Thor, God of Thunder and why dimples are not a good excuse for a bad film
I saw this tonight. I hate to say, but it was a weak film. It was entertaining, yeah, but not really good.
I think that it was mostly the script that fuffed everything up. The actors were pretty good (except Natalie, sorry huni. Although I get the feeling that she knew it was a bad script and figured that she'd just go with it. Lord knows that plenty of actors ham it up when the opportunity presents itself) it was just the material that they were given that failed. The effects were wonderful, the costumes were great (although I was kinda hoping Loki's helm would be that bone thing, that was awesome. And also that they would find an excuse for him to turn into a girl. Girl!Loki is badass) and the guy they got to play Thor was a comic carbon-copy. And also hot. The ability to make me giggle spontaniously just by smiling is a sign of significant hotness. Seriously, the man is yummy and I agree wholeheartedly with Darcy's "Does he need CPR, I totally know CPR" bit.
I felt that the villians they chose were maybe not the best, athough granted Comic-Loki is an Ice Giant (according to a friend who actually read the Thor comics) and if you want to pit the hero against Loki, I suppose it was a logical choice. But it just felt… random. We don't know why the Ice Giants were doing anything and why it was imperitive that Asgard keep them down. Loki loved Odin and said himself that he didn't want to be king: why was he doing any of this? Granted, Loki is the Trickster but there's a difference between an impulsive need to prank people and to go through a helluva lot of trouble to banish your brother (whom you love) and take out an entire race of people whom you don't forsee as being a problem in the immediate future. The only reason they were a problem now was because Loki let them in in the first place and then goaded Thor into provoking them. Although that was clever, how he tricked Thor into going, and when Thor was in custody and thought Odin was dead, that broke my heart a little.
The action was sporatic and weirdly paced with the exception of the inital fight in Jotunhiem. There, we see what the Asgardians are capable of and why Thor's warrior lust and temper would be a problem (the whole 'Goodbye princess' 'Damn.' bit was fun) as well as what he can do with Mjollnir. The S.H.I.E.L.D. fight was interesting but felt unecessary, like the only reason it was there was to link to the after-the-credits Iron Man 2 bit, although I love the reference to Hawkeye. Seriously, they had no purpose at all except to provide opposition from getting the Hammer. And maybe to get Jane and Thor to spend a little time together. Also, why the hell did S.H.I.E.L.D. give her back her research? There was no logic to that.
The score left much to be desired (the music when Thor was hero-walking to confront the Destroyer and sacrifice himself was just stupid) and the relationship with Jane had no basis. She hit him twice with her car and giggled when he kissed her hand; that's it. There was no deeper connection other then 'This is the person whom I crashed into when Father exiled me, who brought me to and took me from the place where I got stabbed in the butt and restrained, fed me, agreed to then reneged on taking me to my Hammer, agreed again and talked to me about the Earth-view of the BiFrost.' That was the extent of their interaction. I fail to see any attraction outside of an initial gratitude for helping him. And that he's hot, but anyone attracted to men would think he's hot. I'm guessing in the comics there was furthur interaction as their relationship is canon but it just didn't translate here.
Odin is not and has never been a nice person, lore or comic-wise. If you get Hanibal Lector to play Old One-Eye, I expect some arrogance at the very least. He's a loving and caring father here and while that's sweet, it's just not factual. I'm guessing that they wanted to have clear good/evil distinctions but rarely is that true when it comes to gods, even fake, 'perceived' gods. That whole exposition thing in the begining was just dumb; it was poorly shot, poorly acted and poorly written.
Thor's epiphany was… where the hell did it come from? There was nothing to prompt it except the realization that Daddy was punishing him, which he knew when he went Earth-side. Odin called him a 'vain, greedy, cruel man' and that paints a certain picture. The person we saw on Earth was an alien-customed, spoiled brat but he was also kind, sweet and gregarious. (Darcy: This is going on FaceBook. Smile! Thor: *big grin*) Either Thor is very good at adaption and change, which shouldn't be the case as Odin has tried for years to teach him more then just a warrior's creed, or he's genuinely an affable person, and if so, there was no change at all, just the shock of hearing of Odin's death and then learning Loki lied to him. There was nothing to change his outlook on force and violence; in fact the events of the film woulf probably enforce it. Jane supposedly made him change, but again, car-hitting and giggling. How does that translate into a life changing experience?
I liked the Asgardians (and the reference to Jackie Chan, Xena and Robin Hood was funny). Sif was awesome, Blond-mustache was cool and Burly-red-head was amusing. Heindall was friggin' badass and if I needed to have someone be the first line of defense in the event of an attack I would choose him. The ability to see other realms is epic and considering his role as Gate-Guardian and Dispatcher, totally appropriate. Idris Elba is awesome and I approve of that casting choice. He was very dry and action affirmaive too so yay.
The gags with Thor getting knocked out repeatedly were funny, Darcy was adorable but that's par for the course with Kat Dennings and the redneck hammer-lifting contest was cute. I liked Jane's remark about how Thor's attire was a good look for him and the reference to the Hulk, when Erik was talking about a gamma radiation researcher who disappeared. The World's Tree cameo when Loki was trying to freeze out Jotunheim was nice and the allusion to the Doomsday Power Box thing in the after-the-credits was a nice touch (I don't remember what it's called, comic-reading friend mentioned it.)
All in all, not a bad movie, just not a good one.
Also this.
And this.
This too.
Really this.
