Movie Review: Thor

Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" kicks off this summer's slew of superhero flicks, preceding the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie, Captain America and the X-Men prequel. And although I do consider myself a fan of comic books, I must admit- I'm not all that familiar with Thor. Lucky for me, modern comic book movies are made so pretty much anyone can jump on board. This one is the story of a Norse God named Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Thor is heir to the throne of Asgard (a cosmic realm separate from Earth), but his father Oden (Anthony Hopkins) is wary of his ascension to the throne because of how much of a meathead warmonger he is. After getting in a fight with the neighboring realm of the Frost Giants, Thor is banished from Asgard and sent to Earth to live alongside us mere mortals. 

The entire backstory of Thor seems like it was really tough for them to fit into the beginning of this movie, but for the most part it was done pretty smoothly. Thor's douchey, jock persona is established from the outset, and the best part of "Thor" is seeing him adjusting to life on Earth (smashing coffee cups to show his satisfaction). The fight scene with the Frost Giants at the beginning is awesome, if slightly overdone (the CG leaves much to be desired), but unfortunately, there's not a ton of action after that.

The character development, with the exception of Thor himself, is weak all around. In particular, Thor's gang of warrior buddies are notably two-dimensional, serving as the walking cliches of the film. A cop once jokingly refers to the crew "Xena, Jackie Chan, & Robin Hood", which is funny, until you realize exactly how accurate the description is. There's just no characters outside of Thor that I could really get behind. Natalie Portman gives a generic performance as the scientist who quickly becomes infatuated with Thor (or should I say Thor's upper torso?), Anthony Hopkins seems embarassed by the screenplay, Kat Dennings is absolutely insufferable as Portman's science intern (who majored in POLITICAL science), and Stellan Skarsgard doesn't seem to know why he's there at all.

There is also some conflict with Thor's younger brother, who takes advantage of Thor's banishment, and that storyline happens while Thor is stuck down on Earth. But the two worlds of Asgard and Earth are so entirely different, that it often feels like you're watching two separate films edited together. And the realm of Asgard itself at first appears visually stunning, a paramount of production design. But the closer you look at it, it just looks odd, with rainbows everywhere, floating pathways, and a castle that could be mistaken for a large pipe organ.
 
As long as you don't expect much from this movie, it's easy to enjoy it for what it is: a summer popcorn movie. Chris Hemsworth does a fine job as the Norse God, and I'm sure I'll be ready for another Thor flick by the time the inevitable sequel rolls around. Also, he'll be a welcome addition to the upcoming Avengers film, which is actually filming here in Cleveland this summer (so it's gotta be awesome).