"Thor"

So... those of you that know me best... well...

Actually, let's start that again.

I'm a big fan of Norse mythology. Of comic book stuff, not so much, but Norse mythology? Definitely. So when I heard that there was a Norse superhero, I was pretty excited. When there was a movie about him? You better believe that excitement was amplified.

So hence, why I decided to go check it out.

Hence, today's movie.

Thor

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is a prince of Asgard and next in line for the throne. He's also cocky and arrogant, and kind of an ass. Thus, when his actions come extremely close to instigating war with the Frost Giants, his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) banishes him to Earth after stripping him of his powers. He comes under the care of Jane (Natalie Portman), and an adventure ensues for Thor to find his hammer Mjollnir and kick his cockyness for good.

So... We're of course talking about a Marvel movie here, and obviously everything is great about this. Is it their best effort so far? No. But is it good?

You better believe it is.

It's a funny thing to sit there, watching this movie. By all accounts, the costumes of the Asgardians all look astoundingly silly with all their gold-plated helmets and wierd armor and all that other jazz. But I think it highlights one of the strengths of the movie: it plays almost nothing safely with the scale of the story here. We're talking about mythological figures here: of course the scale is going to be epic. Director Kenneth Branagh realizes this, and the result is nothing short of breathtaking as everything is treated as epically as it must be for a story like this. Everything from the acting to the costumes to Asgard itself lends itself to a grand scale, and it's appropriate for the movie.

And of course, everything else falls into place as well. For one thing, the acting is incredibly solid. Chris Hemsworth makes a very good Thor, as he always has to present this air of grandeur around him every time he speaks, and he does a good job of keeping to the possibly hammy nature of his character in the times when it's used for hilarious effect outside of Asgard. Actually, all of the Asgardians are played by great actors: Hopkins as Odin is... well, Hopkins as Odin, Tom Hiddleston makes an appropriately villainous Loki and manages to steal every single scene he's in, and Idris Elba shows that this is why he was cast as Heimdall. I don't really have much to say on the actors for the Earth characters, as when Natalie Portman is in your movie there really isn't that much to say. Take that as a good thing.

There's not as much action in this movie as you'd expect there to be in a superhero movie. But the action that is here is almost always some very intense action. And it also pretty much banks on being incredibly well-done action that we can see what is going on.

So with intense action scenes, excellent performances all around, and an acknowledgement of the sense of scale in question, Thor is another string in Marvel's successful movies as of late. There's not much else I need tell you about that: if you liked the two Iron Man movies, then you'll like Thor as well. Is it as good as those? Not completely, but it comes very damn close.

3.5/4

Most definitely worth checking out.

This is Herr Wozzeck Reviews. I'll see you guys next time.