THOR

So I went to see THOR last night with my two oldest adult children. I loved it! THOR was breathtaking with its incredible action scenes and creative twists on Norwegian mythology. It's a mixture of Marvel superhero comics characters and events as well as elements of Norse mythology, woven together in an interesting and engaging manner.

The story begins by showing the King of Asgard, Odin, waging war on the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, who are intent upon conquering each of the Nine Realms beginning with Earth. The Asgardians are victorious and banish the Frost Giants to their realm of Jotunheim. The Casket of Ancient Winters which is the source of the Frost Giants power is kept guarded in Asgard.

Years later, Odin's son, Thor is preparing to ascend to the throne of Asgard. However, his coronoation day is interrupted when the Frost Giants make an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve their Casket of Ancient Winters.

Against Odin's wishes, Thor along with his brother Loki, his childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three; Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg, decide to sneak into Jotunheim to punish the Frost Giants. It should be noted that Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg are not part of the original mythology surrounding Thor but are creations of Marvel Comics to serve as supporting characters to the superhero Thor. When Thor arrives in Jotunheim we see a devastated world, cold and dark, filled with hidden horrible beasts. After Laufey provokes Thor, a fierce battle ensues and Odin must rescue his son and his companions before they are destroyed by Laufey. With the peace that was brokered between Asgard and Jotenheim now broken Laufey declares war on Asgard.

When the Asgardians return home via a wormhole, Odin banishes his son Thor to the realm of Earth. Furious with Thor, because he is arrogant, brash and impulsive, Odin strips Thor of his power and places a charm on his hammer Mjolnir which also is thrown to Earth. Only one who is worthy of the power of Thor's hammer will be able to use it. When Thor arrives on Earth via a wormhole, he literally crashes into Jane Foster, an astrophysicist studying wormholes. Jane, her assistant Darcy Lewis and her scientist-mentor, Dr. Erik Selvig were out in the middle of the New Mexico desert studying electro-magnetic anomalies when Thor drops in. Slightly injured, Thor is taken to the hospital where he escapes.

Minutes after Thor's arrival on Earth, his hammer rockets out of the sky and lands not far from the town. Unable to remove the hammer, local residents flock to the site which eventually draws the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland, Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) a government agency which exists in the Marvel Comic universe. Thor overhears people talking about the hammer in a diner and sets out to retrieve it. This of course sets up the usual confrontation between the superhero and the government with Jane and her friends trying to help Thor.

Meanwhile back in Asgard things aren't going so well either. Loki become King of Asgard when Odin falls into a deep sleep. However, Sif and the Warriors Three are distrustful of Loki and his motives. They decide that they must take a chance and try to recover Thor from Earth. The movie thus juxtaposes between events occurring on Earth and those occurring on both Asgard and Jotunheim.

There are a few surprises along the way but the ending is predictable yet satisfying. The battles are thrilling, with plenty of well done special effects to satisfy the need for exploding cars, terrifying monsters and gravity-defying superhero battles. Short on gore, thankfully, I was impressed. I'm not much for superhero movies but THOR was well done.

I actually prefer this trailer to the original first trailer below it: