Fan Review Thread SPOILERS INSIDE - Part 2

[A Necessary Evil]

Yeah, imo this movie felt like Loki: The Dark World, featuring Jane, Darcy, Selvig, and Darcy's intern...oh, yeah and Thor too!

 

[seahammer]

edit. Wrong thread.

 

[charl_huntress]

I finally got a chance to see this. I rented it and I'm watching it again for the umpteenth time. Overall, I'll say it's pretty good. Not the best installment, but certainly not the worst. I just wish Hemsworth had more to do in the movie. I feel like all the other characters (especially Loki) outshined him in his own movie, and he was only there to throw a few blows or two when needed. I would have loved to see more focus on the Jane and Thor plot if only because it would have been given them both a bit more to do on screen. Though, I did feel like Portman phoned it in, she did her job adequately. I definitely pick this up on Blu-ray and add it to the collection.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

I just watched this for the second time.

It wasn't as enjoyable as it was the first time around.

6.5/10 on first watch.

5/10 now.

The story is just not very interesting or engaging at all. The action is underwhelming as well.

Same here. After a second watch, the movie gave me nothing.

The first one at least had some character development.

2/5

 

[MarvelU]

So I finally got around to watch this movie, yeah I wasn't feeling it personally. I give it a 5.5/10. Very forgettable and kinda boring. I also didn't get Malekeith for the most part.

 

[samsnee]

I enjoyed it. But one of the main problems is that the Earth scenes were for the most part unnecessary. Why did Selvig need to be naked at Stonehenge? Why did we need to see Darcy and her intern?

Sif and the warriors three are much more interesting. I remember reading in an early interview that we'd see more of the every day life of Asgard but it certainly didn't feel that way.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Why did Selvig need to be naked at Stonehenge?

To visually get the point across that Lokis mind rape did severe damage to him

Why did we need to see Darcy and her intern?

Because the audience would ask about Darcy if she didn't show up. She was an important part of the ensemble in the first movie. Also: plot purposes. You needed someone to get a) Jane Foster to the site of the first convergence side effects and b) a severly damaged Selvig out of the asylum. Most of the earth scenes were very exposition heavy so you needed someone to lighte that exposition up. Darcy served those purposes. You also need an outsider character who can be told things while indirectly telling it the audience too, that's why the gave Darcy an intern

 

[Keyser Soze]

I've been rewatching Marvel's Phase 2 films leading up to seeing CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER tomorrow, and while I think IRON MAN 3 improved on repeat viewing, sadly, THOR: THE DARK WORLD - which I'd previously ranked as my top superhero film of 2013 - slipped in my estimations second time round.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good film, with lots to like. The mythology of Thor and Marvel's Asgard/Nine Realms feels more fully realised here, and the actors have all grown into their characters, giving the relationships more nuance and gravitas. And whenever Loki is onscreen, the film soars, with Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth enjoying great chemistry in depicting a believably strained sibling relationship with anger, resentment and, buried deep down, love. And the climactic battle in London (and elsewhere) remains a highly inventive visual delight.

But in revisiting the film, the flaws were more apparent. While I'm an advocate for the humour in the Marvel Studios movies, here it doesn't feel so gracefully managed, resulting in some off-putting, lurching shifts in tone. And who thought that Kat Denning's Darcy - the grating annoyance who detracted from just about every moment she appeared in the first film - deserved a bigger chunk of solo screentime and her own equally annoying love interest to give her more to do? Add onto that the fact that Malekith is no match for Loki in the charismatic villain department, with a hazy, ill-defined evil scheme, and that Loki himself isn't in the film as much as I seem to remember him being, and there are quite a few flaws dragging this down to being just shy of greatness.

It's quite disappointing that, while Thor remains my favourite of Marvel's comic properties - Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic's THOR: GOD OF THUNDER is the best title in Marvel's library right now, and LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD is a highly enjoyable new series - it has translated into arguably the weakest of Marvel Studios' film franchises. But THOR: THE DARK WORLD is an improvement on the first film and a confident step in the right direction, and sets up some ideas that should make for a compelling third installment that will hopefully continue the upward trend.

