Fan Review Thread SPOILERS INSIDE - Part 2

[Vartha]

Likewise. I can't really comprehend the hate Cap 1 gets. Or rather, I can understand why the "true art is angsty" types would hate it, but I don't really understand why people who are largely fans of the MCU otherwise dislike it.

My dad would have bought the dvd (he's 84!!) if there weren't any of the tesseract powered weapons.
He loved the characters and acting and the story, he's just not a Sci-Fi fan.

 

[BoredGuy]

My brother didn't like Cap because it didn't have any big "oh s***" moments for him.
And while I like it, I can agree that there was nothing particularly impressive visually about the action in the film, nothing that would really make a non-cap fan say "oh this guy's a badass"
His best moment was probably swimming after the submarine

 

[DA_Champion]

You gave the film as a whole a 1, yet you liked Darcy, a useless character whose presence undercut the entire story and whose unwarranted screen time should have been better used to strengthen the movie by focusing on worthier things. There truly is no accounting for taste.

Part of the reason I liked Darcy, aside from her good looks, is that she would provide a breather from the plot.

That is the point of the humour in the film, it's to provide a break from the plot (as pointed out by many people), because if this film would take itself too seriously (red goo, nine realms, alignment of planets after 5,000 years, the time before time, "the fabric of reality will be destroyed", etc) it would irritate some people, since not everybody can buy into it. I enjoyed the Darcy humour, though it wasn't good enough to make up for Selvig streaking outside Stonehenge.

The actress, Kat Dennings, looked like she was having fun and was happy to be in the movie. That's more than could be said for certain other actresses.

 

[DA_Champion]

Likewise. I can't really comprehend the hate Cap 1 gets. Or rather, I can understand why the "true art is angsty" types would hate it, but I don't really understand why people who are largely fans of the MCU otherwise dislike it.

Cap 1 put me to sleep, which I can't recall any movie other than Battlefield Earth doing. I'm not sure what was wrong with it, but I think it's that it was too vanilla, too generic. I had to struggle to keep my eyes open.

I remember not liking that Steve Rogers was a dweeb and a loser prior to taking anabolic steroids. I would have liked him to have more positive qualities beforehand. I was also disappointed in the world building, and I would have liked them to better address the balance of power between Hitler and Red Skull. The movie made Red Skull far more powerful than historical Hitler, which is fine, but I'm not sure there were any consequences to that. It should lead to a modified timeline, or an explanation for the lack of a modified timeline.

 

[Mjölnir]

Now that things have settled it's pretty funny to see how polarizing this movie was between critics and fans. Not any extreme differences but still significant enough to notice.

For example the movie was fresh on RT, which is pretty good but didn't get a great critic score.

When I've instead looked at larger collections of audience opinions (RT, Imdb etc) the reception has been really good and it's consistently been placed as the third most well liked MCU movie, after The Avengers and Iron Man, and it's very high up on the overall list ofl Marvel related movies as well (which I assume gets it a good place in CBM's overall, but I didn't take the time to view all of those).

This is of course pretty irrelevant to our personal views but it's still a bit funny. For my own case I just hope that the audience reception and the finance bit is enough to get a sequel, which I think it is.

 

[DA_Champion]

Now that things have settled it's pretty funny to see how polarizing this movie was between critics and fans. Not any extreme differences but still significant enough to notice.

For example the movie was fresh on RT, which is pretty good but didn't get a great critic score.

When I've instead looked at larger collections of audience opinions (RT, Imdb etc) the reception has been really good and it's consistently been placed as the third most well liked MCU movie, after The Avengers and Iron Man, and it's very high up on the overall list ofl Marvel related movies as well (which I assume gets it a good place in CBM's overall, but I didn't take the time to view all of those).

This is of course pretty irrelevant to our personal views but it's still a bit funny. For my own case I just hope that the audience reception and the finance bit is enough to get a sequel, which I think it is.

Audience scores have a bias (with all movies) because audiences self-select. It's not "the general audience", it's the particular subsection of that audience that watches those kinds of movies.

Thor 2 is more or less consistent with the prior MCU movies in tone, style, and narrative structure, and if the audience is composed of people who liked the previous movies, they will like Thor 2. As there have been many MCU films, the MCU genre is well-defined, precisely defined, which can lead to a precise audience self-selection.

