It’s hard to say whether the mythical adventure film “Thor” currently playing at the Fandango Galaxy in Carson City is the best adventure film since “Fast Five,” or whether it is a messy marketing adaptation of Scandinavian myth with no logic and sense to the story other than luring the kids in.

It’s probably both since the critics have largely given it thumbs up as have audiences. Personally, I found the bolts of lightning and magical transportation to Earth from Asgard (wherever it is) and the mighty Thor hammer to be another exercise in digital manipulation substituting digital flashes and bangs for a script that made sense.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor is the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and king in the making and has been given the task of dealing with the bad guys in the next kingdom. He blows it in starting a war and is banished to Earth while his supposed brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is elevated when Odin falls ill.

Thor has four buddies who stick by Thor and are also whisked to Earth, while skinny definitely no-bod Loki runs Odin-land. On Earth Thor meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, fresh from her Oscar-winning role as a doomed ballerina; what a come down here), a scientist of some sort working out on the desert. Of course is it love at first sight of Thor’s sculpted pecs.

Thor tries to free his hammer from the rock it is embedded-in, apparently the result of Thor’s trip to Earth, but it won’t budge. Meanwhile, the Feds get involved and build a camp over the hammer. Fed guards are inept as Thorn wanders around unable to free his mightily hammer, which usually comes when he calls.

There’s also a girl buddy for Foster, Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings, the usual nerd sidekick dear to Hollywood scripts but here offering some of the scarce laughs in the film) and the two women’s professor (Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig) as bumbler-in-chief.

Loki turns out not to be the son of Odin but pretty well runs the towering Asgard, even picking a fight with one of the chief guards.

Naturally, Thor has to return ot Asgard and do battle with Loki, which looks like a no-brainer as Thor is handsome and muscular and Loki is kind of skinny.
In one way or another, Odin is healed, the bridge to Earth is destroyed and Thor and Foster wind up together.
This is a very brief report on all the digital foo-fra that takes place in this movie. Lightning strikes are as common as popcorn bags for audiences, comet trails abound and thunder (Thor’s mythological duty) rattles the multiplex.

Hemsworth has little to really do except flex muscles, which he does with modest skill, Portman even less to do other than be Thor-adoring, and the rest of the cast seemingly takes this weird script seriously (at least until they got paid). Hopkins is a caricature of his earlier roles and for the rest, better bank those checks because noting in this movie is going to land you another role.

Verdict: fine for the kids and the uncynical, certainly not nearly as good as “Fast Five,” but you gotta keep those projectors humming or whatever digital projectors do.

— Sam Bauman

Cast (from Wikipedia, thanks)

— Chris Hemsworth as Thor: The god of thunder based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Director Kenneth Branagh and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige chose Hemsworth after a back-and-forth process in which the 27-year-old actor was initially dropped from consideration and then given a second chance to read for the part. Hemsworth said the film stays true to the comics, stating, there are “so many different versions of the comic books, they’ve sort of bonded quite a few of them to form this particular story, but it’s all very true to the original stuff”.

— Natalie Portman as Jane Foster: A scientist and Thor’s love interest. Marvel Studios stated in an announcement that the character was updated from the comics’ initial portrayal for the feature adaptation. When asked why she took the role, Portman replied, “I just thought it sounded like a weird idea because Kenneth Branagh’s directing it, so I was just like, ‘Kenneth Branagh doing Thor is super-weird, I’ve gotta do it.’” Portman also stated that she really wanted to do a big effects movie that emphasized character, and getting to do it with Branagh was a new way of approaching it, relative to Star Wars.

— Tom Hiddleston as Loki: Thor’s adoptive brother and nemesis based on the deity of the same name. Hiddleston was chosen after previously working with Branagh on Ivanov and Wallander. Initially Hiddleston auditioned to play Thor but Branagh decided his talent would be better harnessed playing Loki. Hiddleston stated that “Loki’s like a comic book version of Edmund in King Lear, but nastier.”

— Anthony Hopkins as Odin: The ruler of Asgard, father of Thor, and adoptive father of Loki, based on the mythological deity of the same name. In an interview Hopkins stated he knew nothing of the comic. About the film he said, “It’s a superhero movie, but with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in.” Hopkins stated, “I’m very interested in that relationship between fathers and sons.”

— Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig: A scientist doing research in New Mexico who encounters Thor. Skarsgård stated that he was not initially familiar with Thor. As to why he took the part, Skarsgård remarked, I “chose Thor because of [director] Kenneth Branagh. The script was nice and we got to rehearse and talk to the writers and do some collaborating in the process to make it fit us. So I had a very happy time on it. What I always try to do is immediately do something I just haven’t done so I get variation in my life. I’ve made about 90 films and if I did the same thing over and over again I would be bored by now. I try to pick different films, I go and do those big ones and having done that I can usually afford to go and do some really small obscure films and experiment a little.”

— Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis: A co-worker of Jane Foster. Dennings described her character as Foster’s “little helper gnome.” Dennings also stated that her role was expanded during the rehearsal process. Dennings explained, “She’s kind of like a cute, clueless, little puppy or maybe a hamster. There wasn’t much on the page for the Darcy role to begin with and I didn’t even see a script before I took the job so I didn’t really know who Darcy was at first. But she really evolved — she’s so much fun now even. She’s very Scooby-Doo if that makes sense. She’s always three steps behind and reacting to what’s happening with these great expressions … She gets things wrong and doesn’t care.”

— Idris Elba as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the bifröst bridge, based on the mythological deity of the same name. Elba said Branagh’s involvement was a major incentive to take the role: “(Branagh) called me up personally and said, ‘I know this isn’t a big role, but I would really love to see you play it.’ It’s Kenneth Branagh. I was like, ‘Definitely’.”

— Colm Feore as Laufey: King of the Frost Giants based on the mythological being of the same name. Feore stated it took five hours for his makeup to be applied. About his character Feore remarked, “I am the King of Frost Giants. And if you’ve seen any of the Frost Giants, you know that I am, of course, the Napoleon of Frost Giants. We’ve got some massive, fabulous guys who dwarf me and come in at around eight-and-a-half feet, nine feet. But, no. Can’t you tell by the commanding presence? I am the boss.”

— Ray Stevenson as Volstagg: A member of the Warriors Three; a group of three Asgardian adventurers who are among Thor’s closest comrades, known for both his hearty appetite and wide girth. Stevenson previously worked with Kenneth Branagh in the 1998 film The Theory of Flight, and with Marvel Studios as the titular character in Punisher: War Zone. Stevenson wore a fat suit for the role, stating, “I’ve tried the suit on, and what they’ve done is kind of sex him up: he’s sort of slimmer but rounder.”. Stevenson said, “He’s got every bit of that Falstaffian verve and vigor, and a bit of a beer gut to suggest that enormous appetite, but he’s not the sort of Weeble-shaped figure he is in the comics. He’s Falstaff with muscles. I’ve got this amazing foam-injected undersuit that flexes with me.”

— Tadanobu Asano as Hogun: A member of the Warriors Three, primarily identified by his grim demeanor and as the only member who is not an Æsir. Ray Stevenson said of Asano’s character, “He doesn’t speak much but when he does, everybody shuts up. But also in the healing room where everyone licks their wounds, he’s the guy who just goes about his business.”

— Joshua Dallas as Fandral: A member of the Warriors Three, characterized as an irrepressible swashbuckler and romantic. Stuart Townsend was initially cast after Zachary Levi was forced to vacate the role due to a scheduling conflict. However, days before filming began, Townsend was replaced by Dallas citing “creative differences.” Dallas said he believed that Fandral “would like to think of himself a philanderer. He would like to think of himself, I was saying, as the R. Kelly of Asgard. He’s a lover, not a fighter.” Dallas also mentioned that Errol Flynn was an inspiration for the character stating, “He was a big inspiration for the character and for me. I watched a lot of his movies and kind of got that into my bones. I tried to bring out that little bit of Flynn-ness in it. Flynn had a lot of that boyish charm that Fandril’s got all that in him.”

— Jaimie Alexander as Sif: A warrior and Thor’s childhood friend based on the mythological deity of the same name. Alexander is best known for her portrayal of Jessi XX on the ABC Family series Kyle XY. Alexander said that she was familiar with Marvel Comics before having taken the part, having grown up with four brothers. Alexander said the part required hours a day in the gym, though training is not unfamiliar to her, explaining she was one of few girls on her Colleyville, Texas, high-school wrestling team.

— Rene Russo as Frigga: The wife of Odin, queen of Asgard, stepmother of Thor and adoptive mother of Loki, based on the mythological deity of the same name. Russo stated in March 2011 interview that she has signed on for possible sequels, joking that, “Eventually they’ll kick me out, so who knows how many I’ll do”.
Clark Gregg reprises his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson from Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Adriana Barraza plays diner owner Isabel Alvarez and Maximiliano Hernández plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell. Actors Joseph Gatt and Joshua Cox portray Frost Giants. Stan Lee and J. Michael Straczynski have cameo appearances. Samuel L. Jackson has an uncredited cameo as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who as revealed in Iron Man is coordinating the “Avenger Initiative”. Jeremy Renner also has an uncredited cameo as Clint Barton.

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Produced by: Kevin Feige
Screenplay by: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne
Story by: J. Michael Straczynski, Mark Protosevich
Based on: Thor by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby S
Music by: Patrick Doyle
Cinematography: Haris Zambarloukos
Editing by: Paul Rubell
Running time: 114 minutes, rated PG13