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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Coming from someone who likes character-driven stuff and finds large scale action scenes pretty dull and boring, I too found Thor to be a really good movie.
The Dark World, on the other hand, was a lame mess that tried too hard to please people who were annoyed that the first Thor didn't have enough god action (despite the fact that his incredibly short fight with the Destroyer should have been a really good example of why a movie about a godlike alien shouldn't be focused primarily on action), to the exclusion of everything else, and turned minor but believable flaws from the first film into full-blown suspension-of-disbelief-wrecking nonsense.
I think the problem with both movies is the same: The character arc for Loki is perfect. Really, nothing to complain about, every scene with him is a riot, but even more, everything he does makes sense. But as soon as you look at Thor's character arc it is a big headscratcher. There are leaps to get Thor where he is supposed to be, his friends have zero character aside from "that is the one who likes to eat, that is the preening womanizer, that's the silent asian guy, that's the woman who can fight" and on top of this you have all those characters on earth....honestly I already thought that between Jane, Darcy and Selvig there is one character too many but they just had to add a fourth one for the second movie with even less character?
Swanpride: You'd think. On the other hand, we discovered a while ago that comic fans just don't obsessively archive things online like other fandoms. Both the Marvel and DC wikis are woefully inadequate, and you can't even find a definitive list of issues and collected additions that are part of the New 52.
I do like the camaraderie of Thor's civilian friends.
One thing I have made a comparison about is these kind of similar alien conquest attempts among various films (which I think is inherent in the medium- in Earths Mightiest Heroes someone was trying to conquer Earth almost every episode)
So basically, although The Avengers gets compared a lot to Man of Steel (to the detriment of the latter), I do think that it didn't really get across enough of the seriousness of the situation. Which maybe isn't totally a bad thing (Man of Steel did and that elicits a very... mixed opinion), but it has struck me that they needed to have that plan by the World Security Council to nuke New York in order to have any tension.
Dark World has a big flaw in the lack of depth given to the Dark Elves, but I think it solves The Avenger's problem by having the alien invasion pretty easily thwarted and I like how the civilian cast help.
Guardians of the Galaxy has been noted to mirror the plot/cast of The Avengers, and I find it the superior film. There deliberately isn't any pretense of giving Ronan nuance and that works in the overall light hearted tone of the film. I also think his invasion was better done (although obviously, unlike the other examples, it doesn't happen on Earth) because the film doesn't go overboard with civilian casualties (like Man of Steel) nor does it underplay them (like The Avengers). I felt watching the movie that I cared about the people of Xandar.
edited 12th Feb '15 7:17:52 AM by Hodor2
I never saw the second movie, but the first Thor, I thought, was enjoyable because it was kind of different. The script was entirely focused on developing its main characters (Thor and Loki), and while Loki's plan was convoluted, ultimately I think it made sense in the end. Thor himself, meanwhile, had a very strong character arc, and the film kept its focus on his character development. I also kinda like that it went for this sort of fish-out-of-water romcom feel, rather than just being a big dumb action movie.
edited 12th Feb '15 7:24:08 AM by Pannic
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Difference of opinion and perspective I guess. I saw the movie tell us that Thor had a character arc without actually showing us he went through any change at all. Just one moment he's one thing and the next he's another we're supposed to believe he learned a lesson that made him worthy.
Maybe if that and the poorly conceived romantic subplot were better fleshed out I would have a better view of the film but as it stands Thor is just... Okay.
Yeah, me too.
edited 12th Feb '15 7:32:56 AM by MousaThe14
The Blog The ArtHere's something that someone posted in a Facebook group I'm in. "So in CIVIL WAR an inexperienced group of young heroes spark the civil war by getting thousands of innocents killed. And Marvel wants to cast Spider-Man as young and inexperienced in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. Still glad Marvel has him back?"
The MCU Civil War probably won't start in the same way. 70% of fans expect it to come about because the damage wreaked by Ultron, to the point that our page for the film outright says so despite no confirmation of it. I'm confident enough myself that there will be no "Bleedspider".
I still like both Thor movies. Malekith is boring but I look at the movies as the story of Thor and Loki anyway. He's just a Villain of the Week in my mind.

For what it's worth, I was so-so about Thor, but I quite liked Thor 2note .
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.