If the movie is consistent with the previous MCU films, and if the audience self-selects, then the audience will like the movie.

In contrast, RT includes a lot of critics who have professional requirements to watch the movie, who watch movies that are not part of their favourite genre, and thus they represent a broader range of the audience.

 

[Mjölnir]

Audience scores have a bias (with all movies) because audiences self-select. It's not "the general audience", it's the particular subsection of that audience that watches those kinds of movies.

Thor 2 is more or less consistent with the prior MCU movies in tone, style, and narrative structure, and if the audience is composed of people who liked the previous movies, they will like Thor 2. As there have been many MCU films, the MCU genre is well-defined, precisely defined, which can lead to a precise audience self-selection.

If the movie is consistent with the previous MCU films, and if the audience self-selects, then the audience will like the movie.

In contrast, RT includes a lot of critics who have professional requirements to watch the movie, who watch movies that are not part of their favourite genre, and thus they represent a broader range of the audience.

You are of course correct in that the critic group contains a bunch of people that are required to watch the movies and don't get to choose. That however doesn't change the fact that it's an unusually large gap between the critics and the audience for this movie. The largest difference in the MCU was 6% between critics and audience (the smallest was 0%). For TDW the difference is 19%. This is percentage units, just to be clear.

According to critic average TDW is a middle of the pack Marvel movie. According to the audience average it only has Iron Man, The Avengers and First Class ahead of it among Marvel movies.

Of course both are just samples of all viewers but it still consists of a good amount of people.

 

[DA_Champion]

Movie / Release Year / RT Score / RT top critics / GA
Thor 2 / 2013 / 65% / 40%/ 84%
Iron Man 3/ 2013 / 79% / 65%/ 80%
The Avengers / 2012 / 92% / 81%/ 93%
Iron Man 2/ 2011 / 73% / 60%/ 73%
Captain America / 79% / 75%/ 73%
Thor / 77% / 62%/ 77%
The Incredible Hulk / 67% / 59%/ 72%
Iron Man / 93% / 90%/ 91%

OK, you're right, it has the largest gap between audience and critical score. It's a pretty significant difference that I did not know was there.

 

[one4smoke]

Audience scores have a bias (with all movies) because audiences self-select. It's not "the general audience", it's the particular subsection of that audience that watches those kinds of movies.

Thor 2 is more or less consistent with the prior MCU movies in tone, style, and narrative structure, and if the audience is composed of people who liked the previous movies, they will like Thor 2. As there have been many MCU films, the MCU genre is well-defined, precisely defined, which can lead to a precise audience self-selection.

If the movie is consistent with the previous MCU films, and if the audience self-selects, then the audience will like the movie.

In contrast, RT includes a lot of critics who have professional requirements to watch the movie, who watch movies that are not part of their favourite genre, and thus they represent a broader range of the audience.

And critics generally have a negative bias toward these types of movies and usually are more critical of them.

 

[The Silent Traveler]

I watched it with my friend at a movie theater today. My review:

Characters:

The character development, the main villain, Malekith was limited and I don't understand his intentions of destroying Asgard. It also didn't develop a chemistry between Thor and Jane Forster very well. Natalie Portman's screen time was like 15-30 minutes and her character wasn't well developed. The I love Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki and he's well acted. Dang, I miss Josh Dallas from Once Upon a Time's Fandral and am disappointed that he didn't reprise his role as Fandral. The new actor was replaced as Fandral and he looked weird and unnatural in his blond hair. His screen time was like 5 minutes, something like that. I would say that all of these characters written were limited and not well developed. The post credit scene might be presented as a clue to the upcoming movie. I want to know what character Benicio del Toro will be playing in a post credit scene.

Plot:
The plot was good yet a little confusing enough but the ending with Thor's father transforming into Loki left me confused and I was like, "WTF". It's a lot better than Iron Man 3.

I will give it 8.5 or 9/10.

 

[cherokeesam]

Now that things have settled it's pretty funny to see how polarizing this movie was between critics and fans. Not any extreme differences but still significant enough to notice.

For example the movie was fresh on RT, which is pretty good but didn't get a great critic score.

When I've instead looked at larger collections of audience opinions (RT, Imdb etc) the reception has been really good and it's consistently been placed as the third most well liked MCU movie, after The Avengers and Iron Man, and it's very high up on the overall list ofl Marvel related movies as well (which I assume gets it a good place in CBM's overall, but I didn't take the time to view all of those).

