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Thor: Review

Damon Houx — Fri, 06 May 2011 00:01:01 +0000

Thor may be the trickiest of the big Marvel characters to adapt. Both a Norse God, and an extra-terrestrial being, Thor doesn’t have the “normal person thrust into superpowers” hook – which is both good and bad. And to that end Thor is not really an origin tale, so much as a learning experience for the main character. There’s a lot to do here, on top of director Kenneth Branagh putting a big budget fantasy movie on the shoulders of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, both actors who – at best – had some notable supporting performances previous to this. Did they succeed?

The Players

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Writers: Don Payne, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (Screenplay), Mark Protosevich and J. Michael Straczynski (Story)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard

The Plot

After nearly being crowned King of the other world Asgard, Thor (Hemsworth) is banished to Earth by his father Odin (Hopkins) until he learns some humility. There he meets Jane Foster (Portman), and falls in love. His hammer is also on Earth, but it can only be retrieved by someone who can use it correctly. Meanwhile Thor’s brother Loki (Hiddleston) is now in line to be king, but he learns some dark secrets that change who he is, and leads his father into a sleep that puts him in charge. But Loki is a bad leader, and the only thing that can save Asgard (and possibly Earth as well) is Thor.

The Good

Tom Hiddleston: Hiddleston compares his character to Iago, and what makes the film work at its best is when Hiddleston is on screen. It’s hard to get a bead on his character, in the best possible way – you keep watching him in hopes of getting a better understanding of machinations. But at the center of the character is a real person, who is lashing out in a way that is perfect for a younger, and possibly underestimated brother.
It’s Not an Origin Film: Though it is a lesson film, which in some ways is similar to the origin tale, the film spends little time showing Thor becoming Thor. He’s Thor.
The Cast: Though this leads into some of the problems, everyone is cast perfectly. Hopkins may be the only conceivable choice for Odin, Chris Hemsworth is pretty much perfect as Thor, and the supporting cast are note perfect. but…

The Bad

Talented Cast, Too Bad They Have Nothing to Do: Rene Russo is the wife of Odin, and she probably has about three lines in the film. The Warriors Three and Sif (Jamie Alexander) are in the film, and are defined by their look, or that one likes to eat a lot. Portman’s Jane Foster is sexually attracted to Thor, but other than being at the right place to meet Thor, she doesn’t have much else to do. This is the Thor and Loki show, and everyone else serve the plot to move the story forward. Only Idris Elba seems able to have a little bit of fun. The film is 114 minutes, and it’s possible that the film plays better with an additional half hour or hour of footage.
Empire Building: S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up in the film to build a tent around Thor’s Hammer, but nothing they do in the film is of any consequence, other than to give Thor someone to battle on Earth. Too much of the film is dedicated to things that are more important to the Marvel canon than the film itself. Like the last point – as Marvel has spoiled – Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye shows up in the film, but all he does is point an arrow at Thor and then disappear from the film. It’s cool if you know who Hawkeye is, but Renner has nothing to do but show up. This was fun when Sam Jackson showed up at the end of Iron Man, because it didn’t get in the way of the story, but here it’s the cinematic equivalent of standing behind a newscaster and waving.
Narratives That Are Self-Evident: The film is about how Thor got back his hammer, and the idea of a leader learning humility is a good plot, but how Thor learns humanity almost happens off screen, and the change – though apparent in the character – is not made cinematic. Something happens and Thor changes immediately. On top of that, Thor is kept from his hammer for the majority of the running time, but it’s not even a spoiler to say that he gets his hammer back. Because of that, the majority of the film is a slog when Hiddleston isn’t on screen because there’s little to latch on to, and the thing that would have made this more palatable are characters to care about. It also comes across as a cost-cutting measure, as the middle then is mostly spectacle-free.

The Mixed

Kenneth Branagh: As a director, Branagh lost his way quickly after the great success of Henry V, and his work with the cast is excellent, but his sense of making this exciting is using canted angles, and he doesn’t use the massive amounts of CGI in interesting ways. I think that the film had to exist in some way that sets up the characters, and the film does introduce Thor to cinema in a way that suggests he’d be a good character to follow, and has a number of great friends and foes, but it feels more like a pilot than complete narrative. Sadly, that’s how so many of these comic franchises have been going.

Overall

Not so much terrible as all set up, Marvel seems more interested in getting to The Avengers than they are in telling great stories. Thor may have been toughest to crack cinematically, but that can’t defend a very uninteresting story that offers few grace notes outside of Hiddleston’s performance.

