his throne in favour of his son, Thor (Hemsworth). Before he can do so, however, Frost Giants attack Asgard in order to retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters, the source of their power, from the Asgardians. In retaliation, Thor decides to lead an attack on the Frost Giants, accompanied by his brother Loki (Hiddleston), their childhood friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three, Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Joshua Dallas), and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano). The battle destroys the truce between the two races, and Odin must interfere in order to save the Asgardians. As punishment, he strips Thor of his powers and exiles him to Earth, although he sends Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, as well, so that if and when Thor is worthy he can pick it up. On Earth, Thor is found by astrophysicist Jane Foster (Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Dennings), and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Skarsgård). His hammer, however, is found by the local populace, and eventually attracts the attention of S.H.E.I.L.D. Thor must find his hammer and return to Asgard, before the Frost Giants can take over.
This was a fun movie, as all the Marvel Cinemetic Universe films tend to be. Thor is, in my opinion, absolutely amazing and clearly worthy of a standalone series - which is something that Marvel seems to struggle in distinguishing at times. A lot of the Avengers are great, and most of them deserve their own opportunity to shine in the sun, but some don't. Going into this film, I wasn't really sure about whether I thought Thor was one of those shining characters or not and I really questioned just how he fit into the greater scheme of the universe already established by characters like Iron Man and The Hulk. In the end, however, I think he really fit well and did a great job of adding to the feel of this series.
The other thing that really worked was Loki. The two most important characters in this film are the brothers (no offense to love interest Natalie Portman), and they really mesh well. They both go through transitions in this film and I love how you see where they come from and where they end up. Part of me would have liked a bit more back story to Loki - it feels almost like he starts this film a few steps ahead of the rest of us, and we're all left trying to catch up (although, Thor does take very big steps). As for the Thor/Jane relationship... I love how it kind of sneaks up on both of them, even if the audience is completely expecting it the entire time. Thor has to change in order to be the man for Jane, and it is this change that makes him the man that he needs to be in order to be the god that his father wants him to be. I'm really looking forward to how this relationship continues to develop in later films - I was actually rather disappointed that she didn't make an appearance in The Avengers, but I do see how it could have potentially taken away from that film. Either way, I really enjoyed this movie.
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