Kenneth Branagh to direct Thor

[DACrowe]

Interesting choice. Very surprising.

I like Branaugh as a filmmaker. I think Branagh is a bit vain and egotistical, but he has made some fantastic movies: See Henry V, Hamlet (1996, one of the best film versions) and IMO his best-directed movie, the always-underrated Much Ado About Nothing.

His Frankenstein was too big and melodramatic and suffered from being too much of a vanity project, but it was still visually stunning and featured some memorable performances from Robert DeNiro and Helena Bonham Carter. In fact all of his movies have great performances whether it is from someone like Brian Blessed or Sir Derek Jacobi, or someone like Billy Crystal, Michael Keaton or Denzel Washington.

A very skilled actor's director. Also, Patrick Doyle always saves his best and richest musical scores for Branagh movies, so you can expect some amazing music.

 

[WeaponXProject]

I have to rent Henry V and Sleuth and see what this guy is all about...quite a resume though.

 

[Evil Twin]

I have to rent Henry V and Sleuth and see what this guy is all about...quite a resume though.

I'd recommend skipping Sleuth. Sleuth and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are easily his two worst films, IMO.

 

[WeaponXProject]

I'd recommend skipping Sleuth. Sleuth and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are easily his two worst films, IMO.

I have seen his Frankenstein and was disappointed.

 

[BlackLantern]

as for good Branagh films, I'd go with Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and he did some movie where he played FDR, it was pretty decent....

 

[Ronny Shade]

Hamlet = 5 stars

 

[BlackLantern]

It's the blonde hair....that alone gets it from 4 to 5 stars

 

[Ronny Shade]

The only thing ...The ONLY THING I would change about that movie...is that Branagh blinks when he's supposed to be dead.


On second thought...sequel!

 

[Spider-Vader]

Hey what has this guy done before? I want to know if I can hope for this to be promising.

When I was asking this, I was asking about the director. But I now know he's promising. He doesn't seem like a guy who would take a s*** script.
I just hope he can do good action, I don't want another Hulk on our hands.

 

[Spade]

If there's one thing I can say about what I've seen of Branagh's work, it's that he has a sense of pace. Ang Lee has always struggled with that. I don't foresee this becoming another Hulk.

 

[Chewy]

^ Agreed. You don't just luck your way into a four and a half hour cut of Hamlet working on every level.

 

[Ronny Shade]

except the pacing in Hulk was incredible

 

[Spade]

The transitions were interesting, but there was more than a few minutes of dialogue that could have been cut out. I'm not saying it would have made the movie perfect or great, but there's a point when I hear two different origin stories being explained and debated amongst the characters where I say "enough already."

 

[DACrowe]

Eh, the pace of Hamlet dragged. But that is because it is 4 hours that is even long for stage these days and that is why most theatre directors and filmmakers cut it down (albeit you could argue filmmakers cut it down too much). But Branagh knew this weakness and kept his Hamlet exciting and fun by pulling out all the stops in every scene to make the 4 hours move quicker. His Hamlet is visually stunning, albeit I did not care for his depiction of Hamlet or how he directed (and underplayed) Gertrude. His Polonious and especially how he and Jacobi created their version of Claudius was masterful though and the use of Billy Crystal and Robin Williams was inspired. Jack Lemmon...we all make mistakes.

But I stand by his most entertaining movie to date that he directed is Much Ado About Nothing. Everyone but Keanu Reeves gives brilliant performances. Michael Keaton steals every scene he is in, Denzel Washington, Branagh himself and Emma Thompson are all charismatic and enjoyable to watch and Kate Beckinsale is drop dead gorgeous in her role. It is really a perfect romantic comedy that is also a Shakespeare play.

His Henry V is very good, but like Hamlet, the material can drag on screen. But the before-and-after scenes of St. Crispin's Day are so magnificently captured that they are iconic renderings of those moments.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein...again DeNiro was great and Helena Bonham Carter was good. But like Hamlet it was a vanity project. However, unlike Hamlet, it collapsed under its own weight. Too much melodrama, too much gore, too much music, too much camera movement...just too much. But again, it was visually gorgeous. Which would be a good sign for Thor. It was also incredibly faithful to the book, unlike any other Frankenstein movie to date. Mind you, I think James Whale's Frankenstein movies were better than the book.

Just my 2 cents on Branagh's resume.

P.S. How does his Sleuth compare to the original with Olivier and Cain?

 

[Evil Twin]

Eh, the pace of Hamlet dragged. But that is because it is 4 hours that is even long for stage these days and that is why most theatre directors and filmmakers cut it down (albeit you could argue filmmakers cut it down too much). But Branagh knew this weakness and kept his Hamlet exciting and fun by pulling out all the stops in every scene to make the 4 hours move quicker. His Hamlet is visually stunning, albeit I did not care for his depiction of Hamlet or how he directed (and underplayed) Gertrude. His Polonious and especially how he and Jacobi created their version of Claudius was masterful though and the use of Billy Crystal and Robin Williams was inspired. Jack Lemmon...we all make mistakes.

