Another stepping stone for Marvel

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2013)

Against his father King Odin (Anthony Hopkins)'s wish, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) goes to battle the Frost Giants with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. He is cast out of Asgard by Odin. Astrophysicists Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) with assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) are tracking spatial anomalies when they find a disoriented Thor.
This is simply setting up for Marvel. They have laid out a series of movie that led to the Avengers and beyond. Kenneth Branagh directs this introduction to Thor. Chris has some work behind him, but this is his international breakout. It lays the groundwork for the world of Asgard and introduces other important characters like Loki. It's not completely compelling. There is a lot of history expositions. The Asgard world is very golden, and the frost giants live on an ice world. The movie goes into a long section in the Alien worlds at the beginning. It's a lot of CGI to slog through. The wonderment of it all wears thin. The love story is rather stiff. Natalie Portman's chemistry with Chris Hemsworth is fair but it could much better. It's a fair introduction and continuation for the grander universe.