Thor (film)

Thor is a 2008 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the seventh film in the universe. The film stars Charlie Hunnam, Yvonne Strahovski, Charlie Cox, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Victoria Principal, and Sam Neill and was released worldwide on May 23, 2008. The film ran 150 minutes and grossed $419.7 million on a $225 million budget.

Plot
Thor is the Prince of Asgard, a supernatural realm sitting next to Earth on Yggdrasil, the Tree of the Nine Realms. Thor's parents, Frigga and Odin, are the rulers of Asgard, while Thor's younger brother, Loki, is jealous of his brother getting the throne because of his age being older than Loki's. However, on the night before Thor's coronation as King, he leads his friends (Loki, Sif, Tyr, and the Warriors Three) in battle against another Realm, resulting in Tyr's death. Because of this, Odin sends Thor to Earth with no memory of his life on Asgard, making Thor think he is the American doctor Donald Blake. Odin also separates Thor from his beloved hammer, Mjolnir, forcing him to find the hammer, though he can only lift it if he learns humanity.

On Earth, Donald Blake meets Jane Foster, a fellow doctor. Donald believes he was just transferred to New York City General Hospital. Jane and Donald begin to develop an attraction. Meanwhile, on Asgard, Loki learns that Odin is no longer giving up the throne, saving it for if Thor can find his way. Loki decides to arrange the assassination of his father, so Loki can become King. To do this, Loki gets the help of famed Enchantress Amora and her bodyguard Skurge, the Executioner. Loki offers Amora the role of Queen when he kills Odin. Amora takes the offer and sends Skurge to gather her allies. On Earth, Donald and Jane discover a strange hammer has appeared in New York City, with no explaination as to how it got there, but no one can lift it.

Amora first tries to take out Frigga, but Loki protests, as his mother is the only one who truly cared for him. Sif discovers Loki's plan and tries to warn Odin, but she is arrested for treason, being framed by Amora. On Earth, Donald attempts to lift the hammer, and it glows when he tries but it does not budge. However, they are arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D., a government organization investigating the hammer. S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers Donald is connected to the hammer, but he does not know how. Loki meets with Frigga, who has suspected Loki's plan. She tries to get him to back away, but he knocks her unconscious and Amora sends her to Earth. Loki and Amora move forward with their plan to kill Odin.

On Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. puts a series of tests on Donald until finally they threaten to kill Jane and Donald sacrifices himself for her. After dying, Thor reemerges, alive once again after learning humanity. Thor takes his hammer and saves Jane. The two get to New York City where Thor reveals what is really going on to Jane and they try to find a portal to Asgard to show Odin he is ready. However, Frigga appears and reveals what Loki is trying to do. Thor leaves Jane on Earth for now after sharing a kiss and Thor uses his hammer's last bit of energy to transport himself and Frigga back to Asgard, where Mjolnir is left useless. Heimdall, Sif's brother and the Watcher of the Nine Realms apologizes to Thor for not seeing his message.

Loki tries to kill Odin, however he reveals that the throne will only take true royal blood and that Loki is not. Loki learns that he is the abandoned son of a criminal couple left behind after they went on the run, so Odin adopted Loki as his own. Loki uses Amora to take Odin's blood and give it to Loki after a painful process. Thor and Frigga return and Thor fights his brother. They fight through Asgard before making their way to the Bifrost Bridge, the gateway between realms. As Loki prepares to escape through the Bridge, Thor is forced to destroy the Bifrost Bridge, to allow no transport between realms. Loki nearly kills Thor, but Sif returns and stops him. Loki is imprisoned but only Skurge is taken with him, Amora casting a spell over Asgard, preventing them from remembering her role in the event. Thor tries to travel to Earth to see Jane, though he cannot get there. Odin sees Thor's new personality, but Thor reveals he does not want the throne for now.

In a mid-credits scene, Amora looks over Earth from Yggdrasil and the 7 billion lit up lives. She limits the lives to three, which she marks red. In a post-credits scene, Jane waits for Thor to return until finally she gives up as a year has passed.

Cast

 * Charlie Hunnam as Thor
 * Yvonne Strahovski as Jane Foster
 * Charlie Cox as Loki
 * Olivia Wilde as Amora
 * James Franco as Skurge
 * Gal Gadot as Sif
 * Jamie Dornan as Heimdall
 * Victoria Principal as Frigga
 * Sam Neill as Odin

Production
The film entered development in early 2005, while Iron Man was filming and Spider-Man was casting. With films having set release dates through 2007, Marvel decided to enter production on another film to be released in early 2008. Alan Taylor entered negotiations to direct the film in mid-2005, while Don Payne was hired to write a screenplay in December 2005. The script had been completed by May 2006 and casting went underway. Charlie Hunnam was cast in the title role of Thor in July 2006, while Yvonne Strahovski and Charlie Cox were cast as Jane Foster and Loki, the love interest and main villain, respectively, in September 2006. Filming was scheduled to begin after casting had finished by May 2007, with an intended release date of May 23, 2008. Olivia Wilde and James Franco were cast as secondary villains, Amora and Skurge, in December 2006. Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan were cast as siblings Sif and Heimdall in March 2007. Taylor wanted big name actors to be cast in the roles of Thor's parents, delaying casting until June 2007, when Victoria Principal and Sam Neill had been cast as Frigga and Odin, respectively. Filming went underway on July 12, 2007 and ended on November 14, 2007. The film was released on it's intended release date of May 23, 2008.

Box office
Thor made $141.6 million in the United States and Canada and $278.1 million in foreign areas, while the worldwide total stands at $419.7 million.

Critical reception
The review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 67% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 188 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 34 reviews. Audience members polled by CinemaScore mostly gave it an A−. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling the performances "strong", the storytelling "solid", and the scenery "breathtaking", though he also said, "it's a dark tale, and the climactic battle scenes go on at length."