My Thor Review
Rambling thoughts from a so-called fanboy(girl) who just so happens to be Pagan (but not to ever be linked in as a geek!):
We saw the movie as my Mother's Day present to myself. I have had some (nearly) free movie passes for several months now that have been tacked up and waiting to be used. I was saving them for the final Harry Potter movie, but that would have been torture on Ron, as he doesn't care for those movies, so I figured I'd use them with the guys on a flick we could all enjoy. We rarely go to the movies anyway, as it's very hard to justify $14 a ticket, on top of $7 soda and $8 popcorn when we can wait a few months and spend that on a DVD.
Anyway...
As far as a movie /for/ Pagans... not so much. It's something we can get giddy about, as long as we don't pick at it piece by piece, scrutinizing every final detail. Remember when 300 came out? Same thing. It's a fun romp, with details we'll catch over the average viewer, and it gives us an incredible visual as to what Asgard may look like. But because it's based on a comic book that in turn is based on mythology, it shouldn't be taken *that* seriously. Besides, I have no true affinity to the Norse Gods, other than a mutual respect for my fellow Pagan friends.
Anywayyyy...
Since it's readily apparent there will indeed be an Avengers movie, especially with so many minor cross-over references already in place, my guess is we should expect it Thanksgiving 2012 (just in time to save the world from the Mayan Prophecy!). My question is:
Will Dr. Druid show up? And what about the Scarlet Witch? We've already got available:
- X-men (various 80s Avengers characters like Wolverine)
- Spiderman
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man
- The Fantastic Four
- Thor
- (and coming soon) Captain America
(Very gigged on Captain America btw, especially when I saw Tommy Lee Jones!)
Just thought I'd ask. And, I say Mayan Prophecy, because one thing Ole Boy Stan is good at is blending current events and popular fiction/legend/conspiracy with his stories. How awesome would it be to see the occultist Dr. Druid get involved in something of that magnitude! Professor. X is dead, but we do have Mr. Fantastic's brain to work with, with Tony Stark's money bankrolling things (millions/billions of dead people is bad for business doncha know LOL), just so as long as The Thing and The Hulk can be kept in their separate sides of the ring. ;) Oh there are so many ways this can go! *Squee!*
I'm thinking part of the popularity with Thor is thanks to LOTR, because the average viewer has already fallen in love with fantasy. It didn't surprise me at all to see a Conan trailer yesterday, though uhhh... no... that Conan I saw yesterday is nowhere /near/ beefcake enough. A recent Mr. Universe-winning Ahhhnold, who could barely speak English, did the original Conan a great deal of justice, even if the film's considered cheesy by today's standards. That new Conan needs steroids STAT! :P
And speaking of which, whatever happened to ridiculously cut and chiseled guys in fantasy movies? That was the fun of it - that the actors looked A LOT like the comic books. The Thor I saw yesterday, while indeed handsome, was not the Thor I grew up with: long, golden locks to blow triumphantly in the wind, a smooth, clean-shaven face that shows off a perfectly square jawline, and yes, a total beefcake overall! hehehe I like my fantasy heroes to be over the top in appearance, even at the risk of being one dimensional and shallow, thank-you-very-much. The Thor in "Adventures in Babysitting" was better :P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (I know, I'm terrible. TERRIBLE!)
This is going to *still* be a regular complaint with me, that I expect the actors to look like the comic book characters. It is not anything more than that. I at least got a laugh out of the "Jackie Chan" reference, because just like there are no black folks in Asgard, there are also no east Asians. And hello... it's BLOND hair, not brown. Ah well. It was a good movie overall, so I guess I shouldn't complain. But it's going to be a continuous point of contention with me - a hangup, if you will. Where's Brody to debate such trivial things when I need him?
Another criticism is again with the blatant advertising. How many times did she have to "hide" the Kashi Go-Lean cereal, with the Trader Joe's Honey-O's behind it? The 7-11. Bank of America. Ugh, that drives me nuts! Jeez lady - why not slowly wipe your brow with an ice cold Gatorade, gulp it down while dripping down your shirt and smile into the camera while you're at it. :P That's /another/ movie I'm looking forward to seeing - "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". Blatant advertising should at least be fun!
Now overall, I did like the movie, even though the less than R rating had me leery, and I really wish they'd get rid of the love stories. I would have gone much darker, making Loki one GRIM, KVLT muthafukka, waging war alongside/against the Frost Giants with Naglfar's "I am Vengeance" jamming out in the background. Love, love, love 3D, though I wish they'd utilize the occasional "thing flying right at me" gimmick like they used to use a lot ("My Bloody Valentine" was good for that!). The 3D is the only thing that has me justifying going to the theater anymore. Our projector and surround sound at home can give us the same effect on a Blu-Ray disk, but without having to sit in an uncomfortable chair around a bunch of rude strangers for two hours and pay ridiculous prices for the privilege. Oh, and we all kept our glasses as a keepsake, since we had a choice to drop them in the recycling bin or not.
