‘Thor’: Norse god and hunk
Published 12:01 am Friday, May 6, 2011
“Thor,” the first summer comic book blockbuster out of the gate, has a lot of that winking wit we’ve come to expect from our post-‘Spider Man” Marvel movies.
It has a hunky, self-mocking young star, solid support from a couple of Oscar winners and the slick sheen that state-of-the-art effects can give you.
But if it weren’t for all those effects (the 3-D seems an afterthought), for all the story’s attention to “franchise,” it might feel something more than incomplete.
Simply put, the movie’s alien-god-stuck-on-the-Real-World (Earth) scenes sing. And the ones in a digital Merrie Olde Land of Oz where Odin, Thor, Loki and the Nordic gods reside are little better than glossy filler, back-story overwhelmed by the pixels of it all.
The esteemed Kenneth Branagh (“Hamlet,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Henry V”) wasn’t wholly able to overcome that “creation myth” part of any epic saga with simple effects.
But once he leaves “the Realm Eternal,” Asgard, where Odin (Anthony Hopkins) rules, things pick up.
In a drawn-out first act, Odin tries to keep the peace with the warlike Frost Giants. But his headstrong son, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) isn’t having it. So Odin kicks Thor out in the hope that he will “cast aside all selfish” impulses.
On Earth, hot young astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is investigating astral anomalies with her Scandinavian mentor (Stellan Skarsgard) and her dizzy science-impaired intern (Kat Dennings). They’re the first humans Thor meets on arriving, banished. And the intern is impressed with this blond lunatic’s physique.
“You know, for a crazy homeless person, he’s pretty cut.”
The film’s best scenes involve the Norse god as fish out of water.
Portman has a great gift at delivering warm-for-Thor’s-form looks that are both sexy and funny, but Dennings (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”) has the punchlines, reacting to Thor the way most of us would.
“Thor” (3 stars)
Director Kenneth Brannagh can’t quite overcome the creation myth in this 3-D look at the Marvel comic hero. With Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tim Hiddleston and Kat Dennings
Rated: PG-13
Showing: Alderwood mall, Cinebarre, Everett Mall. Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Olympic, Stanwood, Metro, Pacific Place, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Blue Fox, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor
