‘Thor’ – Hardly god-like, but still super summer entertainment

You know how silly friends look on Halloween wearing costumes made from scratch? Imagine what the actors in “Thor” felt like encumbered by mountains of faux metal armor and long flowing capes.

Enter Kenneth Branagh, an odd choice to direct a blockbuster picture, let alone one with garb that would make the Bard blush. Branagh turns what might have been a campy lark into a breezy, if hardly invaluable, addition to the superhero genre. The accoutrement may be broad, but the acting remains sedate by comic book standards. It’s a wise choice for a film featuring a golden locked hero and a villain wearing a helmet as goofy as ever seen on screen.

The film follows the headstrong Thor (Hemsworth) who gets booted out of his native Asgard for defying his wise pappy, Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins, essential to grounding the assembled nonsense). Seems there’s been a security breach in Odin’s kingdom, and Thor flies off the hammer trying to uncover the culprit. Odin punishes him by stripping him of his powers – and that magical hammer – and depositing both on earth.

It’s on terra firma where Thor meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a beautiful geek studying a possible portal between the earth and other realms. Thor’s very appearance seems to prove her theory, but he’s too busy trying to find his missing hammer to help her research.

They become unlikely allies against agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. swarming around the site where Thor’s hammer landed as well as Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s brother who’s been up to some serious mischief in Thor’s absence.

Like too many origin films, “Thor” doesn’t pack enough action to satisfy the hardcore comic fans, this critic included. We get an early battle between Thor and a race of frost creatures who represent a zillion ones and zeroes. Yes, “Thor” goes overboard on CGI magic.

But much time is spent with a powerless Thor interacting with the earthlings in grand fish out of water fashion. It’s here where the film makes a vital connection with the audience. The scenes in Asgard are too distracting to count, but watching Hemsworth banter with Portman and her chums (Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard) gives the film a loose sense of humor that never panders.

You won’t have to wince at any of the dialogue here, a real plus for a comic book adaptation. There’s even a sweet “Avengers” cameo that should be a hit with comic fans.

Hemsworth more than carries the load of a potential franchise, proving his energetic turn in “Star Trek” was hardly a fluke. He’s brash and charming, physically intimidating but talented enough to bring the thunder – and the smaller emotional moments – to fruition. When he starts swinging that hammer you’ll instinctively duck, which is precisely the response required.

Branagh may bring a sober approach to the material, but he’s outmatched in the style department. He sets the camera at odd angles in an attempt at a visual theme, and the sequences in Asgard are simply overpowered by special effects. Where’s the grandeur, the sense of scope even the far clunkier Fortress of Solitude exuded in the old “Superman” films?

The film’s busy prologue also stalls the fun to come, squeezing in so much back story without letting us get to know Thor’s quartet of Norse pals who turn out to be so critical to the final act. And while Portman and Hemsworth click despite a lack of screen time, they’re hardly bonded enough to power the film’s waning moments.

“Thor” won’t knock aside “The Dark Knight” or “Spider-Man” as modern superhero classics. But it doesn’t have to reach so high to be a fine summer movie kickoff.

(Photo: Chris Hemsworth plays the God of Thunder in “Thor,” from Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. Photo credit: Mark Fellman / Marvel Studios)