‘Thor’ Vindicates Superhero Movies As Modern Morality Tales

This piece contains mild spoilers.

Kenneth Branagh’s Thor is a film that doesn’t have very much going for it. Its plot developments are so predictable that the film skirts the line of being dry and businesslike. It replaces subtlety with exposition that would be laborious if it weren’t so damned simple. And yet Thor manages to be Marvel’s best Avengers film to date and the most effective, straight-up morality tale found in superhero movies since Spider-Man.

The film’s shifting between two locations – Marvel’s version of Asgard and a middle-of-nowhere town in New Mexico – reveals its greatest strength. In Asgard, Thor and his friends are the picture of moral simplicity. The entire machinations of the politics and power-play of Asgard are so simple that they are laughable on paper. Characters frequently waltz around declaring what they’ve just done, or what it is they are about to do. Every now and then, the grandfatherly but commanding Odin will explain the difference between right and wrong and how people should generally behave. The conflict is simple  and in-your-face – Thor is too immature to take the crown and Loki is jealous that he’s not even considered. Done. Insert plot here.

But not so fast. When Thor finds himself in New Mexico, the film becomes more than just eye candy. On Earth, Thor acts as if he is still a god – why wouldn’t he? His basal charm and simplicity both dumbfound and appeal to Jane Foster, the film’s Obligatory Romantic Interest™. We know exactly why Thor is on Earth; Odin explicitly told us two scenes ago that he would have to learn his lessons in maturity as a ruler by being banished to this godforsaken, CGI-lacking world. The fish-out-of-water scenario is classically executed well as Thor begins to pick up pace, but it is also here that the film begins to set itself apart.

Although the characters may not be very complex, the contrast between how they function in Asgard and on Earth demonstrate the key themes of the film. In Asgard, everything is cut and dry. Often the bland and outward motivations of the characters go so far as to make them seem stupid. On Earth, Thor finds a world where the good guys squabble with each other, and where power doesn’t seem to be organised as logically as it was in Asgard under Odin’s watchful eye. He doesn’t exactly learn subtlety, but Thor learns to see the world as more than just right and wrong, good and bad. Meanwhile, as Loki learns of his origins as a Frost Giant child; the deceit and lies he finds in his own past make themselves manifest in his selfish actions of the future. He manages to deceive even himself, while Thor learns to see beyond the mask of Asgard’s blunt warrior morality.

The central moment in the film occurs when Loki and Thor battle upon the latter’s return to Asgard. Loki mocks Thor for his admittedly clichéd changes during his experience on Earth, demanding whether “the girl” was responsible for his newfound kindheartedness. Loki mistakes his silence for affirmation, but the audience is aware of how untrue this assertion is. It isn’t Jane Foster who creates the fundamental change in Thor, although she is a symbol of how he finds that change. His transformation begins when Thor is unable to pull Mjolnir, his hammer, out from the rock Odin has lodged it into. In this moment, Thor loses the only thing which gave him his clear sense of moral judgment – his power. To fill this void, Thor finds, silly as it may sound, love. But not through Jane Foster or his friends, but through himself. When Loki (literally) sends giant hulking fire-breathing armour to find and kill Thor, his powerlessness becomes a problem. As his friends, both new and old, stand ready to retreat, Thor finds a solution by sending them off and marching towards the monster, ready to make the ritual sacrifice we’ve all been expecting. But what is important here is not necessarily the fact that he is willing to die for his friends, but rather that he has managed to find a solution that does not require power. He is left with only one option to save the world around him from further destruction and suffering; his life is the only bargaining chip he has left. And so he offers it – because losing power has shown him that being good doesn’t just mean deciding where and how to exert power for a good cause, but to do what is right when it is demanded of you. And when he learns that lesson, his power is returned to him.

Amidst all of the pomp, that lesson is what Thor is all about. The rift between father and sons, the political maneuverings of Asgardians, and the conflict between Jane and SHIELD all underline the same messages. In essence, Thor boils down to a simple story about simple people and simple gods. It demonstrates an idea that permeates mythology and modern fantasy – the gods are just as fallible as us humans, which means that what is important about power is not having it, but knowing how to use it. In telling us this story in a manner so straightforward it could almost be called a fable, Thor does not mark itself as a particularly sophisticated or innovative film. What it does exceedingly well, however, is using its imagination, rooted in ancient tropes, and its unashamed simplicity to create a powerful and entertaining modern morality tale.

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