Thread: Thor

REVIEW: “Thor” (***)

Indeed, if “Thor,” with its eccentric split personality, ragged construction and hot-and-cold technical contributions, still emerges as fizzier, heartier and more generous than most comparable blockbusters cluttering the release schedule, the actorly empathy of its director may be what makes the difference. Fanboys reacted with some hostility when it was revealed Branagh would shepherd this Marvel property to screen —and in fairness, nothing he’d directed since 1996’s “Hamlet” automatically suggested he was to be trusted with any major mainstream project—but if his awkward handling of certain action and fantasy set pieces is unlikely to appease them, it’s refreshing to see a superhero picture that trades in human wit rather than lazy irony. It’s scarcely surprising, then, that this virtue is most apparent when the film remains earthbound: in this particular face-off of gods and men, the men have it.

Kat Dennings on Thor, Her Black List Script, and Her Most Brutal Role to Date | Movieline

One thing you gotta give to Kat is that her interviews are always good reading.

She’s also the closest character the film has to an audience stand in, commenting on the silliness of Thor’s Asgardian traits on Earth to beat the audience to the punch.
Yes, that’s exactly how I look at it! She’s the one who says what the audience is thinking, and that’s really fun to play with. And if you say it, then it’s out and [the audience] can stop thinking it. So having someone in the film say it takes any air out of the impulse for other people to say it.

That is probably a very smart move.

Originally Posted by adgy-san

Kat Dennings on Thor, Her Black List Script, and Her Most Brutal Role to Date | Movieline

One thing you gotta give to Kat is that her interviews are always good reading.



That is probably a very smart move.

Also...

boobs.

Originally Posted by Dr. Naysay

Also...

boobs.

Hmmmmm...Good point sir!

Got a screening at work today. Was a lot of fun. Good super-hero action. Thor's planet (or realm I guess) and that of the frost giants were visually pretty crazy...Not a blow-you-away flick, but better than I expected. And I know very little of the Thor comic.

Hemsworth did a very good job. I didn't even know Anthony Hopkins or Rene Russo were in it, but nice touch.

A cameo and some lingo thrown in that hint towards upcoming Avengers movie, including a scene at the end of the credits like in Iron Man.

Kenneth Branagh on Thor and Learning to Love the Blockbuster | Movieline

Good read.

Numerous internationally respected filmmakers or auteurs have gone this route — I’m thinking Chris Nolan, Bryan Singer, JJ Abrams. Sam Mendes is directing a James Bond film. Why this migration now?
Well, we know that our world is changing profoundly — that the technological and media revolution of the last 15 years means that viewing habits change. The way people view movies changes. And that big-screen experience… I think the subject matter and the kind of technology that can deliver it in an exciting way are all provided by these kinds of pictures. For me, there are levels of interest both visual and intellectual — and purely visceral — in something like Thor that also allow me, on a scale such as this, to experiment and try and innovate a bit with technical developments, whether it’s the way we use 3-D or whether it’s the world of visual effects. What it offers is the chance for the larger-than-life cinematic experience to an audience that tends to concentrate on visiting the movies in that way. As we know, it’s much tougher for the character pieces and the chamber pieces to exist out there in the mainstream movie world.

Yet it seems to me audiences are ever more sophisticated, ever more intelligent in terms of what they expect from what they view. They expect, in they case of Thor a big, summer, entertaining movie, but they expect it to be layered. They want it to be layered. They want great amounts of creative ambition, and the blistering example of this is Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight. It is, I think, a deep and magnificent work, but also a great big entertaining blockbuster. So that’s at least one conspicuous example of what that kind of tremendous filmmaker can bring to the changed expectations of modern cinema audiences.

Toy Review: Thor Lightning Hammer | Geeks of Doom

It does have some downsides, however. When I did my “how much is the replica like the movie?” test, it failed miserable. I slammed the hammer on my car, and it unfortunately didn’t explode, and I could really have used the insurance on that one. Also, if you throw it, it doesn’t come back to you like movie Mjolnir. I know this because I stood on my porch and threw it towards my yard and it hit the ground. Lamesauce.

Overall though, the toy is really cool, and a lot of fun, and while retailing at $19.99 seems a tad high, it’s worth every penny. I’m honestly surprised that it took the beating I gave it, but didn’t get damaged at all. I know with the Hulk hands, the foam would tear easily, and while they were fun, they weren’t very durable. So, pick these up if you like this kind of a toy. I’m glad I bought it, it’s fun to play with, and ultimately you get a cool piece of Thor memorabilia.

'Thor' Co-Star Kat Dennings On Moving From Small, Quirky Films To A Summer Blockbuster — Inside Movies Since 1920

REVIEW: Thor Rules With Humor, Grace and Comic-Book Grandeur | Movieline

Branagh was meant to work on this scale. And even if ambition doesn’t always equal vision, with Thor Branagh brings the two pretty closely in line. He never loses sight of the story at the expense of spectacle, as grand as that spectacle may be. And he never lets the grandness of his vision dwarf his actors: Portman is lighter, sunnier, more alive than she’s been in most of her recent roles. (The performance has none of the actressy excess of her turn in Black Swan.) And Hemsworth is a low-key charmer, a big galoot whose muscles seem almost modest, compared to the wattage thrown off by his shy, slow-burning smile. He looks a little funny when he finally gets the chance to wield that hammer — it’s a dinky thing, way too small for his mighty frame. Luckily, it’s missing for most of the movie, which forces Thor to rely solely on his admittedly superhuman-looking humanity. And behind it all is an invisible yet maniacally obvious Kenneth Branagh, who may as well be chortling, “Behold, my creation!” It sure is something to look at.