Directed by:
Kenneth BranaghCinematography:
Haris ZambarloukosComposer:
Patrick DoyleCast:
Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Colm Feore, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgård, Adriana Barraza, Stan Lee, Ray Stevenson (more)VOD (3)
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Epic adventure THOR spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and is forced to live among humans. A beautiful, young scientist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), has a profound effect on Thor, as she ultimately becomes his first love. It’s while here on Earth that Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (16)
It’s clear to me now why a Shakespeare filmmaker like Kenneth Branagh went for this. All the scenes from Asgard seem like great theatre, with interesting characters, great fatality, betrayal, envy and jealousy. Asgard, with its megalomaniacal architecture and all its pomposity, was the most entertaining part, and the episode from Earth, thanks to the good actors, was also enjoyable, although I can't shake the impression that more unintentional humour could have been extracted from "Thor wondering among men like a bull in a china shop". Chris Hemsworth is likeable in every way, Hopkins finally after a long time in a role that suits him best; these classy characters, that's his thing. Overall an enjoyable 2 hours and I wouldn't mind a sequel.
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I didn’t believe in it, even after the overall satisfied responses, but this is surprisingly pretty good. Half of the story takes place on earth, the other half in Asgard, Thor’s home planet, which looks quite gorgeous, even if you can see the lack budget a little. But I liked the scenes on earth a bit more, they are filled with pleasant light-hearted humour, especially at the beginning. By the end, unfortunately, things get awfully serious and there isn’t even a hint of humour. But it’s still pretty nice and fun to watch. The biggest surprise for me, however, is that the blond and thunderous Hemsworth is a pretty good actor…
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After embarrassing trailers and 3D conversion, I avoided watching Thor in the movie theater. Now, in retrospect, I feel that was a mistake because Branagh has delivered a terrific comic book movie that bucks the fashionable trend of machine psychoanalyses of the heroic mind, and instead has a sympathetic man land on Earth who tackles everything with a disarming combination of unearthly naivety and muscularity. The characters are as flat as ever, but the actors are excellent, it moves along nicely, and it's full of humor (or Asgard) and proper pomposity. A sequel, please!
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It could have been dull weirdness with a bunch of polished mannequins, but thanks to Kenneth Branagh's pedantic guidance, it became a wonderful fairy tale with mythological proportions, a great degree of noble irony and, above all, the excellent Chris Hemsworth (who devoted at least as much effort to acting as he did to his first-class musculature) and, as always, the irresistible glossator Stellan Skarsgård. It is spoiled a bit by the equally fragile Portman and some stupid flubs in the script (maybe even in the Czech translation) as well as the slightly wooden tricks, but Fenriz doesn’t care about any of that... fans of hyper-effective blockbuster modernity may not be enticed, but for lovers of honest epics with a nice design and a magical atmosphere, Thor's Mjolnir should slap them on the head quite nicely. That’s the right frequency, Kenneth!
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Branagh is a tremendous guy; he knows full well that not even a popcorn relax movie can be purely action for action’s sake, but that it needs emotions through (almost Shakespeare-like) destiny, (almost Shakespeare-like) tongue-in-cheek humor (the above applies only to the original, undubbed version - dubbing can easily bury any attempt at humor) and also some acting talent in the cast... Simply everything necessary to make sure that this wouldn’t turn into an effective “American-style" brainwasher, but into a regular, although still popcorn movie with all the trimmings. And not only does Thor manage this throughout, but the relaxed impression remains with you even after you leave the movie theatre, which is unusual today. You could not get more out of the naive comic book story (which hijacks Norse myths and legends) that it’s based on. The only thing that isn’t clear to me with respect to future plans is why the last fall didn’t take place with the opposite guard?
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I would give everything in the world for a trip to Asgard. What the camera (and special effects) showcase in conjunction with the epic soundtrack surpasses everything I have seen in a long time, and each shot showing me a piece of Thor's homeland almost moves me with its grandeur. Kenneth Branagh ultimately succeeded in everything he touched. The actors are all fantastic (Tom Hiddleston unexpectedly shines), the dramatic storyline doesn't give you a moment of rest, the action is flawless, and the romantic subtext is more than just subtext. In short, this is a captivating comic book adaptation that confidently presents a treacherous subject in a Marvel light, and it intensifies your anticipation for The Avengers to an almost breathless maximum.
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A beautiful fairy tale that manages to illustrate both worlds (based on Thor's realm). I was a little bothered that Thor knew everything. On the other hand, there have been plenty of aliens amazed at cars and so on. I laughed at the scene where Thor walks into the Pet Center and says: "Give me a horse." The film certainly has more positives than negatives, but I'm still a little short of a full count. The 3D was completely unnecessary.
