Thor 3
So I decided to go see Thor: Ragnarok today.
It's not a terrible film, but it's a strange film, writing and tone wise.
From the beginning it has a really weird tone - and Thor is written as v dense for 80% of the film and it makes it a bit painful (the other 20% he's really on point and perceptive, making it weirder)
This film is also 'kill 70% of past Thor characters during their tiny scenes' and 'asgard used to have strong women but we misplaced/killed them all oophs'. o.O
There were things that worked, the pacing was good, the direction v pretty, the plot kinda worked, and the actors mostly brought it as best they could.
The way the script was filmed makes a difference, I think if a different director had been chosen, it would have been plain awkward. There's a hard balance between serious, meaningful sections and hammy comedy, that falls a bit flat, but not aas flat as it could have done. (So many white antipideans randomly in this film - bonus is director was non white antipedean ;))
I liked a lot of the deliberate back references that made it in. Especially Loki's reaction to seeing Hulk, and the Loki written play. Not so much 'Thor got dumped by Jane', that was almost an exact mirror of the bit from Age of Ultron that rubbed the wrong way. It also means we don't get Darcy as a comedy foil (or Fandral, who dies pretty much as soon as we see him, RIP warriors three).
We get a random Dr Strange appearance (which is SO lampshaded snidely by the direction, I mean, the sherlock theme plays subtly over his intro? And he leaves a 177a business card after taking Loki.)
The Ladies:
No Sif (so this means we can argue she's still alive and out there somewhere) - a side reference tot he memory of Frigga, and no appearances by any women resembling the strong women that appeared as side characters/background in Dark World.
I liked Valkyrie - I wish she had a name besides 'valkyrie' mind given that she's not refered to as being called valkyrie, just that she is a valkyrie.....or angry girl.... - it's frustrating, like I know the comic character is called Valkyire, but the way it's framed in the film it's not her name.
So yes, we get one good, rounded, female character in the film, but she isn't treated that well narratively :/
Hela - urgh. She was, almost interesting? But sooooo flat. She has one motivation, somehow no one at all remembers her (which ummmm, what? Also, who was her mum? Frigga?) and she's just the big bad, who gets to do very little but kill people and pout until getting killed.
So not really the best female villan. (And I am a bit pevved that Skurge got a random redemption moment? Like what? But Hela was just evil. *rolls eyes*)
Topaz - because she has a role - female henchman, not a terrible character, actually seems oddly more rounded than Hela, but dead by the end (maybe?)
POC
Well, we have Valkyrie and Heimdall, Hogun gets the most screen time of the warriors three pre-death, there's some background POC but...... Having Valkyrie means there's finally a female POC in the Thor films (or any marvel films, apart from Gamora, which is more actress as the character is green....), but yeah, still not amazing (espec as it like 9+ speaking and role having white people, v 3 speaking and role having POC, and of those only one has signifcant screen time, I mean Heimdall is important and is the reason Hela is apparently stuck on Asgard....for reasons, but he gets...ten minutes most? He's prob about equal with Odin)
-
I am guessing that is Thor's last solo movie. I say this as they have offically destroyed his world and smushed so many of his villans into the three we have had, I have no idea what they could actually do?
I avoided spoilers for the most part, so had been entirely unaware that Skurge would be in this - or that Hela would be like, six, different Thor bad guys smushed into one. ;/ Like there was so much Enchantress in there, no least her having Skurge.
I am not familiar enough with the Thor comics to throw out all the things that they changed, but there was a lot, and there's that not unusual irony that they uber villaned up Hela, and took out the fact she's defeated by another female villan in the comics, and they toned down and made less alien the Grand Master. I know the Thor films have never followed the comics that closely, but this film is like, they took some characters, some of the essence of storylines, shook them into a plot and ta da.
To be honest I have a lot of issues with Hela, and the choices they made. I mean, how did Asgard forget their God of death??? Why was she so flat a character? What about the asgard belief in balance between life and death? She just felt like an unstoppable object there to kill, who got killed by the guy (aka pavlovs gun) introduced in act one. But hey, her outfit is like dead on for the one in the comics....
Also apparently Asgard only has a really really tiny population.
(The norse myth bit of me was crying, because WTF? I know the comics are a bit closer to the myths, I mean Balder exists, but Hel is just completely TRASHED in this film -and Loki in a way, cos dude is effectively the father of the end of the world, via three of his kids - I guess I should be relieve the world serpent was not present.)
So yeah - I have no idea where Thor could go from here. Apart from Avengers films...
And most of that is because they have sped everything up so that they can have Infinity War - so all of the 'solo' movies are led by that aim.
