Man of Steel vs Thor TDW, seen 'em both, what do you folks think ? Compare/contrast

[Micromind]

I agree with this, this tends to be the trend for Marvel (Studio) movies in general.
Last year I saw Avengers and ASM and although I absolutely loved the fun of the Avengers (how could you not) Amazing Spider-Man's character moments (for me) were far deeper and the movie stayed with me far longer.

That being said a movie shouldn't be knocked for just being FUN especially a superhero movie. Superhero movies shouldn't take themselves too seriously.

GL movie was knocked down for being a FUN superhero movie.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

lighthearted =/= fun

 

[Heat Vision]

TDW was just another Marvel film for me. A fun time but utterly inconsequential.

MOS as much as it failed in many respects, did show that the people behind it were trying for something more. The beautiful music and cinematography. The impeccable casting. And the attempt to try and reach into the character of Superman on an emotional level.

MOS just feels like a more professional piece all around, even when it stumbled. TDW just feels like more studio-measured movie-of-the-week fluff.

And all the reasons hopeful posted.

Well said.

 

[N7 Joseph Shepard]

Went to an advance screening of THOR but had to leave....I think halfway through. From what I did see, it was a lot better than Iron Man 3, but I still enjoyed Man Of Steel more, I doubt that will change when I finally see the full thing but will see

 

[Lord]

^ But Iron Man 3 was better than MoS, so if ou found Thor 2 better than that one then they would both be better than Man of Steel. Thor 2 had a power gem and was overall better than MoS, but MoS had more risks.

 

[John-An]

^ But Iron Man 3 was better than MoS, so if ou found Thor 2 better than that one then they would both be better than Man of Steel. Thor 2 had a power gem and was overall better than MoS, but MoS had more risks.

Not sure if youre serious
Iron man 3 is far from being great than MOS... the fight is with Thor 2 that IMO both IM3 and Thor 2 are some of the lamest movies Marvel studios have done.. Thor 2 overall better than MOS? Thor2's not even at Iron man 1's level, and MOS level is far higher than that.. so don't see the point but nevertheless maybe was your opinion which is respected...

 

[Batmannerism]

Yo Super-dudes. Out of interest I started some "who would win in a fight between MOS Superman and TDW Thor ?" threads (one's in Thor World, the other in Misc Comic movies) . If you get a chance pop over to the Thor world one and help me defend the man of Steel. The Thor fans are doing the Thunder God proud, and Supes is winning the poll, but we could use a few more arguments in favour of Supes coming out on top -as I'm nearly all
argued out.
I like to think I've done the Man of Steel proud (even posted pics of him defeating Thor, from JLA/Avengers, and a breakdown of the Smallville fight/ and thor vs Hulk. Anyway,
I think the thread would benefit from some other voices besides mine.


Sorry, I had to plug my other thread there. Anyway, I thought that many
folk who enjoyed MOS would like TDW. There are some bits in it that are a bit
lame, but there are some cool bits too, terrific visuals, and a great performance by Hiddleston as Loki.

Anyway, while the film is a bit less serious and introspective than MOS, it's still lots of fun, and the stakes are very high. I'm quite surprised you so many folk found it a lot less enjoyable than and less enjoyable than IM 3.

MOS was about a hundred times better than IM3, and Thor TDW was also far superior.
I hate it when heroes do something really ****ing stupid.

- Superman returns, = despite having super-senses, and an intense allergy to kryptonite landing on kryptonite continent and looking surprised when HE GETS HIS ASS KICKED !

- The Dark Knight Rises = taking on Bane solo, on his own turf, and after getting his ass kicked throwing a fire-cracker INSTEAD OF A ****ING GRENADE !!!!

- Iron Man 3 = picking a fight with an international terrorist, giving away his
address, then inviting his girlfriend over, AND NOT PUTTING UP ANY DEFENCES
DESPITE HAVING AN ARMY OF REMOTE CONTROLLED SUITS IN THE ****ING BASEMENT.

I don't like my heroes being perfect, and when they make honest mistakes I feel for them.
But generally I get pissed off when the hero does something that's just plain stupid
(unless of course the character is a moron).
It undermines the character, and is kind of painful to watch as an audience.

Anyway, back to TDW.

Personally, I thought that the sci-fi elements of TDW (the dark elf spaceships, the alien worlds) would have been fun. Asgard is a lot sunnier than Krypton, but was brilliantly
rendered. Both films have an interesting take on alien worlds and technology, and I liked it.

Also, while HemsThor wasn't as good as Cav-El, he was still a solid lead. Also, like MOS there was a solid supporting cast (Portman, Hopkins, Russo and Hiddleston,) Eccleston was good but not as well-rounded as Zod.

Maybe people will enjoy it a bit more when it comes out on Blu-ray/dvd in a few months.