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Perhaps my disappointment with this is caused by excessive expectations based on decent to enthusiastic responses, but even though I was only expecting a fun summer blockbuster, I was surprised at how intellectually shallow and easily forgettable this is. The only positive aspect is Kenneth Branagh's perspective, as he was well aware of the stupidity he was directing and didn't take it too seriously. On the other hand, there is too much genre baggage and pathos in it for my taste. I really didn't expect that I would enjoy Snyder's Watchmen more... Overall impression: 40%, influenced positively by the enchanting Natalie Portman.
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By the whiskers of Odin, that was superb. Despite its fantasy atmosphere, Thor doesn’t disturb the Marvel universe as much as I had feared. On the contrary, now I have the feeling that it would be worse without him. And the mass of references (beautifully complementing the action) form an excellent foundation for the story and prepare the ground for the biggest event of next summer. Chris Hemsworth is excellent, and considering he isn’t well-known, he did an excellent job, carrying the entire movie on his shoulders without needing his hand to be held by the better-known stars who paradoxically are given much less room. Astrophysicist Natalie is here basically just so that the main protagonist someone to fall in love with and Hopkins to cast our hero out of his home. What I liked was that Branagh exploited the spectacular world of Asgard to the maximum. Midgard (alias New Mexico) serves just as a bridge to the Avengers, but for this story it’s important only to teach Thor (big and powerful) to obey orders. All in all, this is an excellent story just a drop short of perfection. A very little drop.
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If it wasn't part of the MCU, I would have missed out on it. The comic book adventures of this thunder god aren't my cup of tea either, so I'm not even disappointed. Yet I'm almost surprised that the acting trio of Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, and Kat Dennings was weak. Kenneth Branagh also used to be a much more definite safe bet. But I've already started watching it, so I'll survive every episode this one time.
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The positives: a film has its heart in the right place and knows it very well. Leading actors, phenomenal visual effects, and incredible grandiosity of the “dream part”. The negatives: too wild, unfocused, the film doesn't know what it wants to be, it's simple and easily predictable (they know their potential very well and play it safe), quite clichéd. And uneven film with a heavyweight mix of different styles and genres. It's interesting but inconsistent and maybe even overwrought.
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My opinion about Thor is this: I was uninterested until I found out who was going to direct it. Wait, Kenneth Branagh? Actually, why not? Then came Iron Man 2's fight scene (aha, so this is what Mjölnir will look like), then the first (hmmm, somehow I don't like it) and second (that's better, I'm getting excited) Thor trailer, and finally Patrick Doyle's soundtrack (oh man, I can't get that theme out of my head!). All that was left was to go see the movie, which I did today. There were three of us sitting in the movie theatre, not that I minded - I rather felt sorry for the 100 people who weren't sitting with us. Because Thor is the best comic book movie since Hellboy, and I stand by that. Branagh directs with clarity and, with the help of special effects artists and all sorts of designers, serves us amazing images from both Asgard and Jötunheim. The actors, from the lead to the smallest character, are likeable and (with a few exceptions) fresh, and their characters more believable as a result. The script skillfully mixes dramatic scenes with action and jokes (the crowd of gawkers at the crater with the hammer and the arrival of Thor's companions lead the way), nothing is there just for show... No, I really have nothing to complain about regarding this film. Not even Natalie. I was particularly pleased with the appearance of the ice giants, who seemed to be one of Ray Harryhausen's creations, which now reminds me even more of the strange mystical atmosphere of Asgard, which in turn pleasantly evoked the mood of the scenes from Olympus in Clash of the Titans. Oh, and the epilogue after the credits... Very juicy candy at the end. So I give it five stars and I am satisfied.___P.S. I saw it in 2D and I'm glad.
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The court director of the immortal Shakespearean classics reached for a comic book from Marvel for this one, and IMHO it was more than a fitting choice, and for Kenneth Branagh it was also the opportunity of a lifetime to pay tribute to his favourite hero. The whole film looks like a typical American blockbuster with all the trimmings, but under the surface there is something deeper, which is thanks to the seasoned director. The shots of the visually perfect and ornate Asgard are absolutely breathtaking and spectacular. The storyline does include a number of old familiar clichés, but as an outsider to the comic book, I cannot judge harshly. The cast consists of all likeable faces, and in terms of the music, many sequences were a feast for the ears. In short, I went to the cinema for the experience I got and I have to admit that Thor now proudly stands at the top of my favourite comic book characters.
