MovieChat Forums > Thor (2011) Discussion > Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

posted 11 years ago by Expellliarmus
63 replies | jump to latest

If there was a way to edit 98% of her dialogue out of the movie, I would be so grateful. That whole zoom in of "OH. MY. GOD." and the giggle thing she did when he pulled her close before they took off... literally some of the worst acting I've ever seen.

Also, this is just a side note, and i want to stress that I really like this movie, but I find it hard to believe the "love story" because mostly it shows them looking at each other and smiling, and also once they looked at the stars together. Oh wait, also they cooked breakfast that one time.

If you've ever watched the Red Letter Media reviews of Star Wars (particularly in the second one), they discuss this in detail in reference to anakin and padme (yay natalie again!). Basically put two pretty people together, make them smile at each other, and we're just supposed to believe that they are in love.

Enough love for him to pine for her while he's back in asgard, and her to keep diligently searching for him after he left. I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but even the relationships in other super hero movies, such as the one between Pepper Potts and Tony Stark shows some tension, and takes time to build up. Just much more realistic?

I really liked this movie, but that was a frustrating and sort of moot point. She could have been left out of the movie entirely (I have no idea if she was in the comics or not) and Thor's protection over the earth would have still made sense because of his friendship with erik selvig. Even Darcy who people find obnoxious was kind of a funny throw a character, but I found her more tolerable than Jane who did nothing but whine about her scientific research.

sorry for all this, just needed to hear if anybody else felt this way?! I might just still be mad at the Star Wars Prequels....

tell him about the twinkie.

[–] samsara197 11 years ago

to me the romance between Thor and Jane was not really believable, or the story was not well written

[–] Room_On_Fire 11 years ago

Her character is the worst part of the movie, but she gave back what she was given and she was given poor dialogue. As an actress, she can be fantastic, but even Meryl Streep couldn't make such a dull character likable and it's hard to write her out. She was just there to add plot to the story - nothing more.

"Oh, my God. Bear is driving! How can that be?!"

[–] reaseltbim 11 years ago

Completely Hated her.
I usually don't mind her, (she was okay in V for vendetta)
but here she was so AWFUL... Oh my god... I could not believe one second of her performance.
I could not believe she was a scientist, I could not believe she falls for Thor so quickly, I could not believe she cared about him,
every single second she was on screen felt fake, It felt like Natalie Portman the actress was doing a spoof of a super hero movie. It was so fake it felt like satire.
I really don't know why but she ruins this movie for me. completely ruins it. Because she is so important to the Story and Thor's redemption,yet I could not believe one word that was coming out of her mouth.

She really sucks in this one, This has to be the worst Marvel movie character out of all the movies.

One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

[–] harlequinade17 11 years ago

I usually don't like her but I thought she was lovely here. And I adored "Oh..my...God" part.

http://cinematiccorner.blogspot.com/

[–] tatilujanr 11 years ago

I agree with you.

___

Please, excuse my English.

[–] MartyScorsey 11 years ago

It wasn't really love on either of their part, more an initial crush that never had a chance to develop. I think the sequel is going to address that.

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Challenging Endeavours: A tale of two shuttles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-8CR6i5a5Y

[–] Karnivore 11 years ago

She is eye candy, need more of Kat Dennings rack in the 2nd one though.

[–] Jackie_Michele 11 years ago

It wasn't really love on either of their part, more an initial crush that never had a chance to develop. I think the sequel is going to address that.

I was just about to post the same thing. There is no romance or love. This is nothing more than an extended first date of two people who like each other and thankfully get a goodbye kiss in the end. And I think though the dialogue sucks, Natalie Portman makes it work.

I voted for Frenchie and Dia like a sex donkey on Xanax.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] WackyKacky 10 years ago

Lots of white guys enjoy women of different races/ ethnicities! If you don't, power to ya. I think Thor wasn't a bigot.

[–] Suriname86 9 years ago

They don't even make it believable that they would like each other. Thor is dull and lacks charm; I blame that on Hemsworth. Even in Dark World, which is a way better movie, he's a bit boring. It could be overcome if he'd been matched with a lead he has chemistry with.

[–] Nyxseris 11 years ago

It's funny you should mention the Red Letter Media reviews because they are exactly what I think of when I watch the scenes between Natalie and Chris. I know exactly what you mean about it just being two pretty people who smile at each other and somehow we're supposed to read that as 'falling in love'. Unfortunately there is just no chemistry between the two actors.

In the Star Wars prequels I put it down to poor writing/characterisation/direction, but after watching Thor I wondered if it might have something to do with Natalie Portman's acting. But to be honest I haven't seen enough of her films to be sure. It could just be unfortunate that she has again been cast opposite someone with whom she has no romantic spark. I could blame the dialogue (it did seem a bit awkward at times) but I found so much of the rest of the film so emotionally engaging. At least the SW Prequels were terrible all over so it was understandable that Padme/Anakin were completely unbelievable as a love story.

I definitely agree that the character of Jane could have been left out completely and the film would most likely have benefited from it.

[–] peter-mcgill-1 11 years ago

No chemistry? What about the drive to the crater? "Realm. Realm?" "You think me strange..." Obviously there was more to the drive than we got to see, and so I think they got to know each other during the drive. The 'oh, my...God' comment I saw as a quick joke on the fact that he is, in actual fact, a god. Oh, well.

I thought the giggle when he was about to take her flying was a nice touch. Same as her reaction to the kiss on the hand. How many girls get that treatment after they knock back the guy? I thought Natalie played a great part in a pretty terrific movie.

[–] WackyKacky 10 years ago

I agree with you.

[–] samsara197 11 years ago

Natalie Portman/Jane Foster was the worst part of Thor. Seriously, I don't want to see her in Thor 2. Why producers are insisting on having this boring character?

Well, I think I'll watch Thor 2 only because of Loki.

[–] SiliQueen 11 years ago

I came to the boards just to see if anyone disliked Portman for her role. She is usually very good in her other roles but I really, really, REALLY did not like her as Jane Foster. Maybe it has to do with her physical qualities:

i.e. She's not tall enough to have been paired with Hemsworth, the height disparity doesn't look good; Her voice is also quite high-pitched (and sometimes annoying) which does not match well with her co-star's rich, deep voice.

I agree with some of the posts saying that she wasn't given much to work with as well. Anyway, I don't find her character to be likeable to begin with.