Thor (2011)

Paramount Pictures

This is not your typical summer action extravaganza. Sure, there are muscles, fist fights, and explosions but Thor adds a human quality to the action. It takes the “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” moral from the Spider-Man series and makes it larger than life as a fallen God must learn what it takes to be a God. I will even compare it to the Harry Potter films, if you can imagine Harry as a superhero. Ron’s there, so is Dumbledore, Hermoine, even Hagrid!

Chris Hemsworth was an excellent choice for Thor as he was able to play a convincing tough guy and still be a slightly goofy “fish out of water” as a mortal on Earth. I’m glad they didn’t go the typical route with Thor overeating and then erupts with a huge burp, which has been done in too many movies to count. Judge Reinhold stole the show as the villain and brother of Thor named Loki. Ok, it wasn’t Judge but he damn sure looked like him. As for the rest of the cast, I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins and Thor’s gang in their small roles but the only downside was Natalie Portman’s scientist sidekick. She serves no purpose to the story and just whines about missing her iPod. At times Natalie didn’t even seem convincing; pay attention to the way she says “Oh My God” as proof.

Despite a gripe or two with the acting, Marvel continues to rise above the pack with its excellent effects. Starting with Iron Man back in 2008 and continuing with Thor, the superhero movies have put everything else to shame. The many battle sequences were convincing, from cars getting blasted into bits to warriors frozen in ice. I thought the best instance was a villain called The Destroyer, which is sent after Thor and trashes a town. Maybe I liked it just because it reminded me of a monster on the Holy Diver album cover.

Thor is a true comic book come to life and is nearly a perfect film. Unlike a few “first” movies in a superhero series, this doesn’t feel like just an introduction to the character. It does give Thor’s origins but it tells a complete story with a beginning, middle and end with that “moral” adding an extra touch.