This entry was originally posted at https://weaselett.dreamwidth.org/202583.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
It's not a terrible film, but it's a strange film, writing and tone wise.
From the beginning it has a really weird tone - and Thor is written as v dense for 80% of the film and it makes it a bit painful (the other 20% he's really on point and perceptive, making it weirder)
This film is also 'kill 70% of past Thor characters during their tiny scenes' and 'asgard used to have strong women but we misplaced/killed them all oophs'. o.O
There were things that worked, the pacing was good, the direction v pretty, the plot kinda worked, and the actors mostly brought it as best they could.
The way the script was filmed makes a difference, I think if a different director had been chosen, it would have been plain awkward. There's a hard balance between serious, meaningful sections and hammy comedy, that falls a bit flat, but not aas flat as it could have done. (So many white antipideans randomly in this film - bonus is director was non white antipedean ;))
I liked a lot of the deliberate back references that made it in. Especially Loki's reaction to seeing Hulk, and the Loki written play. Not so much 'Thor got dumped by Jane', that was almost an exact mirror of the bit from Age of Ultron that rubbed the wrong way. It also means we don't get Darcy as a comedy foil (or Fandral, who dies pretty much as soon as we see him, RIP warriors three).
We get a random Dr Strange appearance (which is SO lampshaded snidely by the direction, I mean, the sherlock theme plays subtly over his intro? And he leaves a 177a business card after taking Loki.)
The Ladies:
No Sif (so this means we can argue she's still alive and out there somewhere) - a side reference tot he memory of Frigga, and no appearances by any women resembling the strong women that appeared as side characters/background in Dark World.
I liked Valkyrie - I wish she had a name besides 'valkyrie' mind given that she's not refered to as being called valkyrie, just that she is a valkyrie.....or angry girl.... - it's frustrating, like I know the comic character is called Valkyire, but the way it's framed in the film it's not her name.
So yes, we get one good, rounded, female character in the film, but she isn't treated that well narratively :/
Hela - urgh. She was, almost interesting? But sooooo flat. She has one motivation, somehow no one at all remembers her (which ummmm, what? Also, who was her mum? Frigga?) and she's just the big bad, who gets to do very little but kill people and pout until getting killed.
So not really the best female villan. (And I am a bit pevved that Skurge got a random redemption moment? Like what? But Hela was just evil. *rolls eyes*)
Topaz - because she has a role - female henchman, not a terrible character, actually seems oddly more rounded than Hela, but dead by the end (maybe?)
POC
Well, we have Valkyrie and Heimdall, Hogun gets the most screen time of the warriors three pre-death, there's some background POC but...... Having Valkyrie means there's finally a female POC in the Thor films (or any marvel films, apart from Gamora, which is more actress as the character is green....), but yeah, still not amazing (espec as it like 9+ speaking and role having white people, v 3 speaking and role having POC, and of those only one has signifcant screen time, I mean Heimdall is important and is the reason Hela is apparently stuck on Asgard....for reasons, but he gets...ten minutes most? He's prob about equal with Odin)
-
I am guessing that is Thor's last solo movie. I say this as they have offically destroyed his world and smushed so many of his villans into the three we have had, I have no idea what they could actually do?
I avoided spoilers for the most part, so had been entirely unaware that Skurge would be in this - or that Hela would be like, six, different Thor bad guys smushed into one. ;/ Like there was so much Enchantress in there, no least her having Skurge.
I am not familiar enough with the Thor comics to throw out all the things that they changed, but there was a lot, and there's that not unusual irony that they uber villaned up Hela, and took out the fact she's defeated by another female villan in the comics, and they toned down and made less alien the Grand Master. I know the Thor films have never followed the comics that closely, but this film is like, they took some characters, some of the essence of storylines, shook them into a plot and ta da.
To be honest I have a lot of issues with Hela, and the choices they made. I mean, how did Asgard forget their God of death??? Why was she so flat a character? What about the asgard belief in balance between life and death? She just felt like an unstoppable object there to kill, who got killed by the guy (aka pavlovs gun) introduced in act one. But hey, her outfit is like dead on for the one in the comics....
Also apparently Asgard only has a really really tiny population.
(The norse myth bit of me was crying, because WTF? I know the comics are a bit closer to the myths, I mean Balder exists, but Hel is just completely TRASHED in this film -and Loki in a way, cos dude is effectively the father of the end of the world, via three of his kids - I guess I should be relieve the world serpent was not present.)
So yeah - I have no idea where Thor could go from here. Apart from Avengers films...
And most of that is because they have sped everything up so that they can have Infinity War - so all of the 'solo' movies are led by that aim.
This entry was originally posted at https://weaselett.dreamwidth.org/202583.html. Please comment there using OpenID.