An excellent and thrilling superhero film wonderfully directed by Kenneth Branagh

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2015)

Although I had never even heard of the comic version of Thor before the film was released, I was looking forward to this more than any other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it was directed by my favourite living director Kenneth Branagh. He may not be the first name that springs to mind to direct a comic book special effects extravaganza but he was the perfect choice given the film's Shakespearean themes. It may be an atypical Branagh film as it was really his first truly mainstream one since "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" in 1994 but his direction is typically brilliant in both the quieter character moments and the hugely impressive action sequences, which were a bit of a departure for him. The film has an extremely strong script which is full of wit and great dialogue. This is certainly my favourite MCU film so far.
In his first leading role, Chris Hemsworth gives an excellent performance as the title character. At the beginning of the film, Thor is an arrogant, short-tempered, impulsive crown prince who fails to appreciate or even consider the consequences of his actions, a character trait which leads him to disobey his father Odin and attack the Frost Giants at Jotunheim. A furious Odin strips Thor of his powers and banishes him to Earth as a mortal as punishment. During his exile on Earth, he becomes a better man as he learns humility and sees the folly of his ways. He has a great character arc as we are able to see him grow and change over the course of the film. Tom Hiddleston is wonderful as his adoptive and treacherous brother Loki, who is extremely jealous of Thor and has a major chip on his shoulder as a result. He presents himself as the honest, responsible, dutiful son but, in reality, he is far from it. Speaking of Shakespeare, Loki bears many similarities to Edmund from "King Lear" and Iago from "Othello", both of whom manipulate those around them with ease. The climactic battle between Thor and Loki reminded me of Edmund's duel with Edgar. They also reminded me of the depiction of Moses and Rameses in "The Ten Commandments" as they are likewise a pair of princes, one of whom is adopted, who are in conflict over which of them will succeed their royal father.
Anthony Hopkins may have relatively little screen time as Odin but he brings his considerable talent to bear as the All-Father of Asgard. He loves his two sons but has a difficult relationship with both of them. While I thankfully have a very close relationship with my dad, I have always been fascinated by this sort of father-son relationship and Hopkins, Hemsworth and Hiddleston are all very effective in portraying it. Natalie Portman is very good as Jane Foster and has great chemistry with Hemsworth. In contrast to Pepper Potts in the "Iron Man" films, Jane is a very strong character. She is extremely intelligent, capable, resourceful, brave, imaginative and is not afraid to stand up for herself. She is a great source of love and support to Thor but she is also a character in her own right and contributes a great deal to the plot. To a large extent, Jane's good influence is what allows Thor to become a better man, something which I did not think was true of Pepper as regards Tony Stark even if that was what they were going for. Stellan Skarsgård gives a great performance as Jane's initially sceptical colleague Erik Selvig, who loves Jane like a father and does not want to see her get hurt by Thor. Kat Dennings is a laugh riot as Jane's assistant Darcy Lewis and has many of the funniest lines in the film. Clark Gregg has a bigger role as Agent Coulson ("Son of Coul") on this occasion but the character is still pretty much devoid of a personality. The film also features great appearances in smaller roles from Colm Feore as Laufey, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Jaimie Alexander as Sif and Rene Russo as Frigga. Oh, and I adored J. Michael Straczynski's cameo!
The action scenes are very exciting, particularly the battles with the Frost Giants at Jotunheim and with the Destroyer in New Mexico. Visually speaking, it is an extraordinarily well designed film. I loved the sets and the costumes. Asgard seems as if it could be a real place, which I think is very important in a film like this. The Destroyer is fantastic. The film has the best special effects that I have seen in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film so far. It also has a great score by Branagh's regular composer Patrick Doyle, who unusually does not have a role in the film. In fact, none of Branagh's regular stock company such as Richard Briers, Brian Blessed and Richard Clifford appear in the film, though Feore and Skarsgård later appeared in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" and "Cinderella" respectively.
Overall, this is an excellent film which I am glad to say that I enjoyed even more than I anticipated. Except for "Peter's Friends", I have to yet to see a Branagh film that I did not love. However, even that film was very well written, acted and directed. Its very depressing storyline was just not to my tastes. It is a shame that Branagh did not return to direct "Thor: The Dark World".