ETS: If there was a film just about Darcy ad Heimdall, I would be so Okay with that. That would be alllll kinds of fantabulous.
I think that it was mostly the script that fuffed everything up. The actors were pretty good (except Natalie, sorry huni. Although I get the feeling that she knew it was a bad script and figured that she'd just go with it. Lord knows that plenty of actors ham it up when the opportunity presents itself) it was just the material that they were given that failed. The effects were wonderful, the costumes were great (although I was kinda hoping Loki's helm would be that bone thing, that was awesome. And also that they would find an excuse for him to turn into a girl. Girl!Loki is badass) and the guy they got to play Thor was a comic carbon-copy. And also hot. The ability to make me giggle spontaniously just by smiling is a sign of significant hotness. Seriously, the man is yummy and I agree wholeheartedly with Darcy's "Does he need CPR, I totally know CPR" bit.
I felt that the villians they chose were maybe not the best, athough granted Comic-Loki is an Ice Giant (according to a friend who actually read the Thor comics) and if you want to pit the hero against Loki, I suppose it was a logical choice. But it just felt… random. We don't know why the Ice Giants were doing anything and why it was imperitive that Asgard keep them down. Loki loved Odin and said himself that he didn't want to be king: why was he doing any of this? Granted, Loki is the Trickster but there's a difference between an impulsive need to prank people and to go through a helluva lot of trouble to banish your brother (whom you love) and take out an entire race of people whom you don't forsee as being a problem in the immediate future. The only reason they were a problem now was because Loki let them in in the first place and then goaded Thor into provoking them. Although that was clever, how he tricked Thor into going, and when Thor was in custody and thought Odin was dead, that broke my heart a little.
The action was sporatic and weirdly paced with the exception of the inital fight in Jotunhiem. There, we see what the Asgardians are capable of and why Thor's warrior lust and temper would be a problem (the whole 'Goodbye princess' 'Damn.' bit was fun) as well as what he can do with Mjollnir. The S.H.I.E.L.D. fight was interesting but felt unecessary, like the only reason it was there was to link to the after-the-credits Iron Man 2 bit, although I love the reference to Hawkeye. Seriously, they had no purpose at all except to provide opposition from getting the Hammer. And maybe to get Jane and Thor to spend a little time together. Also, why the hell did S.H.I.E.L.D. give her back her research? There was no logic to that.
The score left much to be desired (the music when Thor was hero-walking to confront the Destroyer and sacrifice himself was just stupid) and the relationship with Jane had no basis. She hit him twice with her car and giggled when he kissed her hand; that's it. There was no deeper connection other then 'This is the person whom I crashed into when Father exiled me, who brought me to and took me from the place where I got stabbed in the butt and restrained, fed me, agreed to then reneged on taking me to my Hammer, agreed again and talked to me about the Earth-view of the BiFrost.' That was the extent of their interaction. I fail to see any attraction outside of an initial gratitude for helping him. And that he's hot, but anyone attracted to men would think he's hot. I'm guessing in the comics there was furthur interaction as their relationship is canon but it just didn't translate here.
Odin is not and has never been a nice person, lore or comic-wise. If you get Hanibal Lector to play Old One-Eye, I expect some arrogance at the very least. He's a loving and caring father here and while that's sweet, it's just not factual. I'm guessing that they wanted to have clear good/evil distinctions but rarely is that true when it comes to gods, even fake, 'perceived' gods. That whole exposition thing in the begining was just dumb; it was poorly shot, poorly acted and poorly written.
Thor's epiphany was… where the hell did it come from? There was nothing to prompt it except the realization that Daddy was punishing him, which he knew when he went Earth-side. Odin called him a 'vain, greedy, cruel man' and that paints a certain picture. The person we saw on Earth was an alien-customed, spoiled brat but he was also kind, sweet and gregarious. (Darcy: This is going on FaceBook. Smile! Thor: *big grin*) Either Thor is very good at adaption and change, which shouldn't be the case as Odin has tried for years to teach him more then just a warrior's creed, or he's genuinely an affable person, and if so, there was no change at all, just the shock of hearing of Odin's death and then learning Loki lied to him. There was nothing to change his outlook on force and violence; in fact the events of the film woulf probably enforce it. Jane supposedly made him change, but again, car-hitting and giggling. How does that translate into a life changing experience?
I liked the Asgardians (and the reference to Jackie Chan, Xena and Robin Hood was funny). Sif was awesome, Blond-mustache was cool and Burly-red-head was amusing. Heindall was friggin' badass and if I needed to have someone be the first line of defense in the event of an attack I would choose him. The ability to see other realms is epic and considering his role as Gate-Guardian and Dispatcher, totally appropriate. Idris Elba is awesome and I approve of that casting choice. He was very dry and action affirmaive too so yay.
The gags with Thor getting knocked out repeatedly were funny, Darcy was adorable but that's par for the course with Kat Dennings and the redneck hammer-lifting contest was cute. I liked Jane's remark about how Thor's attire was a good look for him and the reference to the Hulk, when Erik was talking about a gamma radiation researcher who disappeared. The World's Tree cameo when Loki was trying to freeze out Jotunheim was nice and the allusion to the Doomsday Power Box thing in the after-the-credits was a nice touch (I don't remember what it's called, comic-reading friend mentioned it.)
All in all, not a bad movie, just not a good one.
Also this.
And this.
This too.
Really this.
ETS: If there was a film just about Darcy ad Heimdall, I would be so Okay with that. That would be alllll kinds of fantabulous.