Anyway. Thanks for the posts Super-fans. Just saw an ad for MOS on TV, saving up my pennies !

 

[kalelvis]

Thor was a big fun with each character even Darcy, getting nice moments. There are some silly bits that would fit well into a classic scooby doo cartoon but it is still good entertainment. (The realm jumping during the climax was just a blockbuster version of the hallway scene with people running in and out of doors looking for each other).

I still give MOS the win for overall impact and innovation. What a wonderful time to be a comic book (movie) fan. Thor TDW this weekend, MOS a midnight on Monday.

So the real winners are the audiences who can watch and appreciate both.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

MOS. It had emotion and drama and meaning.

 

[Smashlilman]

Thor 2 was enjoyable but I had problems with the Deus ex Machina defeats of the both Kurse and Malekith. The battles could have been choreographed a little better. There was no real air combat.

 

[blumatic]

I really enjoyed Thor. I saw a lot of clever things in the film.

My favorite was the hammer trying to find Thor, as Thor was jumping from galaxy to galaxy. That was so awesome and creative.

The fighting was ok. In fact it was nothing much at all. It was the jumping through galaxies that made the fighting interesting.

I like the humor in this better than IM3. The humor was more organic and situational. As opposed to being forced punchline after forced punchline.

Really nice touching moments in the too.


MOS, still wins for me. Its just soooo epic. And more emotional. And fighting scenes were very fists heavy. It was a very well choreographed brawl. Seeing Superman getting beat up like that was awesome to me. Then to see him get up and dish it back was great too.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I am just really disappointed in TDW. And it's not because it contains humor in abundance. The laughs the movie got out of me, even from characters I thought in the end were superfluous, was honest. It had funny material. Would that any of the other elements were as deftly executed. Sorry, by leaps and bounds MOS has TDW beaten by a miles and miles. TDW is not undercut by it's comedic moments at all. But when I got out of the theatre they were the ONLY things I could recommend about it, and that's not what I want from a Thor film.

The villain(s) were weak sauce when it comes to characterization, and screen presence. Which is a shame because Eccleston is a fab actor that had me looking forward to his MAL. Kurse? Just a muscled henchman, and his knocking heads with Thor was unimpressive to say the least to me. The other characters are not presented or used very well. In MOS ZOD and his crew were genuine threats, and you were floored by the production values in presenting them as such. Zod was allowed to be better portrayed by Shannon since it did not appear to me that the key character moments or scenes for ZOD had been cut in either the script writing or editing phase. With MAL, you just know that there was supposed to be way more material there. Kurse is so one note and uninteresting. Compare him to the charismatic, beautiful and ten times more badass Faora-Ul. She was a threatening and memorable presence in the film from start to finish.

While Thor has a much larger supporting cast, the studio's decision to have the run time be what it is gave did them no favors. Given what was seen in the first film, a film I love and think is wildly underrated, how can you have SIF and JANE and THOR in the same place and not have some kind of hashing out of the feelings these two females have for our hero? That's a dramatic gold mine no matter how you do it. Granted, Loki comes out well, but the runtime really cuts into his spotlight as well. Not to mention[BLACKOUT]Rene Russo's character's death has little impact. They needed way more of Loki and Frigga on screen together. It's a double shame in a way when you consider she already had so much character/relationship material cut out of the first THOR film. We see a little of Loki's love for his mother when Thor visits him and his cell is a shambles, as is his physical condition. But it needed even more texture.[/BLACKOUT] Martha Kent is also the adopted mother of a son from a world not her own. Yet even as a character who is seen and heard less than her husband she is pretty well defined and Lane as an actress is allowed to give a great performance as Martha. The scene with her and Clark reconnecting is tender and heartfelt.


Lois Lane is actually used very well in MOS as the character who brings Clark a greater connection to the wider world. She is a real world analog of the character from the comics. A no BS investigative journalist, who actually finds THE STORY OF THE CENTURY, but as a good and moral person decides to keep Clark's secret. I mean, is anything done with Jane worthwhile at all in TDW? Anything? They literally made her the macguffin of the film and nothing else. And it's not that there aren't things to explore. Nope. Let's have her faint a lot. That'll draw the audience closer to her. MOS has an interesting mix of characters who are presented as being competent, intelligent AND sometimes witty, in a world that is going to need all those qualities by the tons if humanity is to survive. Perry and Steve show that individual heroism is in anyone given the circumstances. Now let me ask you, would you trust Darcy to TiVo your favorite shows, much less be part of a scientific operation to stop the end of the universe?


