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“Thor” officially kicked off the blockbuster season this past weekend. Its status as a comic book film qualifies it as the first of the summer’s big-budget, big-hype movies, and its place in the series of Marvel flicks leading up to the superpower-packed, Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)-helmed “Avengers” movie only heightened the anticipation.
Here’s the rub: as my husband said to me as we exited the theater, “Thor” didn’t feel like a typical comic book movie. Unlike infamous flops “Jonah Hex” and the Ang Lee “Hulk,” however, with “Thor,” this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are two reasons behind this: the story’s mythology and the movie’s director.
“Thor” tells of, as you may have guessed, the Norse god of thunder. It’s definitely strange to find a member of an ancient pantheon amongst the ranks of Marvel’s lauded superhero society. Comic books tend more toward science fiction; a hero’s power comes either from his/her ingenuity (like Tony Stark’s self-created Iron Man suits) or through experiments gone awry (like scientist Bruce Banner’s transformation into the Hulk). Thor is historically considered a god, and that makes what he can do magic and his stories fantasy.
It’s a thin line to tread, and the movie confronts it head on. “What your ancestors call magic, you now call science,” Thor tells his love interest, astrophysicist Jane Foster. “Well where I come from, they are one in the same.” Still, the change makes the character of Thor feel a bit out of place amongst his superhero brethren, and the movie addresses this by picking up one of the many comic book versions of the character and making Thor and his fellow citizens of Asgard extraterrestrials.
That’s right, Thor comes from another planet. Beyond that, though, no explanation is given for his powers. Even Superman has some half-attempted scientific reason for his abilities, a Kryptonian biological reaction to the yellow light of the Earth’s sun. Thor is just an alien and therefore he can do fantastic things, like control the power of thunder with the legendary hammer Mjolner.
If you don’t mind a bit of fantasy injected into your superhero films, however, then you shouldn’t have any problem with “Thor.” This is helped along by the movie’s director, celebrated Shakespearean actor and director Kenneth Branagh.
I felt my eyebrows lift when I first read who would lead the latest Marvel flick. As a literature major in college, I’ve watched all of Branagh’s cinematic takes on the Bard’s plays. I was desperately curious to see what Branagh would bring to “Thor.”
He imbued the film with a much needed gravitas. There were plenty of humorous moments scattered throughout–the audience laughed when they were supposed to laugh–but “Thor” could have turned downright silly with its alien Asgard and characters stumbling their way around archaic Nordic names. Instead, everything looked beautiful and flowed without a hitch.
Much of this can also be attributed to the script (though the Asgard design team deserves awards), the Shakespearean paradigms of which may have likely attracted Branagh to the project. I can’t mention specifics without spoiling the plot, but the topics include the meaning of family, the ethics of war, and a hero’s fatal flaw in his hubris.
Rated PG-13, “Thor” will be a little too scary for younger kids. But it’s perfect for older ones, both in action and in lessons. The Thor of the film’s beginning is quick-tempered, arrogant, thirsting for glory in battle. While a greater villain later emerges (though even that is more complicated than it might seem), he is his own worst enemy.
Thor must learn that true power lies in wisdom, not in strength of arms. By the end of the film he sacrifices much to prevent the destruction of the planet against which he wanted to wage war at the story’s start.
There’s plenty of super-powered conflict to keep comic book fans interested in “Thor,” but what sets it apart in a positive way is its heroic archetypes and deft use of the themes found therein.
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