"Thor" Hammers Away with Action

Kicking off a summer full of superhero movies is the next installment in the Marvel franchise, Thor.  It follows the success of two Iron Man films, and the not so successful The Incredible Hulk as the next member to join the forthcoming 2012 hit The Avengers.  Robert Downey Jr.'s character Tony Stark will have to watch out after being teamed up with the equally cocky, but more robust Chris Hemsworth who plays the title character in the most recent Marvel film.
Thor has never been as popular as other characters in the franchise such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, or The Hulk, but this humorous, action-packed motion picture has proven that Thor deserves a little more attention.  The film starts with a sequence of Natalie Portman, who has become a bit exhausting on the big screen lately, and her science team, during which we meet Thor who crashes down to earth (and then into Portman's van) after being banned from his home, Asgard.  As he curses the heavens while appearing to be a psychopath, the audience gets its first hint that the movie knows how ridiculous it will most likely come across as, thus acknowledging the comical parts where appropriate.
Thor is frequently captured by the government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. who will be running the Avengers team, and one scene full of ass-kicking really stands out (with an unexpected appearance of another new add-on to the group).  The great action segments and outstanding visual effects of Asgard and the other realms of the universe make for an entertaining two hours by themselves.
As enjoyable as the scenery may be, Chris Hemsworth also delivers a marvelous breakthrough performance despite his dull sidekicks and friends.  His pals from Asgard serve almost no purpose and we never learn a significant detail about any of them, but Thor's evil brother played by Tom Hiddleston as well as Stellan Skarsgard's role of Dr. Erik Selvig somewhat make up for the lack of depth in the other characters.
Thor may not be the best superhero movie in the past few years, nor will it likely be the best of the summer, but it certainly serves as a good trip to the movies and a decent introduction to a new figure in the series.  Although it would make sense for the studio to flesh out the supporting characters of Thor in The Avengers or in a possible sequel, hopefully they are completely disregarded since The Avengers already seems to have too much on its plate.  Combining the numerous heroes, villains, and side stories from all the Marvel movies will certainly be too much to handle, but it's nice to enjoy one protagonist at a time while it lasts.