Film Review: THOR (2011) - Revisited

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writers (screenplay): Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz & Don Payne
Writers (story): J. Michael Straczynski & Mark Protosevich
Writers (comic book): Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby
Running Time: 114 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
UK Release Date: 27th April 2011

Watched on Sky+ Friday 6^th April 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Having seen this one at the cinema when it was released, I was interested to give it a second viewing when it aired on TV recently. Although it didn’t quite have the visual impact it did on the big screen, I still quite enjoyed it, the humour still comes through as does the drama of the piece. I will give you my thoughts after this brief summary.

We begin with Thor arriving on Earth and immediately being run over by a vehicle owned by storm chaser, Jane Foster. We then get some explanation of how he ended up there… this is quite long and involved, but necessary. In Asgard Thor was war-like and hot headed and, prompted by his brother, Loki, he had defied his father, Odin, and his actions almost caused a war. So Odin took Thor’s powers and banished him to Earth. He also sent his hammer with the proviso that it could only be held by someone worthy. Back with Thor, Jane is interested in the ‘storm’ that brought him to Earth and offers to help him find his hammer if he will tell her about it. Unfortunately, by the time they get to where it’s landed, agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. are already there. Back in Asgard Odin falls into a deep sleep and Loki takes over as king, he has his reasons, but I’m not going to tell you what they are here. Believing Thor to be a greater threat to him, he sends the Guardian, a great warrior entity, to destroy him and all those who would oppose it. Can Thor find the humility his father desires to see in him and regain his powers? Will he get the girl at least? All these questions and more are answered in the film… I’m not telling you here or the Spoiler Police (Marvel Division) will be sending the Guardian after me.

As I said at the beginning, there is an awful lot of humour in this film, a lot more than I expected. Of course, Stan Lee gets his little cameo… it wouldn’t be the same without him. The plot is very complicated and there was an awful lot of dialogue explaining everything which tends to get in the way of the story. Having said that, the visuals are quite stunning, the scenes in Asgard and the other worlds are quite breathtaking, although not quite as stunning on a TV screen.

Performance wise, everybody did a pretty good job, newcomer Chris Hemsworth was pretty good as Thor, his voice matched the character really well and he had the physical presence too. Natalie Portman, although not at all stretched, did a decent job as Jane Foster. Tom Hiddleston was well cast as Loki, as was Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Honourable mentions go to Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig and Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis.

Over all, although I found it a little over-long and the plot was a little wordy and hard to follow in places, I pretty much enjoyed this film. Given the theatrical background of the director I can see why it ended up like this. What did surprise me was the excellent way he handled the action scenes and the special effects, which were all excellent by the way. There were enough good things about this film for me to deem it still… Recommended.

My Score: 7.0/10

IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 154,789 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 77/100 (based on 254 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 80/100 (based on 120,032 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thor/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Odin: You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!
Thor: And you are an old man and a fool!
Odin: Yes... I was a fool, to think you were ready.
Loki: Father...
Odin: [to Loki] NAY!
Odin: Thor Odinson... you have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you've opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war! You are unworthy of these realms, you're unworthy of your title, you are unworthy... of the love of those you have betrayed! I now take from you your power! In the name of my father and his father before me, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!

Jane Foster: Describe exactly what happened to you last night.
Thor: Your ancestors called it magic...
[Thor skims through a book on Norse mythology]
Thor: ...but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same.

Thor: You! What place is this? Elfheim, Nilfheim?
Darcy: [frightened, pulls out a taser] New Mexico?
Thor: You dare threaten the son of Odin with such a puny weapon...?
[Darcy tasers him]
Darcy: [to Jane] What? He was freaking me out!

Agent Cale: [staring at The Destroyer] Is that one of Stark's?
Agent Coulson: I don't know. Guy never tells me anything.

Clint Barton: Do you want me to take him down or would you rather send in more guys for him to beat up?

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://thor.marvel.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: THOR (2011)

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Running Time: 114 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure
UK Release Date: 27th April 2011

Watched at the Cinema Saturday 7th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I had heard one or two good things about this one before seeing it and so I was looking forward to a nice afternoon’s entertainment on a wet Saturday in Yorkshire. It was good, but didn’t quite live up to my initial expectations. Instead, I got something with a lot more humour than expected and a lot more drama too, but I guess when you’re dealing with the Gods, drama is obligatory.

