Thursday, May 18, 2023

Thor's Day

I guess the MCU has a history of bad hairpieces. I watched 2011's Thor again last night, for the first time since it first came out. It's about exactly as good as I remember: better than the average MCU movie to-day but none to rank among the best.

The main attraction is the relationship between Thor and Loki and Loki is still the best character. Director Kenneth Branagh allows Tom Hiddleston's performance to suggest quite a lot about the nature of his internal conflict.

Hiddleston's the right actor for that. He has such expressive facial features, you could pick up on a twitch of his eyebrow from a hundred yards.

I wish the films had allowed us to spend more time with Anthony Hopkins' Odin. I like how he always seems locked up. Even in the end, when he's telling Thor he's proud of him, you don't sense he's being totally open, you sense this dialogue is just one part of the vast calculations going on in his mind.

Jane still feels superfluous, a typical girlfriend character from a standard superhero movie. A more interesting film might have made Kat Denning's supporting character the love interest. Intellectually, she's a better match for Thor. Jane is almost more suited for Loki.

Thor is available on Disney+.

No comments:

Post a Comment