Thor (as a movie? Really?)

Okay, time for another review. I have to say that I was really worried about this one from the start. In comics Thor is a myth made real, the God of thunder, he's from another realm, and he talks funny.

To make this work as a movie, you'd think that it'd have to be completely focused on either Earth (with Thor being just another hero with a starnge origin) or Asgard (becoming very Clash of the Titans-ish). I was worried when I saw that the movie would actually be fairly split between the two realms. "Setting up the Asgard and its gods, telling an origin story, and its all going to mixed up with S.H.I.E.L.D.???" There's no way that could all fit into a two hour movie!

It can if you make them all relevant to each other.

Asgard is quickly set up as "the myths of the Norse gods were really about these guys from another realm. The Frost Giants are bad guys." It then goes on to introduce Thor and Loki as brothers (one of whom shall one day be king). Thor grows to be a proud warrior and Loki a trouble maker. So when the Frost Giants enter the palace during the announcement of Thor being the next king, he's more than a little upset. Thor goes off to get answers from the Giants and ends up starting a war between them and Asgard. Thus he is banished to Earth.

You'd think that the movie would get very boring with all this set up, but it doesn't. The characters, more than anything else, keep your attention as this all moves along. There's a lot of personality to them all.
And S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't slow things down much either. They just act as the scary men in black that are making things hard for everybody.

Lastly, I have to applaud Tom Hiddleston for his proformance as Loki. He was more than just a good villain, he was a great character! Loki's past can make him a fairly tragic villain and the problem with tragic villains is that you end up liking them in a small way becasue you feel sorry for them. "He's a good person underneath!" you might say. But Loki isn't. You do feel bad for him at many points in the movie, but "underneath it all" he's not a good person, he's a trouble maker! Its so sad when you see how much Thor loves his brother Loki, but you end up feeling bad for Thor and liking him more instead of feeling that way about Loki.
But don't think that Loki is nothing more than a bad guy. His character had layers to him. He doesn't think he's the bad guy, but he knows that what he's doing is wrong. Twisted, no?

Thor's change from arrogance to humility is a little fast, but they handled that well enough for a two hour movie. He's quickly humbled by the loss of his powers and the kindness his friends. By the end, you do see him as a hero. He accepts the fact that he will not be allow to Asgard and that it is probably better that way for everyone. And when he learns that Loki lied to him and plans to kill him and other innocent people, he doesn't get angry. He believes that he must have done something to provoke Loki to do this. He actually apologizes to Loki and offers up his life to save his friends and the people of Earth. Thor has learned that glory and praise aren't anything of worth. The life of every person is precious and that is now what he fights for.

My only complaint would have to be that the movie felt a bit open ended. I understand that they want to do that so they can bring Thor back for the Avangers movie, but I think each of the movies leading up to it should feel complete on their own.

I give it 4 stars out of 5. ****-