Thor

There's always something amusing about directors working outside of their comfort zone. Look at Steven Spielberg with Schindler's List. Look at James Cameron with Titanic. Look at Kenneth Branagh with Thor.

Branagh is known for his numerous Shakespeare adaptations, so it comes as no surprise that Thor would bear a few elements of the Bard's work. (Branagh himself viewed it as a comic book version of Henry V.) To those familiar with Shakespeare's work, one could view Thor not as a blemish among Branagh's previous work but as something similar to it.

A theme among Shakespeare's plays is a war within a family. Indeed the bonds between Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and sons Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are strained, and there are reasons. Odin wants peace when Thor wants war, and Loki feels betrayed when he learns his whole life was a lie.

The bond between Thor and Loki isn't exactly great either. It's clear that Loki envies the life Thor leads. He desires to have the love Odin gives Thor. He also believes he can rectify the many wrongs in his life by the lives of those around him.

Thor provides a good examination of the three men, especially from the Shakespearean light they were in. It's very possible that Branagh had the Shakespeare allusions put into the movie on purpose. Who knows what it would've been like without them?

My Rating: ****