 

[A Necessary Evil]

Nice review!

 

[Keyser Soze]

Thanks!

 

[samsnee]

Yeah after watching TWS, the flaws in TDW are more amplified because we know Marvel can make a movie that has the right balance of humor and drama.

 

[BoredGuy]

^^agreed completely
The more I think about this movie the more it bothers me.
It almost seems like the filmmakers looked at the flaws of the first film, and completely amped them up and made them worse for the second one (though not intentionally, I'm sure).

Complaint from Thor
Too much humor
Solution for TDW
More Darcy, Crazy Selvig, superfluous Intern, Slapstick final battle

Complaint from Thor
Thor needs more cool moments
Solution for TDW
Don't let him do any whirlwinds or any magic but lightning, and make sure the audience knows he can't fly without the hammer.

Complaint from Thor
Not enough Asgard
Solution for TDW
Get a director who can make Asgard look very full and vibrant, then spend the same amount of time there as the first movie (maybe even less)

Complaint from Thor
Weak final battle
Solution for TDW
Intercut the already silly final battle with Shots of Darcy and Jane, and make Thor ride a train to extend the scene. Also, make sure Kurse's battle only lasts about as long as the far-too-short Destroyer fight.

I love Thor as a character, and this film approaches X-Men:The Last Stand levels of disappointment for me.

 

[Vartha]

^^agreed completely
The more I think about this movie the more it bothers me.
It almost seems like the filmmakers looked at the flaws of the first film, and completely amped them up and made them worse for the second one (though not intentionally, I'm sure).

Complaint from Thor
Too much humor
Solution for TDW
More Darcy, Crazy Selvig, superfluous Intern, Slapstick final battle

Complaint from Thor
Thor needs more cool moments
Solution for TDW
Don't let him do any whirlwinds or any magic but lightning, and make sure the audience knows he can't fly without the hammer.

Complaint from Thor
Not enough Asgard
Solution for TDW
Get a director who can make Asgard look very full and vibrant, then spend the same amount of time there as the first movie (maybe even less)

Complaint from Thor
Weak final battle
Solution for TDW
Intercut the already silly final battle with Shots of Darcy and Jane, and make Thor ride a train to extend the scene. Also, make sure Kurse's battle only lasts about as long as the far-too-short Destroyer fight.

I love Thor as a character, and this film approaches X-Men:The Last Stand levels of disappointment for me.

....says WHO? Thor CAN hover in the air and TOSS Mjolnir without falling.

 

[spark627]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt this way. The first time I saw the movie I thought it was ok, not horrible but not great. The second viewing, I could barely pay attention. I didn't even finish it, I stopped in the middle of the final battle.

The story was really weak, the villian should've been more impressive, the 'science' is too extreme, the humor is too much and not funny. Such a shame.

 

[BoredGuy]

....says WHO? Thor CAN hover in the air and TOSS Mjolnir without falling.

yeah but they make it seem like that's an enchantment from the hammer.. the whole point of that subway scene was showing he can't fly without it.... and also when he waited on that balcony in Asgard so he could hitch a ride when the hammer showed up, in the comics he could've flown and let the hammer catch up, but not in the films, he had to wait.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

Yeah it would seem that Thor needs Mjonir to fly in the films. In early Thor comics he couldn't fly without it either. He would throw the hammer while airborne and then catch it again as he descended. Even a scene like that I think would be really cool so count me firmly in the camp that wants to see more aerial fighting with Thor.

I think the dealbreaker for the people who hate on this film is whether you enjoyed the humor or not. I thought this was the funniest MCU film yet so it didn't feel forced to me whereas Iron Man 3, although I enjoyed it, seemed to try too hard. I do agree with the sentiment that the Avengers seems to have the best balance of humor and gravitas of all the films thus far. I'm looking forward very much so to Guardians of the Galaxy but I strongly suspect that a lot of people are going to be hating on it. Everybody's sense of humor is different. Me - I absolutely loved the subway scene in Thor 2. It was a favorite for me actually.