I also find that the pacing of the films are similar, yet I am not hearing that as a complaint for TDW. On the other hand, I loved the pacing of MOS and though they packed a lot in their, admittedly, longer run time I enjoyed it. Would some more breathing room benefit the film? Yeah. Not having that breathing room does not make it bad either though. The drama and action are like a driving force. It's a ride. But oh what a ride. I think there is more than enough time to get engaged by the characters and story. But TDW's action and dramatic scenes, aside from Loki/Thor moments, just don't register that highly to me. Where as with MOS, I was engaged with the action and drama from start to finish despite the quick pacing. And as for action? There is just no comparison. Superman was presented as a true god on Earth. This was superhero origin as Biblical/Mythological Epic. Why couldn't Thor, and actual god, get a similar treatment in TDW? That's not to say I wanted the same level of destruction or mayhem in TDW, but it could have had a grander scope than it did. It's funny. For both films I had preconceived notions (as everyone does whether they admit to it or not). I really would have been happy with a modern Superman film in the Donner mold that had a physical opponent for Superman and current SFX That would have satisfied me. Instead I got the Superman movie I did not even know I wanted. It certainly was not the Superman film I would have made. Not in the least. But that did not stop me from very much appreciating what was done with the plots/themes/characters of the film. I left flabbergasted and could not wait to see it again. I left the first Thor film also wanting to see it again. I saw MOS 6 times in theatres and if I am remembering it right, I think I saw THOR 3 times. I was in no mood to revisit TDW when I left the theatre Friday morning. I was expecting a film that would move things forward more, but other than [BLACKOUT]lightly touching on Thor's princehood and coming kingship for maybe two scenes[/BLACKOUT] all the other material that was primed for mining from THOR1 is just not present in any meaningful way in TDW. I wanted to like TDW and hoped it would stack up to MOS in my estimation. I just can't say it. Don't shoot the messenger. t:

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

MOS. It had emotion and drama and meaning.

If Thor 2 would have added these things in it would have been amazing, but MOS used its emotional and dramatic scenes so much better.

 

[Batmannerism]

I Instead I got the Superman movie I did not even know I wanted. It certainly was not the Superman film I would have made. Not in the least. But that did not stop me from very much appreciating what was done with the plots/themes/characters of the film. I left flabbergasted and could not wait to see it again.

Wasn't that the best feeling ? I had a very similar experience, went in with preconceived notions ( Superman can't KILL ! ) and came out wanting to see it again. Think I saw it 5 times all in all, and it got better every time.

We differ on TDW, because I really enjoyed it, not as much as MOS, but
for a superhero action film, it delivered everything I expected.

With MOS I got way more than I bargained for - a whole new vision of Superman, and boy can't wait to see more, roll on SM/BM (and fingers crossed they don't **** it up, because MOS has to be the greatest reboot ever,
possibly more so than Iron Man -which I loved- and the Nolan Bat-films, which were brilliant. The only reason I say this, is that Batman and Iron Man are at least somewhat plausible in today's reality-conscious audience's minds. Whereas Superman is a totally unbelievable character, so to make him fit in to a realistic cinematic world is an immense achievement in storytelling.

Anyway, yeah, a great feeling - can't believe people came out feeling glum- what were they watching ?

 

[Senator Pleasury]

It's a tie to me. Enjoyed both movies because of completely different reasons. In a nutshell, I liked the action more in Thor but MOS's the characters were better fleshed out.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Wasn't that the best feeling ? I had a very similar experience, went in with preconceived notions ( Superman can't KILL ! ) and came out wanting to see it again. Think I saw it 5 times all in all, and it got better every time.

We differ on TDW, because I really enjoyed it, not as much as MOS, but
for a superhero action film, it delivered everything I expected.

With MOS I got way more than I bargained for - a whole new vision of Superman, and boy can't wait to see more, roll on SM/BM (and fingers crossed they don't **** it up, because MOS has to be the greatest reboot ever,
possibly more so than Iron Man -which I loved- and the Nolan Bat-films, which were brilliant. The only reason I say this, is that Batman and Iron Man are at least somewhat plausible in today's reality-conscious audience's minds. Whereas Superman is a totally unbelievable character, so to make him fit in to a realistic cinematic world is an immense achievement in storytelling.

Anyway, yeah, a great feeling - can't believe people came out feeling glum- what were they watching ?

Sorry. I wish I could be with you on TDW... I just can't. I was genuinely depressed when I cam out of the theatre. But in each life a little rain, yadda, yadda.


Yeah, the feeling I got when walking out of MOS was a bit like getting off of a rollercoaster. I often do the ARCHER joke of using the word "figuratively" where most people use the wprd literally. Not this time. I LITERALLY had my mouth and jaw open from the moment we pull back to see the strange alien animals grazing on Krypton to Lois' clever wordplay at the end. Hopefully I will have a tenth of that when I FINALLY get my Blu Ray later today. t:

 

[InJustice]

Thor: Thoroughly disappointed (and that seems to be my reaction for Phase 2 thus far). It was basically a forgettable and generic Marvel movie. I really hope Captain America picks up the slack where IM3 and Thor TDW failed to do so.

