The story

After crossing his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), in a fit of youthful pique, Thor is stripped of his powers and is sent through a wormhole, which crash-lands him in the New Mexico desert where he meets a human team of scientists.

The review

We watched Thor this weekend, and it was pretty darn good. There was action, comedy relief, a decent storyline, nice effects, good acting and even heart (which many comic movies lack). Director Kenneth Branagh created a well-rounded superhero movie that really could have been a disaster. Its hard for me to pinpoint everything I liked, but I just liked it. It was mighty good fun.

Somehow this movie transitioned from a popcorn action flick into a character redemption plot transcending it into the same comic movie league as Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight. Sure, I would still rate The Dark Knight as a better film, but Thor was a pleasant surprise that gave me hope for movies like Captain America: The First Avenger.

The actors

Marvel Studios bet on a fairly unknown Australian actor like Chris Hemsworth to play Thor, but it was a perfect fit. I think Marvel started the Thor franchise well, and if Hemsworth can connect further with the audience in next year’s Avengers movie there could be some Thor sequels on the horizon.

Natalie Portman, a recent Oscar winner, convincingly played Dr. Jane Foster, a scientist smitten with Thor. Her team member, Dr. Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgðrd) also plays a valuable role in the post-credits bonus clip. Both actors were great choices. Tom Hiddleston played Loki well on screen, and that was important since Loki is a huge villain in the Marvel Universe and could possibly play a role in the upcoming Avengers movie. Finally, Anthony Hopkins did a jam up job as Odin.

The numbers

This summer’s first superhero film, Thor, smashed its competition this weekend with a $66 million debut, according to studio estimates. This is pretty good considering Thor isn’t a mainstream character such as Wolverine and Spider-man.

Among other Marvel-based movies, Thor opened better than The Incredible Hulk ($55.4 million) but fell short of X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($85.1 million) and Iron Man ($98.6 million). The $150 million action film, which was distributed by Paramount and produced by Disney-owned Marvel Studios, attracted an audience that was 63 percent male.

CinemaScore moviegoers gave Thor a “B+” rating, EW rated the movie an A- and 3-D showings brought in 60 percent of its gross. IMAX theaters, in particular, accounted for 10 percent of the movie’s earnings.