This is of course pretty irrelevant to our personal views but it's still a bit funny. For my own case I just hope that the audience reception and the finance bit is enough to get a sequel, which I think it is.

I personally wasn't fond of the movie at all, and wouldn't include it even in my top 5 MCU movies; but Marvel Studios would have to be brain dead not to greenlight a threequel. Even if it's not in the billion dollar club, a $600 million+ gross worldwide is a get-out-of-jail free card.

 

[CapA4414]

Saw Thor The Dark World in theaters just 2 weeks ago. I loved the movie, the music is really epic and Loki steals the show. I got Thor from my Secret Santa and its awesome. Its a Funko POP vinyl figure from Hot Topic that's $15.

 

[elgaz]

So................ finally got round to seeing this tonight, long after it was released.

I didn't think it was a bad film, but didn't think it was a great film either. All just a bit .... 'meh'. Malakeith had a lot of potential to be a great villain, but it felt like whoever wrote the storyline never thought to flesh him out properly. He wanted to destroy Asgard and pretty much the whole universe - Why? He seemed pretty detached the whole time he was on screen also, which made it hard to accept the character and his motivations.

The final fight was all a bit anti-climatic. Thor seemed underpowered at times too, or at least inconsistent in how his powers were presented.

Hints of a love triangle with Lady Sif - why bother if you're not going to follow them up?

Nevertheless there were some good points - the imagery (in particular, Asgard), Hemsworth owning the role yet again, special effects, soundtrack. None of these redeemed the film fully for me though.

I loved the first Thor, but this just felt a bit bland to be honest.

 

[kirbyfan]

I was dissappointed with Thor 2!

It wasn't the Mighty Thor, the guy got beat by everyone in the movie, that's not Thor?

I'm still waiting for them to make the Mighty Thor because I haven't seen him yet?

Thor can beat giant monsters, but he can't beat the Hulk? A God can't beat a man? I don't buy this he's not a God nonsense, Jack Kirby created the Mighty Thor, the God of Thunder, not the prince of Thunder, which sounds totally wimpy!

I want his helmet!
I want him to be a bad A _ _!
I want Baldar!

Please oh pretty please get rid of all comedy, Thor should be like Troy and Gladiator, serious, hardcore and action packed!

How Marvel keeps getting thier own character wrong just blows my mind?

 

[Mjölnir]

It wasn't the Mighty Thor, the guy got beat by everyone in the movie, that's not Thor?

Who beat Thor in the movie other than Kurse (and that fight didn't even reach a conclusion)? In the comics Kurse beat Thor so that's not inaccurate.

Thor can beat giant monsters, but he can't beat the Hulk? A God can't beat a man? I don't buy this he's not a God nonsense, Jack Kirby created the Mighty Thor, the God of Thunder, not the prince of Thunder, which sounds totally wimpy!

Thor vs Hulk has been an even battle even in the comics so that's no different, especially since Thor still saw Hulk as Banner and also couldn't use all his powers. I'm assuming you're referring to Iron Man and he was amped up to 475% capacity when they fought in The Avengers and he still couldn't make a scratch on Thor.

I'm not saying you can't have your opinion, and Thor is certainly powered down in the movies, but the movies don't differ as much from the comics as you seem to think when it comes to certain points.

 

[MarvelFan]

Finally, i have time to write a review...
I've watched it last saturday and up until now, seen it 4 times already!!!

and.......I LOVED IT~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a fun and wild ride it was...oh my god.
not since The Avengers, I've experienced such amazing and unforgettable moment when watching a Marvel movie at theatre...

Here's the things i really loved in "The Dark World":

- Thor
Thor is growing wiser. The lessons he experienced in the first film have made him question things more in this one. His relationship with Odin flows like real life and in this film we see that father and son are not so different from each other. In the end Thor makes a surprising choice that mirrors his actions from the comics.

- Malekith and the dark elves
Unlike Mandarin in Iron Man 3, I really loved how Malekith was portrayed in this movie. Very Bizarre and menacing.

- Asgard
I really loved how Asgard looks in this film, it was excellently envisioned and truly gorgeous.

- Loki
Loki finds redemption - or does he? His motives are always ambiguous and questionable and he certainly is headed on a darker path. However, the events that unfold here give you more insight into who he is and why he does the things he does.

