Thor Review

Thor is one of my favorite marvel films due to the brilliant family drama and the redemption arc of Thor. This film showed how to handle a superman type character well, unlike the joyless and boring Man of Steel.

The story begins with a band of jotans breaking into Asgard and almost stealing the cube of frost from Odins treasure trove. Thor flies into a rage, calling it an act of gross provocation, and disobeys Odin by leading his friends to retaliate against the jotans. Thors friends are almost killed but Odin arrives in time to save them. He denounces Thor for instigating a war and strips him of Mjolnir, before banishing him to earth as a mortal.

Meanwhile Loki discovers that he is half jotan, and is not the trueborn son of Odin as he thought. He decries Odin for playing favorites with Thor but Odin denies it before falling into the Odin sleep, the state of deep unconsciousness that befalls Odin from time to time. Loki assumes the title of King, and Thors friends ask him to bring Thor back, but Loki forbids them.

Meanwhile on earth Thor has become friends with Jane Foster the physicist who is researching the bifrost bridge from Asgard. She doesn't believe he's Thor but knows he came over the bridge somehow. Thor has the opportunity to reclaim Mjolnir but is unable to lift it, and slumps into despair. Then Loki appears and tells him Odin died of grief once he banished Thor, before abandoning him to exile.

Thor's friends come to see him, and Loki sends the Destroyer to kill Thor. Thor sacrifices himself to protect his friends, but Mjolnir returns to his hand and he regains his power in a divine apotheosis. Thor summons a tornado and destroys the Destroyer and declares his love for Jane, before returning to Asgard.

Loki turns the bifrost into a weapon of mass destruction against Jotanheim, and Thor battles him to save the giants from extermination. Thor uses Mjolnir to break the bridge and save Jotanheim, though it means never seeing Jane Foster again. Loki falls from the bridge, seemingly to his death, and Thor and Odin are reconciled.

Thor is my favorite phase one movie because of the complexity of the story and the stellar drama and performances. The drama between Thor and Odin was outstanding, with Thor behaving like a warmongering fanatic that causes Odin to lose his temper and severely punish his recalcitrant son. Thor's arc from arrogant fool to humbled hero was great, and Hemsworth has tons of charisma and likeability. Then there's the Loki dynamic where he seems to be a 2D villain seeking power, but it is revealed that what he really wants is his fathers approval. Hiddleston gave such an outstanding performance and I really felt for his character, despite the despicable things he'd done. The romance was obligatory, but their realization that they love each other felt earned after Thor's sacrifice and resurrection. The only weak aspect was a lagging second act where Thor is with Jane and her friends, but that is a minor quibble. The action felt kinetic and intense as well, especially the battle against the jotans at the beginning.

Rating 8/10