Summer is coming in.

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2011)

Thor is a powerful entry into summer comic book fantasy as director Kenneth Branagh infuses enough humanity into the CGI inter-dimensional portal travel to make a reasonable story of love and coming of age to offset the large number of combat scenes replete with exotic explosions.
Having been banished to earth from the Utopian Asgard, Thor must mature from the hothead warrior to wise leader in order to win back his father's respect and qualify to replace him as king. Back home are the usual suspects of corrupt brother and the Ice Giants from the planet Jotunheim.
Chris Hemsworth is a suitable Thor: handsome, muscular, otherworldly, and most importantly humorously ironic. Natalie Portman, on the other hand, has a thankless role as the infatuated astrophysicist, who can barely breathe while in his godly presence so taken she is in about 2 short days with his majesty.
Happily Sir Anthony Hopkins underplays his role as Thor's king/father to give the right tone of paternal tough love. No one else in the science fiction role call can stand out because they are all merely players to the more important leaders.
It's a good introduction to summer escape.