The Playlist has a new article focusing on the good, bad and ugly aspects of Thor. Natalie get’s an unfortunate mention in the bad section under “the romance”, which I can’t agree with. It’s true there isn’t much on the page for the relationship to develop, but I felt that Natalie brought as much to the part as she could. Intellectually I didn’t buy it but Thor and Jane are so likable that I kinda went along with it.

The romance: Seemingly treated like an afterthought for the girlfriends in the room who might be dragged by their nerd boyfriends to the movie, the romance between Thor and Jane Foster at no moment ever feels real. Jane seems attracted to Thor’s ripped physique, while Thor seems attracted to Jane being Natalie Portman and it never develops much beyond that. When their inevitable kiss arrives it seems more like something ticked off on a checklist than the culmination of anything real. If Chris Hemsworth is the film’s secret weapon, Portman is the Achilles heel. Clearly out of her element slumming it in this tentpole flick, the actress doesn’t seem to know what to do with herself playing a variation on “exasperated” for most of the proceedings. Though, to be fair, it’s not like she was given much to work with either.