Movie Review: Thor

Tonight, I saw the movie "Thor" for the first time.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

"Thor" is one of the Marvel Comic movie adaptations, set in the same universe as other superheroes such as Iron Man, the Hulk, and Captain America. Thor is the son of Odin and is slated to be the next king of Asgard. However, he is arrogant and reckless, wanting to kill the Frost Giants because of an ancient war with them. For his behavior, Odin banishes his son to earth until he can learn some humility. While on earth, Thor hooks up with a scientist named Jane and her colleagues. Meanwhile, Thor's brother Loki is scheming behind the scenes, wanting the throne of Asgard for himself.

The movie moved along at a fast pace; my brother noted that it seemed much shorter than one hour and forty-eight minutes long, which I agree with. There is plenty of cool action and fighting scenes. The plot itself is rather simple and easy to follow, and it ties up pretty well at the end.

My one problem with the movie was the huge amount of cliche material that was used. You have Loki, who turns out not to be Odin's son but a Frost Giant. There are several deaths or near-death scenes that all (except for one) end in the character being resurrected or turning out alive in the end. Then you have the arrogant person of higher blood who is banished and learns humility while in exile, and he changes into a completely different person by the end of the story. Then there is the romance between Thor and Jane, which is totally cliched and, for me, didn't really click.

One thing that helps redeem the movie from its many cliched aspects was its humor. I have to say that this is probably the funniest out of the whole "Avenger" adaptations. Part of this came from the whole different cultural interactions between Thor and those on earth. Thor is big and tough, and he doesn't understand that tasers can knock him down flat. And he believes that throwing coffee cups on the floor means a compliment, not breaking dishes.

The characters were pretty good. Chris Hemsworth (whom I've only seen in the beginning of Abrams' "Star Trek") was an excellent Thor. I liked Anthony Hopkins as the wise, old Odin, and Tom Hiddleston was a good as the villainous Loki. Natalie Portman as Jane was only ok, and her character wasn't as unique as the others.

The movie was enjoyable. It ultimately wasn't excellent or high up there, but it was a good popcorn movie.

I give it four out of five stars.