Thor

When it was first announced that well known Irish actor and Shakespeare enthusiast (to put it mildly) Kenneth Branagh was on board to direct Marvel’s latest comic book blockbuster, my eyebrows were undoubtedly raised.
Branagh although a competent director and talented actor, seemed completely out of place at the helm of such a project, which I assumed would follow the pattern of many of its predecessors, heavily laden with all the CGI might Marvel studios could muster, however, lacking in attention to its characters and their backgrounds.

However, upon recently seeing Branagh’s ‘Thor’ I was pleasantly surprised to find a film whose protagonists were as engaging as they were entertaining. Branagh stated when taking on the project that he intended to focus on “the human story within the surroundings of the epic plight” and by drawing such performances from his lead actors, he is very successful in this aim.

I’ll be the first to admit, that Loki aside, most of the Norse gods are played as if characters in computer action game, there is little substance to the majority of them with most only serving to act as compatriots to the brash, arrogant, war hungry Thor, played well by the Australian Chris Hemsworth. Though not the most challenging of roles, Hemsworth has definitely put in his hours in the gym, displaying a physique that will no doubt meet anybody’s expectations of the Norse God of thunder, as well as providing a worthwhile distraction for any female partners who simply don’t have any interest in such a film. However, I’d argue that such audience members would be hard to find, as the film, though unashamedly silly in its plot and set pieces is an awful lot of fun. Hemsworth’s Thor is everything you’d imagine the Norse God of Thunder to be like, impatient, arrogant and forever trying to satisfy both his insatiable appetite for glory and food. Some of the film’s most entertaining of sequences come not from CGI set pieces, which are nonetheless stunning, but through the interaction of Thor and the humans he encounters upon earth during his exile from his home of Asgard.

Natalie Portman plays, Jay, some form of meteorologist attempting to discover the connection from Earth to the heavens, whilst all the while convincing herself that such a pathway truly does exist. However, Portman coasts through this performance as if on autopilot and is clearly taking a well earned break after her turn in ‘Black Swan’. Here she adds little to the film other than as a romantic interest for the features protagonist Thor, although this is by far one of the weakest aspects of the film, feeling artificial and forced purely to conform to the summer blockbuster nature of a Marvel studios production.
What truly elevates the ‘Thor’ from the long line of comic book films that today make up so much of the summer’s blockbuster demographic , is the performance of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and it is in his performance that Branagh’s direction becomes most evident. Loki is the antithesis to his brash and clumsy brother, choosing to rely on his silver tongue and intellectual prowess rather than on his physical strength. Although Hiddleston, himself a talented actor could’ve chosen to play a typical comic book villain, he adds a sense of depth to the character, bringing a nervous, contemplative but ultimately bitterly jealous brother to life on screen.
Thor is far from a perfect film, with actors such as Stelen Skaarsgard, Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba, seemingly utterly wasted in what turn out to be fairly insignificant roles, at times the film is all over the place and the script laughably thin. However, it prevails due to its unpredictable charm and performances of its lead actors, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, with veteran Anthony Hopkins chewing every ounce of the scenery playing Odin, King of the Gods and the quarrelling brother’s father.

If you abandon any expectations of an emotional rollercoaster and simply want to enjoy yourself for a few hours, then Kenneth Branagh’s Thor is a perfectly fun ride to take this summer.