- The funeral scene
Just visually beautiful and amazing!!! and feels really emotional.

- THE MUSIC
Thor new theme is powerful and pulsing, with choral added, IT IS beautiful!!! I'd say that Bryan Tyler perhaps is the best choice for any of Marvel upcoming projects. His score is just epic and amazing. While I wasn't such a big fan of Iron Man 3...the movie is so-so for me, but Tyler's score is amazing. And in this one, Tyler once again did an amazing job, carrying Thor: The Dark World to another level.

- MARVEL STUDIOS' new intro
oh my god...I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VERY EPIC and VERY MARVEL!!!!!

- Algrim the Kursed
wow! This guy is scary.

- Thor and Jane Foster make a cute pair
others may disagree but their romance to me is very innocent and sweet. It's not a huge part of the film but their scenes work and it helps humanize Thor and keep him connected to Earth. I also love how gallantly protective Thor is of Jane and I love that she is equally protective of him.

- A healthy dose of humor injected to keep the film from ever taking itself too seriously but not overdone. I know some will consider that the humor killed the movie, but for me, it was enjoyable...because once again, all MARVEL (studios) movie is an amusement ride, not the voyage to the heart of the darkness.

The cast is once again fantastic.
What makes the film works are the performances of the superb cast. As Tom Hiddleston (Loki) states in interview, "Your job as an actor is to find a way of being truthful in those particular circumstances. After that it is simple" .
He and the rest of the "Thor" ensemble bring sharp intelligence to their roles, carrying the genre to another level.

My only complaint is that it deserves more length time because with only 112 minutes, I feel the movie is too short. It's amazing that for such a short run time The Dark World truly does feel epic, but I do think 5 or 10 minutes of added scenes could've put this film even better and help flush out certain characters' motives and let you feel more attachment to them.

Bottom line, I'd say it is the best solo Marvel movie. It is as the same level as the first Thor. If the first Thor mostly based on JMS' run in the comics, then The Dark World based more on Walt Simonson's run.

It was a wild ride that gave a very nice twists, action, humor, tragedy, and finishes with a very nice cliff hanger.

Epic Battles, Superb Cast, Beautiful setting, Wonderful Music, Gorgeous cinematography, and solid story....Thor Swinging his Mjolnir once again, and IT DELIVERS BIG!!!!!

 

[MarvelFan]

I'm really looking forward for Thor 3...I can't wait which direction that Christopher Yost & Craig Kyle are going to take after that ending...

and I have to say that I'm very glad Yost & Kyle are going to write Thor 3. These 2 knew how to handle the character justice. Thor is in right hand!

 

[warriorking]

Glad you enjoyed it...I can't wait till AoU when we can once again see Thor kick some serious A**.....

 

[BigThor]

^ I definatley wanna see Thor go all out in Avengers: Age of Ultron he's been a bit toned down in the power display department.

With movies like Man of Steel coming out a few hammer throws and lightning blasts isn't going to cut it anymore.

 

[warriorking]

I would love Whedon to have a scene in AoU where Thor cuts loose causing the other Avengers to pause and look at each other with the expression of Holy Sh**!!.
It won't happen but it would be cool...

 

[BigThor]

I would love Whedon to have a scene in AoU where Thor cuts loose causing the other Avengers to pause and look at each other with the expression of Holy Sh**!!.
It won't happen but it would be cool...

I feel the same way, after T:TDW I just don't see Marvel Studios portraying Thor is such a way.

 

[Mightyally]

I really liked the movie, I´ll give it 8.5/10 with the possibility of 9/10 if it wasn´t for the things I´m about to bring up and naturally I won´t be bringing up any of the good stuff because it´s so much. I would however like to see if you agree with me about the few things I actaully considered to be bad.

1.The CGI in the beginning actually looked pretty fake to me. It´s not until Bor arrives and his face is up close that it stops looking animated/not real. This might very well be because this movie didn´t have the same budget at TA for instance and animations like the Hulk or big battles costs insanely much to do.

2. Thor is happy and smiling in the train station despite the fact he might just have "ended" the universe. I mean at that point there was little hope for him to return to Malekith and beat him. He had discovered the force of the aether so he couldn´t possibly know/think he could beat Malekith, well not enough to be in a humoristic mood.