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Proof of the non-existence of the real Asgard is the fact that the authors of this fill-in-the-blank weren't found somewhere kicked to death by an eight-legged horse and pecked by overgrown crows, because that just wasn't an option. I have my limits of tolerance for how far an artist can go in mining from certain basics, but this is way beyond the horizon. An abysmally insufferable digital inferno in which the only forgettable element is the creators' cowardice. A lot of people here are spitting on a black Heimdall. For me I almost went down when I saw the absurdly digital Asgard, which, despite the fact that it's kind of a nirvana for Viking pigs, is all scrubbed and shiny as if my mother lived there. I closed my eyes and hoped it would all go away and be ok, but when I opened them, the handsome Thor had just swung a hammer in his hand and I knew it was going to be bad. Take his crew, for example. A carnival of characters straight out of Dungeon Siege – a painted amazon with perfectly shaved armpits (unexplained), a Renaissance fencer (again unexplained), a Japanese man (fucking unexplained), and a rather appealing version of a fantasy dwarf who nonetheless looks like he owns a hair salon. The antagonist winking mischievously with slicked-back hair, yet the film pretends like we're not supposed to spot the villain yet. Bwa ha ha, okay, since I ate the remote during the opening thirty minutes, I was forced to finish it. Folks, it didn't get much better. It's fine to cast sure-thing Earth-bound initiators like Skarsgård or the pleasantly shaggable Natalie Portman here, if it didn't hurt so badly that they're completely unnecessary in this movie. For crystalline proof, consider one of the "action scenes" (I'm still making my point), when the newly pacifist Thor (god!) goes to ask the metallic monster if he can stop trashing the city and tells these characters to evacuate the area. Which takes place by them running about 150 m, something explodes around them, they stop, and then return to the half-dead hero, and when he asks if all the people are safe they reply that they took care of it. Oh, and the action scenes are a chapter in themselves. I don't know how high inflation has gotten in the US in the last three years, but if Bay, by the way, has a big city being raided on all levels by giant robots folding into bulldozers, fighter jets, and helicopters at the end of Transformers, and Branagh, with a budget one mega less, has one five-meter-tall metal man kick a car and smash the aforementioned shop window, that makes for some embezzled funds somewhere. Thor, with rare exceptions (like, two or three shots), is not action-packed at all because it lacks any dynamism. It either does it with editing (the opening scythe with the ice giants) or cuts it off when I would have expected something to happen (the giant in the town), or kills it off with cluttered and overwrought CGI (the battle between Thor and Loki), or last but not least, messes it up with a blatant 3D effect (does anyone really care about that anymore these days?). Thor is all that much more of a mistake because, unlike Snyder, Greengrass, Cuarón, or Bay, it keeps itself disgustingly close to the ground, lacks any directorial signature, and is unaware of its position on the audiovisual market. And it's competing increasingly noticeably with video games, which can offer far more than the cinematic medium, but will always fall short in something, and that's the interplay of story, characters, and multi-angle physical action. Thor doesn't realize this, and that's why even White Fang won’t go looking for him a year from now. The only thing that works about this movie are the references and the jokes, and that's a pretty sad card for a summer blockbuster.
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Kenneth Branagh directed a modern myth in a way that resonated with people because it maintains elements of old times when myths were passed down through oral storytelling, but also manages to connect with the contemporary world. Interesting, colorful, imaginative, and dramatic. I am quite worried about how the sequel will turn out. Director Alan Taylor has a few television credits and was primarily chosen for his work on episodes of the series "Game of Thrones," but will that be enough? Kenneth Branagh had respect for mythology and the story. I am afraid of how the second film, which is supposed to be even more fantasy-based according to the first previews, will turn out. Let's be surprised. Kenneth Branagh impressed with his approach, and Alan Taylor might surprise us. More: http://www.comics-blog.cz/2013/08/228-thor-2011-80.html
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I kept telling myself the whole time that I probably wouldn't mind in the slightest if the whole story had just taken place "up top", because the setting Kenneth Branagh created in Thor is extremely impressive, and as a pure fantasy with no human presence the whole film would probably work just as well. On the other hand, the most important aspect of the whole film – the believable and non-comical interconnection (which doesn't happen very often in this kind of "linking" in the film world) of the two worlds – was handled excellently, so that the alternation of the "upstairs" and "downstairs" environments in the end comes across as seamless and undisruptive. I really liked how the world of humans gradually shaped and influenced Thor's character, plus the bonding he had with Jane was pleasantly intimate, even endearing at times. A comic book with an ancient setting, who knew.
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