Score: 3.5/10

Thor opens May 6.

Stellan Skarsgard in Talks For The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Krystal Clark — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:55:46 +0000

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard is about to add some hometown flavor to David Fincher’s American adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. According to Variety, the actor spilled the beans about ongoing talks for him to star in the film, even though the studio hasn’t officially announced his involvement. The cat’s out of the bag now. Thanks Stellan! Here’s who he’s looking to play in the remake…

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo centers on a middle-aged journalist who joins forces with a private investigator named Lisbeth Salander to solve a missing persons case that’s been open for decades. Skarsgard will play Martin Vanger, one of the primary suspects in the disappearance. The actor recently spoke about his professional relationship with Fincher and also revealed when the film will begin production.

“I have met Fincher, I want to work with him, he wants to work me. I have had a concrete offer and now we are in negotiations. The contract is for the period September to March, but I don’t know yet when I am supposed to start my part of the film,” he added. Most of it is to be shot in Stockholm, but some studio work will be done in the U.S. I think there might be some location work there as well, when it becomes too dark to shoot here.”

Daniel Craig was previously cast, now Skarsgard has an offer, yet we’re still awaiting the right young actress to play the female lead. Where are you Lisbeth? Where are you?

What do you think of Skarsgard joining the cast?

Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland Join Melancholia

Krystal Clark — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:28:43 +0000

If you’ve been wondering where Kirsten Dunst has been hiding since hearing about Spider-Man 4 being scrapped in favor of a hipper, cheaper reboot we’ve got your answer. According to Deadline, the actress has landed a role in controversial director Lars Von Trier’s next project entitled Melancholia. She’ll play the lead in the film that will also feature Jack Bauer and Eric Northman in supporting roles.

Originally the lead in Melancholia was supposed to go to Penelope Cruz but she opted out in favor of a part in the Disney tentpole, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. This film is said to fit into the “sci-fi disaster” genre but besides that the storyline has been kept under wraps. Besides Dunst, Melancholia will star Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard his dad Stellan Skarsgard, and Charlotte Gainsburg who previously worked with the director on AntiChrist.

Currently, Dunst is working on a film called Upside Down opposite Jim Sturgess, which is due out next year. It’s been a while since she’s been in anything that the general public has seen. How To Lose Friends & Alienate People came out two years ago and the drama All Good Things she recently shot doesn’t have a release date yet.

Maybe her performance in Melancholia will show us something new that we haven’t seen before. Perhaps it can breathe new life into her career?

What do you think of Kirsten Dunst replacing Cruz in Melancholia?

Stellan Skarsgard Cast in Thor

Krystal Clark — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:09:59 +0000

Here’s a bit of ironic casting. According to ComingSoon, Stellan Skarsgard has joined the cast of Kenneth Branagh‘s live action adaptation of Thor. If you’ve been following the film’s progress, you know that the actor’s son Alexander was rumored to star as the title character in the film. He was unfortunately beat out by native Aussie, Chris Hemsworth, so this is going to be awkward.

According to the site, Skarsgard was asked to sign on to the film without officially reading the script, which he ultimately refused to do. So, they ended up sending him a coded version of it, that would only allow him to print one copy. With this type of secrecy surrounding the story, it’s no surprise that the studio hasn’t released any info on Skarsgard’s role in the movie. Thor will hit theaters on May 20, 2011, and will co-star Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore and Samuel L. Jackson.

That’s right people, Samuel L. Jackson will be in this Marvel movie as well. This is a sure fire sign that he’ll be rounding up the Avengers in each film, just like he started in Iron Man. This is also a great indication that the films will follow the Ultimates Marvel Universe, which I love.

What do you think about Stellan Skarsgaard joining Thor?

Two New Angels and Demons Posters

Mali Elfman — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:41 +0000

What I also like better about international posters is that they’re always a little more violent and dramatic than the US ones. Although I have enjoyed the angelic and demonic, give and take of the Tom Hanks posters for Angels and Demons, I really like the intensity and the fire behind the new Stellan Skarsgård and Ewan McGregor posters. I also love how they’re finally featuring someone other than Tom Hanks.

As I mentioned before after seeing a good 5-6 minutes of the film, I don’t want to like this film, but it looks REALLY good and so far ever image that has come out of the film has been really great. I think we’re going to be forced to like this one.

Check out the two new posters below…

What do you think? Do you like them better than the other Angels and Demons posters?

ScreenCrave.com » Stellan Skarsgård

Thor: Review

The Players

The Plot

The Good

The Bad

The Mixed

Overall

Score: 3.5/10

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