Minute Twenty-Two: From a Staring Contest to a Roaring Contest

This week, we’re joined by Cass Fredrickson from Lord of the Rings Minute at Dueling Genre Productions. We dig into the start of the battle with the frost giants as Thor finally wields Mjølnir.

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

• Thor and the Frost Giant Sentry have a staring contest. Thor knows he needs to listen to Loki, but he looks like he reeeeeeeeeally doesn’t want to.
• The Frost Giant Sentry, of course, just can’t not provoke Thor a bit.
• Like Marty McFly in Back to the Future, Thor doesn’t take kindly to name-calling. For Marty, it was ‘chicken.’ Apparently for Thor, it’s ‘princess.’
• And Loki’s response to that? Possibly one of cinema’s most perfect Damns. Perhaps it’s Loki’s most sincere moment in this whole movie?

The battle with the frost giants begins as we finally get to see Mjølnir in action.

• The sound it makes. The way Thor drops it to catch the handle’s end. The runes. It’s all just so perfect and we love every frame of it.
• Speaking of the runes, this is Elder Futhark. Sure, there might be some minor typos and technically, it should be Younger Futhark, but we’re okay with it and imagine most people are too.
• To that end, we speak more to the history of Mjølnir in the mythology and how it’s different here.
• Thor hits the Frost Giant Sentry who flies back to the wall. Yeah, he’s gonna feel that in the morning.
• Kenneth Branagh and his cinematographer really wanted more handheld camerawork to keep that chaotic battle feel here, which we feel works well.

Everyone has their own special skills to wield in this battle with the frost giants. But seriously. Mjølnir. 

• During the fight, we see each of Thor’s companions in action, really designed to sell us that they’re each very capable warriors.
• Fandral really seems patterned off of Errol Flynn. Or maybe the Dread Pirate Roberts.
• We’re again glad that the comedy from the Warriors Three has been excised. Sure, it works for the comics but here, it just doesn’t work that well.
• Thor not only wants to fight, but he wants it to be a good fight. But does that mean he’s totally fine with killing anyone who comes in front of Mjølnir? Does he realize what he’s doing?
• And what is Laufey thinking through all of this? Does he see this as possibly the last stand of the Frost Giants? Is there something here about how he might be testing Thor to see what sort of adversary he is?
• Laufey sends more troops including Hailstrum to fight, and we see the frost giants’ cool power to essentially control ice.

A lot happens as the battle with the frost giants begins. We have a lot to talk about! Tune in!

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