Thor (2011): Will You Be Thunderstruck?

Thor is one film where I will complain that the lead guy did not spend enough time with his shirt off! I usually don’t fawn over the handsome men in films (unless it’s 300 or Jason Statham), but holy pepperoni pizza Hemsworth is an attractive, ripped dude. Good work!

Marvel Studios has started the summer off with a blast of lightning by introducing Thor! Chris Hemsworth, essentially an unknown actor, has risen to the challenge of playing Thor, God of Thunder. Living in Asgard, Thor is an arrogant and war driven punk, so his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), tries to teach him a lesson by stripping him of his powers and sending him to Earth to live amongst the lowly humans. While Thor is “out of office,” the Frost Giants move in to destroy Asgard with the help of an insider.

Finally! We now have another great superhero film. Thor was fun and energetic with great looking effects. (I saw it in 2D, and didn’t feel like I missed out. Save your two extra bucks.) In addition to the effects, there were great looking sets and incredible costume designs. You can really understand where the production budget went in this film. The story didn’t have any revelations or mind blowing twists, but it was a solid piece of art.

If you’ve never heard of Chris Hemsworth before Thor, you’ll definitely know who he is now! He gave a really awesome performance in the film, managing to bring humor, relatability, and most importantly, badassness to the hero. Even all of the supporting actors did a great job right down to Kat Dennings who played an assistant.

I can also finally say that the action held up well against my standards. It started quickly, was paced evenly throughout, and ended with a big sequence. There was even a very good female warrior, Sif (Jaimie Alexander), who kicked butt all the while still being likable and a good role model. In fact, Thor had some of the better female characters I’ve seen in a while. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) was a super smart scientist who was proactive, rather than just being the damsel in distress we see all too often, especially in superhero flicks (cough, Mary Jane, COUGH COUGH!)

Thor is definitely worth watching and a great opening summer flick. I loved it and can’t wait for some more shirtless Chris Hemsworth scenes!

Beware minor spoilers below!

Time until real action starts: ~ 3 minutes

Baddies: Frost Giants and…Loki (Tom Hiddleston)

Best Line: “You know, for a crazy homeless person…he’s pretty cut.”

Best Kill: Thor builds up momentum by spinning his hammer, Mjolnir round and round. It propels him through the air towards a gigantic Frost Giant monster. The monster opens his mouth to strike at others when you see a flash, hear a thunk, and then the monster falls over with a Thor-shaped outline in the back of his head. Thor had propelled himself into the mouth and out the back of the giant monster’s head!

Action Rating: 4 mighty Myeh myehs, out of 5.

Illustration by Alex Langley. Rocket Llama World Headquarters.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!

Related posts:
* Coming Attracton: Thor (2011)
* Interview with Almighty Thor Cody Deal
* Star Trek (2009): A Fistful of Phaser