DVD: Thor, For retail & rental (Paramount)

Kenneth Branagh directs this fun Marvel superhero movie about a Norse god (Chris Hemsworth) who's banished to Earth, where he meets a conveniently single scientist (Natalie Portman).

The film is nicely balanced between sweet fish-out-of-water comedy and frantic interstellar epic, and includes a surprisingly frank allegorical treatment of 9/11 and the ensuing wars in the Middle East.