"Thor"

The movie portrays a story we all know too well; arrogant future king gets banished from his homeland, his father becomes ill, jealous brother takes over and does everything to keep the banished son away. The banished son returns home, fights jealous brother and is welcomed home again. This is the stuff of English literature, not comic books. And like the other origin stories, Iron Man hardly did any Iron Man-ing, the Hulk hardly did any Hulking, so Thor hardly did any Thor-ing.
And poor Natalie Portman. After seeing this, I think she’s being typecast as the strong independent female leader who instantly falls for the blond boy wonder in the fourth installment of a popular franchise. I understand that Chris Hemsworth was a hottie, but come on, you knew the guy only three days. And Disney didn’t own this film yet. So don't jump into an instant romance just yet.

I was uncertain about Anthony Hopkins playing Odin, Thor’s father, until one scene where Thor said he would slaughter the Frost Giants when he’s king and Odin says, “But you’re not king, not yet,” in a way Dr. Hannibal Lecter would have said it.

Though seen in one scene, this is Hawkeye’s first appearance in MCU, and they made it super obvious when Agent Barton picks up the bow instead of a gun.

Agent Coulson continues to be the character I’m conflicted to whether or not to like him. He has a funny streak that also proves he’s serious like in Iron Man 2 when he threatens to Taser Tony Stark and watch Supernanny while Tony drools into the carpet. But during Thor’s interrogation, he suspects Thor had training in the Middle East. He watched Thor walk into the closed-off area take down a dozen guys, and try to lift the hammer. Why didn’t it occur to Coulson that Thor might not be from Earth? S.H.I.E.L.D. should have some kind of Men in Black division watching the skies for otherworld like beings, right?

Overall this was probably the film with the least interesting plot stretched out over two hours of nothing. The biggest action sequence was when Thor was being an idiot, causing his banishment.

Loki probably had a more justifiable motive than other villains in the MCU at this point. He was jealous of Thor being the golden child. Thor was going to be king. Then he learns of his true parentage and becomes upset. And all he wants was to be equal to his brother; he wanted to be the favorite for once. But completing the equation of the formula I mentioned, Thor uses his newfound understanding of his arrogant ways to defeat his power-hungry brother.

The end credits sequence in this film shows Nick Fury and Dr. Selvig, Jane’s friend, discussing the power of a glowing cube we have yet to know about, and then Loki appears in the corner. We were led to believe that Loki perished when he decided to cast himself out and float off into space. We didn’t really see him die, a common characteristic of bringing a character back to life, and he’s a god; I don’t think he can die.
Thor kind of lets you decide whether it's a hit or miss. It's decent enough to make it a hit. A great cast, including the One Broke Girl, Natalie Portman playing a strong, intelligent woman, a breakout film performance by Tom Hiddleston,  and a villain with an actual motive. But it can be a snooze with the lack of action throughout the movie. The romance was absolutely rushed. Despite being a great villain, Loki didn't really think it through, which causes the plan to lose plausibility from the bait and switch with betraying his Odin father by inviting his Jöttenheim father and then killing his Jöttenheim father to save his Odin father. If it made sense to him, maybe he should have monologued it or something. But I guess he knew better than that. Then when it all goes to Hel, Loki would rather "die" and be welcomed back by his brother, which is kind of selfish. Speaking of which, he comes into play later, but Thor destroying the Bifrost is a bit selfish on the resulting level. Don't get me wrong; destroying the Bifrost saved the Nine Realms, but then Thor doesn't find a way to get back to Earth while Jane looks for a way to get to him.
So, I guess this movie is a draw. The MCU stands 1 win, 2 losses, and 1 draw.

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Special Update! Starting in the new year, I will be writing a new blog series called "Before I Go See It." It is where I will be giving my thoughts on upcoming movies before they hit the theaters, based on their trailers. It'll be like this, but you get a taste before you go see the movie. Once up, I will share a link on this blog as well as share a link on social media. Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Whatever Doesn't Offend You.

Released On: May 6, 2011
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman
Director: Kenneth Branagh Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% Certified Score
IMDb Score: 7.0/10

Awards
Saturn Awards

• Best Fantasy Film - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Tom Hiddleston - Nominated
• Best Production Design Bo Welch - Nominated
• Best Costume Alexandra Byrne - Winner

(Click here to view more awards for "Thor")

Videos
How It Should Have Ended - How Thor Should Have Ended
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Thor
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Thor In 8 Minutes Or Less