Is Thor the Marvel god of thunder's big screen debut electrifying?
THOR Movie Review
Marvel's Thor (ably played by Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth) is the arrogant heir to the monarch-god Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and the proverbial big man on campus, which in this case is the floating celestial realm of Asgard. We meet Thor as he's poised to assume the throne from Odin. His brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) must remain waiting in the wings, and considering these are immortals that's a long time to play second banana.
When an incident occurs that threatens the long-standing peace between the Asgardians and their ancient foes, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, Thor takes it upon himself -- bringing Loki and pals Sif (Jaimie Alexander), Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Joshua Dallas) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano) along with him -- to mete out some hammer-throwing justice on his icy enemies.
Enraged at this violation of the peace and by Thor's defiance, Odin strips his son of his power, his mighty hammer Mjolnir, and casts him out of Asgard and down to Midgard (aka Earth) to learn humility, which leaves Loki standing to gain the throne ... once Odin's out of the picture. Landing in the middle of the New Mexico desert, Thor is found by astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her colleague Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and her assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings).
While earthbound, Thor attempts to retrieve Mjolnir from the crater it made when it landed. The area is now under the control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its agent on the scene, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg from the Iron Man films). Alas, Thor is not yet worthy to hold the hammer again. He must change if he's ever going to return to Asgard and stop Loki.
Thor may be the proverbial fish out of water here, but we're thankfully spared many of the goofy things that come with that oft-tread movie territory. Thor understands Earth and humans; he's just a little out of step with our customs and tech. Judging from the taser and hospital clips that have been released, you might think the film is chock full of physical comedy, but happily they are just a few moments in an otherwise straightforward Thor tale.
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