Let me start off by saying Thor is one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. In the beginning he is sent to Earth to be taught a lesson by his father Odin because he needs to learn how to become a great man. That is the original origin story, in the new Ultimate Universe he is sent to Earth to protect it but does not know it initially and is under the impression he is a psychiatric nurse who in turn has a nervous breakdown and realizes who he truly is. The movie origin is a combination of the two and it work to great effect in the movie. While I miss the "human" side of Thor, Donald Blake, the way they portray the character in the movie is great. On Earth, he is man of his element and he must adapt to his surroundings which he never really does successfully but he is willing to protect the people around him with his life. This is what is great about the character, he may be a selfish warrior but when it comes down to helping those around him there is no one more dependable and they uses this theme in the movie several times. He is also very strong willed and when he feels like something is right he will fight for it with all that he can and sometimes this backfires on him and is the main cause for why he is banished to Earth in the movie. Being a fan I wanted the creators of the movie to stay true to the original origins of the character but I understand why certain elements had to be changed in order to make the movie work.
The cast in the movie is also superbly cast and allows the viewer to focus on the character development just as much as the all-out action scenes in the movie. Chris Hemsworth truly embodies the character of Thor and if you've read the comics then you will see what I mean. He is more of the Ultimate Universe version of the character and he plays him to perfection. His interactions with the characters on Earth are both at times genuinely funny and heartfelt. He has to carry the movie most of the way and does so with ease, he commands the attention of the viewer every time he is on screen. That creates a viewer-connection with the character and you root for him to succeed in his mission to get back to Asgard and become a better man. The supporting cast is also top notch with Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard rounding out the cast. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki, Thor's brother, and he does a remarkable job with the character. Being a relative unknown to American audiences you really get to focus on him as the character and see how he evolves over the course of the movie. It is also great that he is going to be one of the main villains in the Avengers movie coming out next summer, because that means that we wil most likely get to see him battle the Avengers as a whole and hopefully not just antagonize Thor.
As you can tell, I really liked this movie. It was much better than Captain America and Iron Man 2. It was also a superior "comic" movie than X-Men:First Class. Thor is a fun adventure that does a great job of fleshing out its characters and it leaves you wanting to see more of these characters. Overall, I would recommend this movie to just about anyone who want to have fun while watching a movie that also happens to be great.
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