I mean the victory even relied on human science which was far from planned by Thor. I just thought it felt a little like Thor wasn´t a hero in this film (yes I said it). Sure he sacrificed himself but only after he´d gone against his father who knows much more of the aether, fails to destroy it, "gets" his brother killed and is beaten by Malekith who soon will have the entire universe in darkness. I know this isn´t the entire truth but it seriously felt as if Thor just wanted to save Jane and justified his emotions, revenge for his mother and love for Jane, with a plan that he almost knew wouldn´t work.

3. The birds that disappear in front of Selvig, Darcy, the intern and Jane just happens to appear right below them exactly at that point...... Why didn´t they fall through and wind up in the sky?

4. The grenade. First of all, did Loki go invis and pretend to die by the sword? I´ve seriously been wondering about this. Second, yeah the grenade was there so that Loki could finish Kurse but come on. It feels so weird to know everyone could die that easy by one of those grenades. Also, Thor could at least have given us some lightning and more resistance. Not win, just a better fight because Kurse never took a swing only a flying hammer, nor did he take any lightning.

5. A little more pain and breaking would make it a bit more serious but it´s a Marvel movie connected to Disney so one can´t expect too much of that. There was a little blood in the movie tho.

Does anyone agree on any of this?

 

[warriorking]

I thought the end battle was a bit weak myself, the dark elves chasing Jane and the gang looked like idiots..
They dispatched Asgardian highly trained solders but could not catch 4 humans on foot...I mean really?..

The Thor Kurse fight should have been a bit longer with Thor at least getting in some noticable blows..

Kind of strange how Thor caught a subway train which had to make 3 stops instead of calling his hammer and flying back to the final battle..It would have been much faster one would think...but they needed a comedy moment I suppose...

As for the opening battle , yes it did look bit too glossy with the CGI.

One weakness that Taylor showed was his lack of experience on filming for the big screen, you could tell at times he was still playing out scenes for television.
Some scenes lacked that cinematic look and feel a times.
Still loved the movie but it had its faults...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I really liked the movie, I´ll give it 8.5/10 with the possibility of 9/10 if it wasn´t for the things I´m about to bring up and naturally I won´t be bringing up any of the good stuff because it´s so much. I would however like to see if you agree with me about the few things I actaully considered to be bad.

1.The CGI in the beginning actually looked pretty fake to me. It´s not until Bor arrives and his face is up close that it stops looking animated/not real. This might very well be because this movie didn´t have the same budget at TA for instance and animations like the Hulk or big battles costs insanely much to do.

2. Thor is happy and smiling in the train station despite the fact he might just have "ended" the universe. I mean at that point there was little hope for him to return to Malekith and beat him. He had discovered the force of the aether so he couldn´t possibly know/think he could beat Malekith, well not enough to be in a humoristic mood.

I mean the victory even relied on human science which was far from planned by Thor. I just thought it felt a little like Thor wasn´t a hero in this film (yes I said it). Sure he sacrificed himself but only after he´d gone against his father who knows much more of the aether, fails to destroy it, "gets" his brother killed and is beaten by Malekith who soon will have the entire universe in darkness. I know this isn´t the entire truth but it seriously felt as if Thor just wanted to save Jane and justified his emotions, revenge for his mother and love for Jane, with a plan that he almost knew wouldn´t work.

3. The birds that disappear in front of Selvig, Darcy, the intern and Jane just happens to appear right below them exactly at that point...... Why didn´t they fall through and wind up in the sky?

4. The grenade. First of all, did Loki go invis and pretend to die by the sword? I´ve seriously been wondering about this. Second, yeah the grenade was there so that Loki could finish Kurse but come on. It feels so weird to know everyone could die that easy by one of those grenades. Also, Thor could at least have given us some lightning and more resistance. Not win, just a better fight because Kurse never took a swing only a flying hammer, nor did he take any lightning.

5. A little more pain and breaking would make it a bit more serious but it´s a Marvel movie connected to Disney so one can´t expect too much of that. There was a little blood in the movie tho.

Does anyone agree on any of this?

I think you will find most people feel the same way about points 1, 2 and 5, plus the bolded part of 4 as well, the movie had major problems which all seemed like they should have been easy to sort out.

And yeah, there was far too much humour, especially in the final battle.

 

[Mightyally]

^ Nice