Mythology, both western and Indian, is filled with princes and gods. Some of these stories involve the inception of wise rulers or the overthrowing of despots. These fables are products of monarchies and possibly born from hopeful ideals. One of these pluralist ideals is that the man who would be king should first have been a commoner. In a recurring motif, a lost prince returns or a blessed commoner rises to the helm of state affairs and through a potent combination of wisdom and power provides the glorious reign that his subjects desire. The most famous of these returning princes is Arthur, who ends his exile by withdrawing the seemingly inextricable Excalibur from its petrified confines. Kenneth Branagh recreates this iconic image in Thor, only it is Thor’s magical hammer Mjolnir that is embedded in the earth this time.
Cast out of Asgard, home of the gods, the brash and supremely egotistical prince Thor lands in New Mexico, a prince without his realm and a god without his gifts. In a storytelling technique reminiscent of Favreau’s Ironman, we first meet Thor at this inflexion point. The moment he falls out of the sky and into the laptop of astrophysicist Jane Foster juxtaposes the two seemingly contradictory sides of a line that the film walks: the line separating science and magic. It is exceedingly apt that Jane Foster, a scientist, explains this dichotomous nature away.
“Magic is just science we don’t understand yet,” she says. Strangely, this is a scientifically rigorous view only augmented by the ingenuous effervescence that Natalie Portman brings to the character. She maybe an acclaimed researcher but doesn’t hold back the giggles when a stunningly attractive man kisses her palm as if she were a lady of the Victorian court.
The film is also constantly aware of its place in a larger Marvel universe. After all, the audience must eventually reconcile the abilities of a technocrat superhero like Tony Stark with those of the Norse god of Thunder. And for those willing to wait till the entire credits to roll, the film holds a clue to the circumstances of their meeting.
Stark and Thor do have something in common though – a gargantuan ego. While Stark’s ego motivates him, Thor’s hubris is a constant source of worry for his father Odin.
When Thor runs foul of his father’s graces, Loki (Odin’s younger son) sees his opportunity to be the favoured one. But both Thor and Loki have much to learn, about the world and themselves. Relegation to a mortal body delivers a hammer blow to the egotism that was central to Thor’s lack of compassion.
It is at his weakest that he finds the clarity to understand the sermons that Odin gave him as a child. Loki, on the other hand, looks further inwards and sinks deeper into depravity. As always, evil covers more terrain and Loki’s character raises a lot more questions on purpose, destiny, nature and nurture as his character evolves. More than the wonderfully imaginative special effects in the film (rarely have I seen hammers used as innovatively) these questions propel Thor forward like the well-oiled commercial machine it is.
