Director Taika Waititi recently discussed two of his favorite '80s movies and how they influenced 2017's Thor: Ragnarok. While guesting on The Russo Brothers' weekly Pizza Film School Instagram TV series -- where the MCU's Joe and Anthony Russo chat about pizza joints and films with their Hollywood friends while the movie lovers are stuck at home during the pandemic -- Waititi chatted about how 1980's Flash Gordon and John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, from 1986, were two films that meant a lot to him while growing up and ultimately had a lot to do with his approach to Thor. Here's a clip from Ep. 6, featuring Waititi, talking about the out-there space opera quality of Flash Gordon, a film he loves so much he's reportedly developing an animated adaptation of it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/08/russo-bros-pizza-film-school-taika-waititi-on-flash-gordon-teaser"] “I wanted to capture a road trip of people who had no business hanging out with each other,” Waititi said, regarding using Flash as his blueprint for Thor. “And I put all that to 'Immigrant Song.' That song is basically about Thor. Just knowing the tone, knowing that it had to be playful and over the top. That this is unapologetically a space opera, and I’m going to pump this with color and life and energy and humor, and cool music. And the way I feel about that film is like if you’d ask a bunch of 10-year-olds what they want in that movie, we basically said yes to every idea.” The other film that helped shape Thor: Ragnarok was Big Trouble in Little China, which featured Kurt Russell as an overly-confident truck driver, Jack Burton, who gets caught up in a war against evil demons. "[Thor] just wants to get home," Waititi said. “All this stuff is going on, even with Hulk, he’s willing to leave people but also he’s trying to keep everyone together. He’s trying to be charismatic, and he’s trying to be a hero. He fails a lot, and tonally, that’s something from Big Trouble that I carried with me into Ragnarok.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=thor-love-and-thunder-6-characters-christian-bale-could-play&captions=true"] Since the onset of COVID-19, the MCU's Phase 4 schedule has been reshuffled a few times. The latest iteration has Thor: Love and Thunder opening February 11, 2022. Ragnarok director Taika Waititi will return for the film and has promised to "double down" on the craziness. Thor: Love and Thunder will feature Natalie Portman's Jane Foster as Thor and Christian Bale as a yet-to-be-revealed villain. The Russo's Pizza Film School can also be found on the AGBO YouTube Channel. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...