MOS: Left me with a sense of wonder and had my heart pounding in excitement. Though action was excessive, and editing could use better pacing (I would've cut out the tentacles battle and the 2nd piece of the World Engine. Therefore, making the piece in Metropolis that much more significant. And having people witness him as the hero he was meant to be. Perhaps a better breathing-in scene between the Battle of Smallville and Metropolis).

 

[DChero]

After seeing Thor 2 over the weekend and Man of Steel again last night, I'm ready to add to this.

I'll be honest, I'm too big of a Superman fan for Thor to have a chance, but both were great movies. I acknowledge my bias, heh.

I thought that Thor 2 did a great job of reminding what I really like about the Marvel universe, it's charm. Loki is the best villain that I've seen in a Marvel movie since Dock Ock. Unfortunately the threat level didn't feel "real" because the villain didn't seem to have any connection to the audience or main cast. I guess what I'm trying to say is that never during the movie did I have think that the main characters were in any danger. That's really the only big critique that I have for Thor 2, which was a really fun movie beyond that.

Man of Steel's issues were with pacing, but I only noticed them in my initial viewing, so maybe they weren't even that bad. When Zod and friends came to Earth there was a legitimate sense of danger that I felt, which really made the action come to life.

So to me these were two fantastic movies. Man of Steel is now my favorite origin movie ever and Thor 2 is has completely made up for my disappointment in Iron Man 3.

 

[The Shape]

Man of Steel, by a mile. I enjoyed it a lot.
TDW was pure mediocrity, and I say that as a (very disappointed) Thor fan.

I agree. MOS is not without its faults, but TDW was what I'd really qualify as a disappointment.

 

[Kal-El.9859]

I haven't seen Thor 2 yet but I didn't like the first one all that much. It was ok....but not a masterpiece. I'm more of an Avengers fan. And my deep love for Superman makes me objective towards the guy in blue

 

[Batmannerism]

After seeing Thor 2 over the weekend and Man of Steel again last night, I'm ready to add to this.

I'll be honest, I'm too big of a Superman fan for Thor to have a chance, but both were great movies. I acknowledge my bias, heh.

I thought that Thor 2 did a great job of reminding what I really like about the Marvel universe, it's charm. Loki is the best villain that I've seen in a Marvel movie since Dock Ock. Unfortunately the threat level didn't feel "real" because the villain didn't seem to have any connection to the audience or main cast. I guess what I'm trying to say is that never during the movie did I have think that the main characters were in any danger. That's really the only big critique that I have for Thor 2, which was a really fun movie beyond that.

Man of Steel's issues were with pacing, but I only noticed them in my initial viewing, so maybe they weren't even that bad. When Zod and friends came to Earth there was a legitimate sense of danger that I felt, which really made the action come to life.

So to me these were two fantastic movies. Man of Steel is now my favorite origin movie ever and Thor 2 is has completely made up for my disappointment in Iron Man 3.

Dude ! Glad to hear some positive feedback on TDW (true, it's not MOS) but it's not bad, and it's fun !

And you hit the nail on the head, Loki, Loki, LOKI, by far and away the best performance (and that's saying a lot for a film with Anthony Hopkins in it).

I did think that Thor was screwed when Kurse was beating on him, but you're right about there being very little connection between Malekith and Thor. What makes a great hero-villain conflict is that it's personal ! Zod and Kal El were about as personal as it gets.

Really glad some Super-fans are enjoying Thor TDW. Like you said, a fun film, and definitely worth a watch (but not on the same level as MOS). I totally
agree it made up for the extremely average Iron Man 3.....Marvel's best film in 2013.

cheers dude !

 

[Human Torch]

In the MOS forum...gee I wonder which will get more votes.....

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

^There are posts here saying that people are fans of both characters and the first Thor film. For myself I found TDW to be a big step down on multiple levels from what had come before in THOR, a film I hold in pretty high regard and feel is underrated considering the degree of difficulty in bringing the character to life for a moder audience. I went into that theatre thinking and hoping the best. When I got out I felt I had seen something that was mediocre and tame. I don't think Thor or any of his supporting cast was well served by the film, save Loki.

I think I come by that opinion honestly. I wanted a grand and epic movie that built on the two previous films featuring these character. I wanted above all a film that featured a powerful and impressive Thor. I don't think I got that.

 

[Steamteck]

I enjoyed them both tons honestly but MOS is pretty much tied with Avengers for my favorite Superhero movie. So MOS wins.

 

[TX85]

I love Thor TDW..But I have to with MOS and yes by miles