We saw the movie as my Mother's Day present to myself. I have had some (nearly) free movie passes for several months now that have been tacked up and waiting to be used. I was saving them for the final Harry Potter movie, but that would have been torture on Ron, as he doesn't care for those movies, so I figured I'd use them with the guys on a flick we could all enjoy. We rarely go to the movies anyway, as it's very hard to justify $14 a ticket, on top of $7 soda and $8 popcorn when we can wait a few months and spend that on a DVD.
Anyway...
As far as a movie /for/ Pagans... not so much. It's something we can get giddy about, as long as we don't pick at it piece by piece, scrutinizing every final detail. Remember when 300 came out? Same thing. It's a fun romp, with details we'll catch over the average viewer, and it gives us an incredible visual as to what Asgard may look like. But because it's based on a comic book that in turn is based on mythology, it shouldn't be taken *that* seriously. Besides, I have no true affinity to the Norse Gods, other than a mutual respect for my fellow Pagan friends.
Anywayyyy...
Since it's readily apparent there will indeed be an Avengers movie, especially with so many minor cross-over references already in place, my guess is we should expect it Thanksgiving 2012 (just in time to save the world from the Mayan Prophecy!). My question is:
Will Dr. Druid show up? And what about the Scarlet Witch? We've already got available:
- X-men (various 80s Avengers characters like Wolverine)
- Spiderman
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man
- The Fantastic Four
- Thor
- (and coming soon) Captain America
(Very gigged on Captain America btw, especially when I saw Tommy Lee Jones!)
Just thought I'd ask. And, I say Mayan Prophecy, because one thing Ole Boy Stan is good at is blending current events and popular fiction/legend/conspiracy with his stories. How awesome would it be to see the occultist Dr. Druid get involved in something of that magnitude! Professor. X is dead, but we do have Mr. Fantastic's brain to work with, with Tony Stark's money bankrolling things (millions/billions of dead people is bad for business doncha know LOL), just so as long as The Thing and The Hulk can be kept in their separate sides of the ring. ;) Oh there are so many ways this can go! *Squee!*
I'm thinking part of the popularity with Thor is thanks to LOTR, because the average viewer has already fallen in love with fantasy. It didn't surprise me at all to see a Conan trailer yesterday, though uhhh... no... that Conan I saw yesterday is nowhere /near/ beefcake enough. A recent Mr. Universe-winning Ahhhnold, who could barely speak English, did the original Conan a great deal of justice, even if the film's considered cheesy by today's standards. That new Conan needs steroids STAT! :P
And speaking of which, whatever happened to ridiculously cut and chiseled guys in fantasy movies? That was the fun of it - that the actors looked A LOT like the comic books. The Thor I saw yesterday, while indeed handsome, was not the Thor I grew up with: long, golden locks to blow triumphantly in the wind, a smooth, clean-shaven face that shows off a perfectly square jawline, and yes, a total beefcake overall! hehehe I like my fantasy heroes to be over the top in appearance, even at the risk of being one dimensional and shallow, thank-you-very-much. The Thor in "Adventures in Babysitting" was better :P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (I know, I'm terrible. TERRIBLE!)
This is going to *still* be a regular complaint with me, that I expect the actors to look like the comic book characters. It is not anything more than that. I at least got a laugh out of the "Jackie Chan" reference, because just like there are no black folks in Asgard, there are also no east Asians. And hello... it's BLOND hair, not brown. Ah well. It was a good movie overall, so I guess I shouldn't complain. But it's going to be a continuous point of contention with me - a hangup, if you will. Where's Brody to debate such trivial things when I need him?
Another criticism is again with the blatant advertising. How many times did she have to "hide" the Kashi Go-Lean cereal, with the Trader Joe's Honey-O's behind it? The 7-11. Bank of America. Ugh, that drives me nuts! Jeez lady - why not slowly wipe your brow with an ice cold Gatorade, gulp it down while dripping down your shirt and smile into the camera while you're at it. :P That's /another/ movie I'm looking forward to seeing - "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". Blatant advertising should at least be fun!
Now overall, I did like the movie, even though the less than R rating had me leery, and I really wish they'd get rid of the love stories. I would have gone much darker, making Loki one GRIM, KVLT muthafukka, waging war alongside/against the Frost Giants with Naglfar's "I am Vengeance" jamming out in the background. Love, love, love 3D, though I wish they'd utilize the occasional "thing flying right at me" gimmick like they used to use a lot ("My Bloody Valentine" was good for that!). The 3D is the only thing that has me justifying going to the theater anymore. Our projector and surround sound at home can give us the same effect on a Blu-Ray disk, but without having to sit in an uncomfortable chair around a bunch of rude strangers for two hours and pay ridiculous prices for the privilege. Oh, and we all kept our glasses as a keepsake, since we had a choice to drop them in the recycling bin or not.