Minute Twenty-Three: From Headbutts to Arm Grabs

This week, we’re joined by Cass Fredrickson from Lord of the Rings Minute at Dueling Genre Productions. Laufey ups the battle with Hailstrum and more frost giants and we see Loki's magic in action, so there’s plenty to discuss!

In the twenty-third minute of Kenneth Branagh’s 2011 film Thor...

• Thor seriously is thumping his chest with his roar to match Hailstrum’s. But how seriously is he taking this fight? After Hailstrum shows Thor that he’s pretty strong too, Thor takes off his head with a toss of Mjølnir. So is this a war he’s starting?
• Has he ever been in a serious fight or has Odin always sent him in to the less serious fights?
• All these battles are also told from the point of view of the victors. How does that affect our opinions of Thor leading his friends here to fight?
• And to that end, does Thor see the Frost Giants as anything other than things to kill? I mean, when they’re hit, that part explodes in shards of ice.
• So realistically, the violence depicted is actually pretty tame despite a massive slaughter taking place here on Jotunheim. I mean, Frost Giants shatter into ice when hit. No blood. So it’s PG-13 friendly.

Mjølnir’s Powers are pretty damn cool.

• It’s so fun watching Thor fight with Mjølnir, and here we get to see that it returns to him when thrown.
• Is Thor’s pose of catching the hammer repeated when Captain America catches it in Endgame?

The Warriors Three, Sif, and Loki seem more focused on teamwork than Thor does.

• The battle gets tougher. Hogun comes to Sif’s aid. Volstagg lets everyone know that when a Frost Giant touches you, it necrotizes your skin. Why does Thor not work with everyone as a team? Is he too focused on himself? Or is it just that we really want to see what sort of cool stuff he can do?
• Loki doesn’t really play fair, but then again that’s war right? We feel okay with it because it’s basically how wars are fought. But how did he get behind the pillar? We’re not really sure.
• And to that end, is Loki's magic just magic? Or is it some other fancy sort of super-advanced science? They will call it magic later in the films and TV show... Hrm...
• What’s with his silly flourish when he ‘turns off’ his illusion? Is it just so we know that it’s all with his hands?
• And what’s this berserker Frost Giant thinking by charging to tackle Loki on the edge of a chasm? Was it like a suicide mission?

We've got Fimbuldraugr, Hridgandr, and Brandrheid Undrsigr as the weapons of the Warriors Three. Why aren't Sif's sword and shield named? Or Loki's daggers? Or Loki's magic, for that matter?

• We’re fans of Sif using her shield to protect herself from the ice bullets one Frost Giant creates and hurls at her when he strikes a puddle, but how is there standing water on this planet? Isn’t everything frozen? And why would they name Hogun’s, Fandral’s, and Volstagg’s weapons but not Sif’s? We’re a bit irked about that.
• We’re all very grateful that Branagh excised the moment where Volstagg uses his mighty belly to take down a Frost Giant. Sheesh.

The surprise about Loki’s heritage comes up. But where does Loki's magic come from?

• What did we think was happening when we first saw the Frost Giant grab his arm and turn it blue?
• Whose magic is keeping Loki from looking like a Frost Giant?
• Who is playing this Frost Giant though? Andy had worked with the actor who the MCU Wiki claims is playing this role and is pretty sure it’s not him. Perhaps Richard Cetrone?
• One other nice thing, though, is that this payoff comes so quickly after the setup of the Frost Giant touch that it’s really not a problem for any of us.

More fighting. Some teamwork (but not from Thor) and a surprise reveal about Loki when we see his arm turn blue. We dig in deep this minute. Tune in!

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