Thor review

Scholars of Norse mythology will be surprised to learn that when Thor (Chris Hemsworth), son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), wields his mighty hammer, flinging it at his foes, he can get it to come back again like a boomerang. (The cheerful Hemsworth is Australian, which may help.) High spirits, however, count for more than accuracy in Kenneth Branagh’s take on the ancient sagas, and there is pleasure to be plundered from some of the battle scenes, especially when Thor is confronting ice monsters with blood-red eyes, and from the culture clash that resounds when he descends to present-day Earth and, as luck would have it, bumps into Jane (Natalie Portman). Where the movie falters and slumps is in a galaxy far, far away, where the set designs have a tacky golden gleam, and where the quarrels of the gods—basically, the dark-haired traitor versus the warm, impulsive blond—come across as an interminable snit. With Kat Dennings as a friend of Jane’s, who fires off a few smart lines and then almost fades from the picture