I saw the movie last Friday with my gf, and we both really, really liked it. I'm inclined to say love, but that's a bit of a stretch. Needless to say, it was much, much better than the first Thor, and I think that's due to 2 main reasons: 1; Thor already being an established character who went through a major turnaround in his world view, and 2; the scale of the movie being ridiculously larger.
I mean, people complain about how most superhero movies are set in NYC, but who are we kidding: If they weren't, we'd get to see more things like in Thor - an unimportant, unimpressive tiny town in New Mexico? Where pretty much no one is at risk of harm? Really? Grand scale movies with grand scale powerhouses need to be set in a place with grand scale potential destruction, end of story.
One thing I've noted after coming out of the movie was that I didn't have anything to say about it. I usually start nitpicking at tiny plot details or relive the greatest moments. I didn't really have that with this movie at first. However, during the movie, I thought that
! Frigga's death was wonderfully written and visually executed. It was emotional, and it was especially great in that we were prompted to sympathise with Odin losing his loved one, as well as Thor (and Loki briefly) losing his mother. That was amazing cinematography right there, watching the boats being pushed into spacewater! off the edge of the realm. I loved it. Brought me to tears, nearly. And having Loki be affected by this as much as he did was a wonderful point in the story, the moment he lifted his illusion about being calm and revealing how messed up he was in reality, with most of the room destroyed, was truly touching.
There's much more to say about this movie, but all in all I can only say that I really liked it - good move. I can't relate to certain folks here hating on it, as I feel it did everything right that it set out to be, and is a great addition to the franchise (more so than the first Thor and the first Capt. America anyways).