The other thing is we as the fans are not the only audience for these films. I took my wife to see Man of Steel and she nearly swore off CBMs completely. But I was able to convince her to give Thor: TDW a shot and she loved it. She enjoyed The Winter Soldier as well but did not care for the violence. She saw the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy and thought it looked cheesy. Not sure if I'll be able to get her to see that one. But the thing is not every film is going to be a home run with everybody.

I like that Marvel is mixing things up though. People accuse them of leaning towards too much humor and then boom - Winter Soldier. I think Age of Ultron is going to surprise us as well.

 

[Casius--J]

I watched this for the second time the other day and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first time.

There are some things I still like about this movie, more asgard, more sci-fi elements also Heimdell and Frigga had some good scenes. However on the second time it just felt a little flat to me, it wasn't very exciting and the action wasn't too impressive either.

I can't remember what I rated this before, I think I gave it an 8/10.
Now I would say its a 5.5/6/10. Not terrible but could have been better.

It was the opposite for me with Iron Man 3, I enjoyed that more on the second time than I did on the first.

 

[Naked Shia]

I finally watched it. It was a horrible experience. Luckily, I had a friend to help me fight my way through that movie.

The humor was some of the worst I've seen in a cbm. The action was totally boring. The story was uninteresting.

It would be hard for me to find something I liked. Hemsworth was good as usual, but he didn't get to do much in his own movie.

 

[Green Goblin]

I wish they kept Darcy away. She was just as bad if not worse than what we got in THOR.

 

[Naked Shia]

Agreed. It's a pity, because I'm sure it could have been great with better stakes, less stupid humor and more real action. The potential was here.

 

[Green Goblin]

Agreed. It's a pity, because I'm sure it could have been great with better stakes, less stupid humor and more real action. The potential was here.

I would add a better villain and keeping the focus on Thor.

 

[Naked Shia]

and less visuals copied from mass effect.

 

[Victarion]

^^agreed completely
The more I think about this movie the more it bothers me.
It almost seems like the filmmakers looked at the flaws of the first film, and completely amped them up and made them worse for the second one (though not intentionally, I'm sure).

Complaint from Thor
Too much humor
Solution for TDW
More Darcy, Crazy Selvig, superfluous Intern, Slapstick final battle

Complaint from Thor
Thor needs more cool moments
Solution for TDW
Don't let him do any whirlwinds or any magic but lightning, and make sure the audience knows he can't fly without the hammer.

Complaint from Thor
Not enough Asgard
Solution for TDW
Get a director who can make Asgard look very full and vibrant, then spend the same amount of time there as the first movie (maybe even less)

Complaint from Thor
Weak final battle
Solution for TDW
Intercut the already silly final battle with Shots of Darcy and Jane, and make Thor ride a train to extend the scene. Also, make sure Kurse's battle only lasts about as long as the far-too-short Destroyer fight.

I love Thor as a character, and this film approaches X-Men:The Last Stand levels of disappointment for me.

I think I still preferred X-Men: The Last Stand. Rushed as it was, at least the plots were interesting. The elf soldiers looked kind of silly.

 

[Crimson King]

No more silly than the Immortals in 300. TDW was not a great movie by any stretch, but it's nowhere near the poor quality of X-3. X-3 almost killed the X-Men franchise.

 

[Victarion]

No more silly than the Immortals in 300. TDW was not a great movie by any stretch, but it's nowhere near the poor quality of X-3. X-3 almost killed the X-Men franchise.

I haven't seen 300, so I wouldn't be able to say one way or the other. I did expect better from someone who'd worked on Game of Thrones; that and a love of science-fantasy is what drew me into seeing Thor: The Dark World.