Godworthy

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2011)

Thor (1:55, PG-13, 3-D) — fantasy: comics & pulps, biggie, crossover
"When someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!"
This advice may well have applied to Bill Murray or Dan Aykroyd, but Sigourney Weaver's Zuul would never have even thot to ask it of Chris Hemsworth, who is so obviously a deity that the question would never have arisen.
There's probably a casting hall of fame somewhere in self-congratulatory Hollywood. In it you will undoubtedly find Madonna as Evita, Patrick Stewart as Prof. Xavier, Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, and, on a plinth in the grand lobby, Christopher Reeve as Superman. Save a spot for young Mr. Hemsworth, because he is every ell the incarnation of the Norse thunder god Thor.
If there's a like mecca for production design, seek not there for the shabby, Holiday Inn Olympus of Percy Jackson or Clash of the Titans. But Thor's Asgard truly deserves recognition. It is a proper home for the gods, grand, sweeping, and awe-inspiring. Not at all claustrophobic, it uses SPACE. This is what 3-D was made for. Regrettably, the sole Imax theater in my city was already committed to Born To Be Wild, so I didn't get its added benefit, but I would have leapt at the opportunity.
If you've been following along in the series of films set in the Marvel comic-book universe, you know that Col. Nick Fury of SHIELD (Samuel L. Jackson) has been assembling a team of super-heroes to meet the recurring existential threats to humanity. SHIELD's top field agent, Clark Gregg's Coulson (or "son of Coul", as Thor calls him) keeps turning up on the periphery of Iron Man, Hulk, etc. Here he has a larger role as the AIC investigating the overnight appearance in the New Mexico desert of an impressively heavy artifact fallen from the skies. This is Mjolnir, the thunder hammer, forged from the heart of a star and wieldable only by one worthy of its might and power.
First on the scene of its appearance is a trio of anomaly trackers, led by researcher Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and including mentor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and brilliant grad assistant Darcy Lewis (the scene-stealing Kat Dennings). The SHIELD guys, arriving shortly thereafter, confiscate all of their research notes, but not before they've already encountered the quirky, tall, handsome, muscular blond guy who says he OWNS the artifact. They decide to join forces with him so everybody can get their goodies back.
OK, it must be admitted up front that Natalie Portman, Oscar fresh in hand, is not going to displace anybody's idea of a top female astrophysicist. That will always be Jodie Foster's Ellie Arroway from Contact. But Portman isn't called on to do much astrophysicking here, and she's properly heroic, winsome, capable, flustered, and imaginative as required. She's an ideal foil for Hemsworth's Thor, who is undergoing a crisis of integrity, thrown out of Asgard by all-father (and HIS father) Odin after leading an ill-conceived, if daring, raid of retribution against the frost giants of Jodenheim. "A wise king never seeks out war," intones Odin (a regal Anthony Hopkins), "but he must be ready for it!"
The action alternates between the realms of the gods and the mortals, with occasional side excursions to Jodenheim. The interstate highway of the heavens begins on the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, at the far end of which is the giant rotary spherical zapper that can propel the gods halfway across known space; it's guarded by the taciturn but totally impressive swordsman Heimdall (Idris Elba).
Thor's fellow godlings are a worthy bunch, and Rene Russo's few appearances as Odin's consort Frigga leave a much bigger impression than their brevity would normally warrant. Tom Hiddleston as Thor's "brother" Loki is highly effective, and his role is particularly well written, abounding in ambiguity and plausible motivation.
While I've concentrated on the grandiose (as does the movie), there's plenty of nitty-gritty realism, including mud, blood, pain, and grief; PG-13-level romance; and no small amount of humor. The film does a good job of portraying Thor's time on Earth as a large-living odd duck out of his normal pond without making him seem overbearing; if this part had gone on too long, it would have irritated, but it doesn't, primarily because our hero (for who could doubt that he is?) is a quick study and innately a noble protector of the underdog.
And so another piece in the larger puzzle slips into place. Next up: That super-soldier from WW2. Is HE still around? We may have to wait nearly until August to find out.