But I stand by his most entertaining movie to date that he directed is Much Ado About Nothing. Everyone but Keanu Reeves gives brilliant performances. Michael Keaton steals every scene he is in, Denzel Washington, Branagh himself and Emma Thompson are all charismatic and enjoyable to watch and Kate Beckinsale is drop dead gorgeous in her role. It is really a perfect romantic comedy that is also a Shakespeare play.

His Henry V is very good, but like Hamlet, the material can drag on screen. But the before-and-after scenes of St. Crispin's Day are so magnificently captured that they are iconic renderings of those moments.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein...again DeNiro was great and Helena Bonham Carter was good. But like Hamlet it was a vanity project. However, unlike Hamlet, it collapsed under its own weight. Too much melodrama, too much gore, too much music, too much camera movement...just too much. But again, it was visually gorgeous. Which would be a good sign for Thor. It was also incredibly faithful to the book, unlike any other Frankenstein movie to date. Mind you, I think James Whale's Frankenstein movies were better than the book.

Just my 2 cents on Branagh's resume.

P.S. How does his Sleuth compare to the original with Olivier and Cain?

I agree with the above 100%.

I haven't seen the original Sleuth, but I think the remake collapses in the third act. It just becomes too overwrought and melodramatic. And its "shocking" revelations aren't really in this day and age.

I do think that where Branagh struggles at times is in keeping the melodrama in check. His failures are all big failures pitched to the last row of a theater. Frankenstein and Sleuth failed in that regard. Dead Again struggles with that from time to time, although I think it's ultimately a good film. His small films like Peter's Friends and A Midwinter's Tale aren't great films, but they seem to be the films where Branagh's "big" tendencies are most in check.

FWIW, that's where I see the biggest danger for Branagh with Thor. If it has problems, it's likely going to be because of too much bombast, particularly in scenes that could be played quieter. I'm certain that the big action scenes will be appropriately big and awesome.

 

[GNR]

I hope we get a casting announcement by the end of the year and an official announcement for Kenneth Branagh.Considering all the post prod work,set designs and costumes that are going into this,they'd need to get rolling in the first quarter of 2009 right?

 

[Chewy]

^ Yep. And even if we don't get "official" confirmation, Branagh's got his new movie next month so we should be getting a ton of interviews.

 

[broblacksteel]

GNR, we will hear something before xmas... I will say i am not sure AT all how this casting may go now due to some new rumblings i heard earlier this week... :csad

All i can say is this....ALL of us have pulled for certain people to be cast, but let's just say that NONE of them (mine included) are in the TOP 3 of who marvel is going to approach 1st with offers....

So here's to hoping some people demand too much $$$ or turn it down..... or we ALL are in for a surprise...

 

[Chewy]

I still don't buy it, broblacksteel - but, operating under the assumption that you aren't completely full of ****, are these "surprise" actors guys we've heard of but never would have thought of, or people we would have had absolutely no chance of having heard of?

 

[darthlaney]

I have a feeling that Thor is causing Marvel headaches - they need the pre-cap release and should have made announcements by now (certainly before the Cap director was anounced)

I wonder if a number of people were lining up for cap, that were also being considered for Thor, but Cap was their preference. Now that Cap is locked down it free's up that list for Marvel to look at Thor.

However ...

Realistically this is a hit or miss project - it will take a brave director to take it on.

 

[chiefchirpa]

Yes, it's obviously Marvel are heavily slanted on Cap. Can't blame them - people are more enthusiastic on seeing the Cap movie than Thor by a large margin. Now if Cap can be done first & Marvel don't know how to start Thor why not switching the release date?

 

[broblacksteel]

Chewy, what i hear is better than all this speculation some guys live for on this board. Thor is a project i am close to but may NOT be involved in IF the individuals i deal with/work for do not get hired (so there goes your ******** theory). That is the only reason i am able to hear a few things 2nd hand, now to answer your question....2 names i heard an offer WILL go out to are actors we know, both are over 6'1 and are considered A list type people and neither have blonde hair!!! That is all i can say....

If they turn marvel down, then we get to some of the names that have been mentioned on here... here's hoping for the best and preparing for whatever

 

[chiefchirpa]

Are "they" British actors, like Branagh?

 

[Marz69]

I find it hard to believe that no one on this board has mentioned an A-Lister actor that is being considered. But to cover all basis, I'll mention George Clooney. I think we've covered them all now.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Tom Cruise.

On stilts.