At the beginning of the movie, it is 965 AD, and the king of Asgard Odin (Anthony Hopkins) wages war against the Frost Giants to prevent them from conquering the nine realms, of which Earth is a part of. The Asgardians are victorious, and take the Casket of Ancient Winters, the power source of the frost giants.
Back in present times, Odin’s son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) prepares to become king of Asgard, but the Frost Giants try to take the Casket, and prevents it from happening. Thor ignores Odin’s orders and travels to the Jotunheim to confront Laufey (the leader of the Frost Giants), and a battle ensues. Odin intervenes to save Thor and his company, but the fragile truce between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants are broken. Thor is stripped of his godly power and is exiled to earth, along with his hammer Mjolnir, which is now protected by an enchantment that can only be broken by someone worthy enough to wield it.
Thor falls out of the sky in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her assistant and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) finds him. Agent Phil Coulson arrives to inspect the Mjolnir after it becomes a local attraction. Thor tries to retrieve his hammer, but is heartbroken when he is unable to remove it from stone. With the help of Dr. Selvig, he is freed from S.H.I.E.L.D’s scrutiny and resigns himself to life as a mortal, even going through the beginning stages of a relationship with Jane.
Back at Asgard, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) learns that he is in reality Laufey’s son, and was adopted by Odin after the war. After Loki and Odin fight, Odin falls into the “Odinsleep” to recover. Loki seizes the throne, and offers Laufey the chance to retrieve the casket and kill Odin. Thor’s companions, Sif and the Warriors Three, are unhappy with Loki’s rule, and attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall to allow them to travel to earth. Loki learns of their plan, and sends the Destroyer to pursue and kill Thor. The warriors find Thor, but when the Destroyer finds them they are defeated. Nearly dead, Thor offers himself for the safety of the humans, and this sacrifice prompts the Mjolnir to return to its master. He defeats the Destroyer, kisses Jane, and returns to Asgard to confront Loki.
Back in Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey. Thor arrives and fights Loki to prevent Loki destroying the Jotunheim through the Bifrost Bridge. Thor destroys the Bifrost Bridge, destroying his only way back to Jane. Loki falls into darkness when Odin reject his plea for approval. Thor and Odin makes peace, and back at Earth Jane searches for a way to get to Thor.
Rating: 7/10
Thor is such a good film! I would recommend it to most people, particularly if you love superheroes. It is good to watch each film that leads up to the Avengers, and understand who is who and why they became like they are. Thor is one of my favorite films, partly because I discovered the awesome Chris Hemsworth here. Not only is he super attractive, he can luckily act as well (a rare occurrence) Watching it the second time around alerted me to some characters I hadn’t noticed before – Kat Dennings (who plays Max in my favorite comedy Two Broke Girls) and Josh Dallas (Prince Charming in Once Upon a Time). Natalie Portman made a really good Jane, looking intelligent and wholesome the entire time.
On the Avengers note, I would place it after the Iron Man trilogy but before Captain America. Overall, I would say that watching Thor is not a bad way to spend nearly two hours of your time.
Life of this city girl 