Thor

Lindsey and I met at the Carmike Cinemas 4 in Indiana for the midnight showing of Thor.  Why Indiana?  Well it was closest place for both of us since she was at work.  Unfortunately, it was in 3-D, which I had not seen a movie in yet, and was not all that excited about the idea. 

Before I get into the movie, I want to say that the theater sucked.  It was a tiny screen, the sound quality was terrible, and the bathrooms were disgusting.  I am pretty sure the sound system was a set of 50-watt car speakers from Wal-Mart, seriously that bad.  I do not even want to explain the restroom, it will make you vomit.  Anyways, on to the movie.

I definitely enjoyed the movie, more so than I thought I would.  I never really thought Thor was the type of character that could sustain a solo film.  I figured he would be someone that was in the Avengers movie and it would just be assumed that everyone knows he is the God of Thunder.  I was skeptical of this movie from the moment it was announced.

They did a great job of making this a story about sibling rivalry and their relationship with their father.  I loved how they did not make Loki into this evil shithead who all along was working with the Frost Giants. 

I thought for sure the "god without powers" trying to adjust to Earth would just come off as stupid, but it was actually pretty funny.  The only complaint I have about the movie is that the story should have started with Thor on Earth and giving us the idea that he has been stuck in this realm for years.  Unfortunately, if you do that, you lose those funny scenes of him throwing coffee cups on the ground or demanding a horse at a pet store.

A little something for the ladies...

I think if you do it my way though, it would seem more believable that his sacrifice would mean he was finally worthy to wield Mjolnir.  Whatever, such a small thing to complain about.  Speaking of the hammer, when he kicks the crap out of the SHIELD agents and puts his hands on the hammer and nothing happens, that was such a cool scene, especially since Jeremy Renner was there as Hawkeye.

I think Marvel learned their lesson from Iron Man 2 about not overly promoting their next movie by taking away from the current movie's plot.  The fanboys know who he is and get excited and the casual movie-goer probably said something like "hey, was that the guy from The Town (or The Hurt Locker)?"  Then when they see the Avengers movie, they will be like "hey, I remember that guy being in Thor!"

One last thing I really liked about the movie:  Natalie Portman.  Aside from the fact that she is hot (I refuse to believe there is even one astrophysicist who looks 1/5th as good as her), she is also a good actress (or female actor as they are known today).  I loved that when she was around Thor she would sometimes have that giddy/cutesy girly-ness that she had in Garden State. 

Did everyone else stick around to see the after-credits scene?  It involves Nick Fury and Stellan Skarsgard and what appears to be the Cosmic Cube.  I guess it will play a role in the Captain America movie and most likely in the Avengers movie as well.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  A