We begin with Thor arriving on Earth and immediately being run over by a vehicle owned by storm chaser, Jane Foster. We then get some explanation of how he ended up there… this is quite long and involved, but necessary. In Asgard Thor was war-like and hot headed and, prompted by his brother, Loki, he had defied his father, Odin, and his actions almost caused a war. So Odin took Thor’s powers and banished him to Earth. He also sent his hammer with the proviso that it could only be held by someone worthy. Back with Thor, Jane is interested in the ‘storm’ that brought him to Earth and offers to help him find his hammer if he will tell her about it. Unfortunately, by the time they get to where it’s landed, agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. are already there. Back in Asgard Odin falls into a deep sleep and Loki takes over as king, he has his reasons, but I’m not going to tell you what they are here. Believing Thor to be a greater threat to him, he sends the Guardian, a great warrior entity, to destroy him and all those who would oppose it. Can Thor find the humility his father desires to see in him and regain his powers? Will he get the girl at least? All these questions and more are answered in the film… I’m not telling you here.

As I said at the beginning, there is an awful lot of humour in this film, a lot more than I expected. Of course, Stan Lee gets his little cameo… it wouldn’t be the same without him. Unfortunately, I found the plot very complicated and there was an awful lot of dialogue explaining everything which tended to get in the way of the story. Having said that, the visuals are quite stunning, the scenes in Asgard and the other worlds are quite breathtaking.

Performance wise, everybody did a pretty good job, newcomer Chris Hemsworth was pretty good as Thor, his voice matched the character really well and he had the physical presence too. Natalie Portman, although not at all stretched, did a decent job as Jane Foster. Tom Hiddleston was well cast as Loki, as was Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Honourable mentions go to Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig and Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis.

Over all, although I found it a little long and the plot was a little wordy and hard to follow in places, I pretty much enjoyed this film. One teenager was heard to announce to the audience as he was leaving the cinema that he thought it was ‘shit’, but I’m not going to listen to this budding ‘critic’. There were enough good things about this film to make me want to watch it again sometime… maybe not for a while, but it certainly wasn’t ‘shit’… Recommended.

My Score: 7.4/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thor/
Official Site: http://thor.marvel.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE BOAT THAT ROCKED (2009) [aka PIRATE RADIO]

Director: Richard Curtis
Running time: 130 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

UK Release Date: 1st April 2009

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 11th April 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

From right back in the early days of Blackadder on TV I have been a fan of the work of Richard Curtis. Unfortunately, of late, he seems to have lost the plot somewhat and this, sadly, is an example. Don’t get me wrong, it has its moments, but, with a very few exceptions, I really didn’t much care for any of the characters, and when that happens, you’re not on a winner I’m afraid.

The setting is a ship in the North Sea off the East coast of England in 1966. We are told that the national broadcaster, the BBC, only plays popular, or rock ‘n’ roll, music for only 45 minutes a day. This means that pirate radio stations, like the fictitious ‘Radio Rock’ plays all the rock and pop they want twenty four seven. And, because they are broadcasting from offshore, they are not breaking any laws. The government are not happy about this and one minister in particular, Sir Alistair Dormandy is charged with shutting them down. Our story beings with the arrival Carl, of the godson of Quentin, the station’s owner, on the boat. He’s introduced to all of the DJ’s, The Count, News John, Thick Kevin, Angus Nutsford, Doctor Dave, Simple Simon, Midnight Mark, Harold (the engineer) and Felicity (the cook). And later he meets Bob Silver. After the government makes it illegal to sell advertising to these stations, Quentin announces the return of an iconic DJ from the past, Gavin Canavagh, much to the dismay of The Count, who is currently rated the best DJ. I won’t say too much more about the plot, don’t want to give too much away to those that want to see it.

It’s quite a well made film, but there are several plot holes and inconsistencies that kind of spoilt it for me. There was a whole section of the film that just didn’t work for me and that’s the middle, where everyone’s jumping into bed with everyone else. If I wanted to see that kind of stuff I’d have got a Benny Hill DVD. The best performances came from Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Count, Bill Nighy as Quentin and Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy. Nobody else really stretched themselves, but honourable mentions go to Tom Sturridge as Carl, Will Adamsdale as News John, Tom Brooke as Thick Kevin, Rhys Darby as Angus Nutsford, Nick Frost as Doctor Dave (hated this character), Katherine Parkinson as Felicity, Chris O'Dowd as Simple Simon, Tom Wisdom as midnight Mark and Rhys Ifans as Gavin Canavagh.

There is a great soundtrack, although given the period its set I am gob smacked that the Beatles do not have one track! Decent performances from the three I mentioned, but the script left a lot to be desired and I’m sure Mr Curtis can do so much better. So this does not come highly recommended from me, the soundtrack’s pretty good and there’s not a lot else to say about it really.

My score: 5.2/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1131729/
Official Site: http://focusfeatures.com/film/pirate_radio
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1266090521/