"""Thor""Written by Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne, based on the comic book by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Jack Kirby; Directed by Kenneth Branagh; Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellen Skarsgard, Kat Dennings and Anthony Hopkins. Story: The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.. Seen by Adam and Lars, May 7, 2011 LARS: When they announced that they were making ""Thor"", I honestly thought Marvel had gone mad. Thor was never a huge mainstream comic book character, and I was wondering why in god's name they wouldn't focus on some of the more relatable characters in the Marvel universe. Because, frankly, the Marvel version of Thor is a silly character. The Norse mythology that he is drawn from has great stories like any quasi-religious scripture that has been handed down over generations is bound to have. It's a universe populated with various archetypes, and it functions great, when you keep the stories in that world, as a multitude of Scandinavian comic books and stories have done over the centuries. It's when you take the Norse God of Thunder out of his own world and bring him to contemporary America that it all goes a bit silly.That said, ""Thor"" is an entertaining entry into the superhero film catalog, as long as you don't think too hard about it. Even a stray thought may make the whole house of cards collapse into a puddle of utter nonsense.First the good: Kenneth Branagh directs ""Thor"" as if the material were much more worthy stuff. Arguing gods are treated with Shakespearean dignity and the camp factor, which, given the setting and the clothing could have been through the roof, is nowhere to be seen. I dread to think what a lesser director would have made of this script. The Australian beefcake Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, certainly looks the part. I couldn't tell you whether he can act based on this film, but, again, at least he plays it straight and doesn't wink at the audience. His romance with Natalie Portman is about as believable as the rest of the story, which is to say, not very. But since they are both hot, I guess that in Hollywood, there's be no way they would be capable of not tearing off each other clothes. Not that they do that, this is a movie for kids! If you want adult behavior in a quasi-medieval setting, you'd be better off watching ""Game of Thrones"" on HBO. Anthony Hopkins does his usual 'scowling for money' that goes for acting for him these days. The nice surprise in the acting department is the British TV actor, Tom Hiddleston, who does a fine job brining personality to Loki, Thor's evil brother. He goes from megalomania to groveling in a heartbeat and comes across as someone who'd do anything, as long as he sees an angle in it. Idris Alba from ""The Wire"" fame does OK bringing Heimdal, an impossible character to play, to life as well. As was the case in Peter Jackson's ""The Lovely Bones"", so it is in this movie: Directors born in the early 60s were exposed to way too many prog-rock album covers in their teen years, and it has colored their taste. And not for the better. Jackson's afterlife looked silly at best in 'Bones"" and Asgard (yes, kinda pronounced 'ass guard'), the home country of the Norse gods in ""Thor"" looks like somebody browsed thru their 1970's LP collection and got stuck right around Styx. But I am probably over thinking things here. While I was watching ""Thor"", I was entertained and not bored at any point. And isn't that really all you can ask of these movies? That they transport you for a few hours. I mean, it's not like we ever thought they were going to be art, is it? ADAM: I'll remind you (as I'm sure I've mentioned) I'm not the biggest super hero fan in the world; I was never a big comic book collector or reader; The extent of my understanding of the myth and lore of these larger than life figures does not extend beyond a rudimentary knowledge gathered from an occasional glimpse at a 25 cent book of yesteryear and the Saturday morning ""Superfriends"" and ""Justice League of America,"" cartoons I watched between ""Hong Kong Phooey"" and ""Land of the Lost.""  It's not surprising that I've liked almost none of the superhero movies released in the last ten years.  Beyond Chris Nolan's Batman films, that I admire far more for their mood and storytelling, I find most superhero movies unbelievably forgettable and interchangeable.    Flawed hero (from this planet or other) with daddy or parent issues, tainted by some accident or experiment gone wrong, decides to save public while defending self and is constantly pursued by authorities, who question said hero's motives.  Superman? Daredevil? Hulk? Spiderman? Iron Man, even Batman could have that generic description fit fairly well.  But I'm in the minority; people eat this stuff up, and whether repetitive or not, it's two hours of escapism that's entertaining enough to keep the cameras rolling. And while the rolling cameras produce sequel after sequel, it's quite amazing that we actually have new, fertile superhero ground in which to dig; three original superchestnuts hatch this summer: The Green Lantern, which looks like as if it will appeal to kids more than the others, Captain America, which just happens to be my favorite superhero, and will probably be the biggest bomb in the trifecta, and Thor, a movie about a Norse God with a magical hammer; on the surface seemingly least likely to have ever been made in to a film, much less attract a crowd.  Having seen Thor, I can say that of the non Chris Nolan superhero films, this might be my favorite.  I can't really put my finger on why.  It may be that while the story seems relatively familiar, the action(well choreographed and shot) kept it flowing.  It may be that this film assembled a fantastic cast: Two oscar winners, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman in a superhero movie?  That's a win.  Surround them with Peter Skarsgaard, Kat Dennings and newcomer Chris Hemsworth, who as Thor holds his own  and that's a nice nucleus.  And the big win might be that it's all held together quite nicely by Oscar nominated director Kenneth Branagh, who counts this as his fourteenth film behind the camera, and by far the most expensive and complex.The first half hour unravels two stories, one on Earth, about the scientist Portman plays finally finding some meaning to her study and research into the sky and weather patterns, but learning it's not the most important thing and one in the mythical Norse heavens, where Thor is anxious to assume the throne and make his father the king proud of him, not knowing the king's pride in his son already exists. These two stories intersect when Thor is exiled for his erratic and dangerous behavior.  We soon learn that Thor's fate is being manipulated by someone else who is tired of living in young warrior's shadow and has designs on the crown.  A classic battle for power and the king's respect rages on, with a small town on Earth (Portman's) getting in the way.What I did enjoy about Thor, in addition to the action and performances were the choices made in regard to story development; while there's action an explosions, this isn't another movie about a hero forced to save the Earth from destruction; this is a story about character (as all good stories are), and about how Thor can save himself from destruction, redeem his previous relationships, forge new ones, and still manage to kick some serious ass in the process."
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