BY FRITZ ESKER
Director Kenneth Branagh is known mostly for his Shakespeare adaptations (Henry V, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing), but he moves into the realm of Hollywood blockbusters with Thor and mostly succeeds. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the arrogant, impulsive son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Just as he’s about to be crowned king, his disobedience and recklessness get him banished to Earth. Here, as an “alien” he’s pursued by government agents and an astrophysicist (Natalie Portman), who’s eager to befriend Thor to prove her theories about life in other galaxies. Of course, it’s all ridiculous, but Branagh and the actors take a winningly light approach to the material. It may not be as good as, say, The Dark Knight, but it’s nowhere near as grim and depressing, either, which makes it more accessible to viewers of all ages (and at least some superhero mov ies should still be aimed at kids and families). The relative newcomer Hemsworth (he played Captain Kirk’s doomed father in the Star Trek reboot) will likely become a star as a result of the role. He does a good job of mixing the necessary man-of-action persona with a sense of humor and natural charisma, not unlike the kind Arnold Schwarzenegger showed in his best work.
