Thor. Bottom line? I liked it. Not an overly serious film, but a decent action movie.
Thor was my first Marvel subscription from when I was a kid, a natural followup to an obsession with mythology books (the library had these huge, coffee-table like books of both Greek and Norse mythos). None of those stories really stuck with me though, although I am pretty sure none of it was used in this movie. So I guess I’m saying that I was pre-disposed to liking this thing.
Even with that said, the film itself was enjoyable enough. It didn’t take itself too seriously, indeed the most enjoyable parts were the humor bits: Thor getting tazed; Thor getting hit by truck; Thor requesting animals large enough to ride at the pet shop. I can forgive the more ‘serious’ parts, however cliche.
A note about the casting: Thor was pretty much an unknown (Ok, he was Kirk’s dad in the Star Trek reboot) but that is an impressive list there: Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard; it is remarkable the level of acting talent that is being brought to this genre. That said, Thor’s Asgardian buddies were a bit of a disappointment. I like my Volstaggs morbidly obese.
Noted from the trivia page at IMDB: J. Michael Straczynski cameo: he is the guy who first finds the hammer. Did not recognize him.