The Official 'Thor Rate & Review' thread - Part 2

[Spider-ManHero12]

ok remember when they all returned to Asgard?

Spoiler

Walt is to SIF's LEFT at the dining table they're all around. The scene opens with Volstagg boasting at the right of the screen, the Camera pans to the Left across the table and you see Sif and Walt on HER LEFT.

Ahh, I see. Well, when I go to see the film a second time (probably today or tommorow), I'll be on the lookout.

 

[The Morningstar]

Talking of Sif I thought Alexander did really well with what she was given. You could tell she really liked Thor without it being too obvious.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ Agreed. And on top of all that She was cute as hell, lol.

 

[Vartha]

Talking of Sif I thought Alexander did really well with what she was given. You could tell she really liked Thor without it being too obvious.

INDEED! Jamie was great throughout the movie. Loved that one scene with Frigga.

 

[Marvin]

You know, the one thing i'm baffled about, and no disrespect to peoples opinions, is the criticism of Thor's change.

I mean, didn't you see the scene where Loki visits Thor at the SHIELD complex? That is the tipping point for Thor. As far as he knows, he is responsible for his Fathers death. His own Mother wants nothing to do with him anymore. If that doesn't make you buck your ideas up and look at yourself in the mirror... what will?

Also with Loki saying he can't ever return, it makes Thor accept that yea, he's stuck on Earth, you might as well deal with it.

I tend to agree with this, however I feel Brannah fell short in conveying it. It takes someone like you to run around and explain it to a great deal of the audience before they understand and or accept what happened.

The film is great on paper, really great. The actors are strong too. But concepts such as character change due self imposed exile over thinking you're responsible for your own fathers death fall insanely flat here. To see this done right look no further than The Lion King. In this movie its more like he finds out he can't go home and the next day he's making breakfast for his new friends, whereas they're is a lot more going on here than that. More over the romance in this was just confusing. Again in the Lion King it's very clear how and who he feels for and why you want them together, in this it's just a contrived love for absolutely no reason than she's the first person he saw and she has an understanding of the true nature of the cosmos, whereas see's her work in him i guess.

Well, the Destroyer was laying waste to everything. Sif asked the Warriors Three to buy herself some time(after the Warriors Three offered Thor time to get the townspeople out). She fails. Thor steps in and tells Sif to go...and that he has a plan. Sif and the Warriors Three do leave and take Eric, Jane, and Darcy...as the rest of the town is leaving.

It is Jane who doesn't leave when she sees what Thor's doing. By that time, Thor's already in front of the Destroyer, which is his ultimate task anyway.

It's believable.

Again that action beat falls short in conveying it's purpose, If the warriors three were supposed to achieve a goal then flesh it out, I get that they were buying the towns folk time, but for anyone who doesn't the scene is just a very mundane short action beat that further proves how pointless these characters are. You come out of the theater and your like, what's up with those warriors, they're so pointless... If they were seen to be powerful it would be different in that it would convey that Thor can do what their combined power can't, but here it's comes across flat.(maybe if the movie had the gut's to be shot in a real city with buildings knocked over and such...they had the budget)

Like in Wolverine Origins, hollywood needs to stop thinking they are fooling anyone by making the main character appear to be dead before the film is even close to being done. It's not immersive story telling. If you are going to do it, save it for the end. I love how Asgards scale exists in establishing shots only and one or two neat interiors.

I love what this film was supposed to be, and perhaps that's why it's getting positive ratings, but I think like Hulk(and IM2) Marvel just didn't translate it to the screen well. The action in this film is insanely overrated and relies on post a little to much. The only compelling set piece is surprisingly the raid on the shield base. I also really like what it takes to be worthy of Thor's hammer.

I can't wait to read the novelization, I have a feeling it will be a great one.

Hiemdall is misconceived in this film.

As much as I like this film and I DO
I feel it's a joke compared to the style and execution of a film like Gladiator. It's just a superhero movie and Marvel seems content with that. People like Harry Knowles are hurting it by selling it they way they are. A similar thing happened with his review of IM2. The people that enjoy this film the most are the one that go in cold and find a gem I think.

6.5/10
would have been a 7 but shield needs to go. Thank goodness they weren't around for the spiderman films.

 

[Mary Jane Watson]

I find it sad/funny how alot of people didn't seem to get the

Spoiler

JMS cameo. It was great, lol.

I kno! I was like "Oh thats Stan Lee"!! They were like..what?

But that scene was pretty funny tho lol

 

[Marvolo]

I have never read the comics, but I know the mythology and I was so pleased with this movie. Asgard was pretty much perfect. I always feel like directors hold back or can never quite reach the grandeur of imagination,and like somethong is lost between the concept and the finished product but by god not this time. This must have been an art designers wet dream. I know for me it would be. Its like they said think the grandest images and we will put it on screen. The bridge, the galaxies, the palace; every single thing about Asgard was above anything else I've seen in a movie. Absolutely gorgeous. I would watch a two hour movie of just a tour of asgard lol. Me being a big astronomy and mythology nut and someone who grew up dreaming of the stars and nebulae and distant planets and ideas of going to these places lets just say I felt like a kid watching this stuff come to life. Its like my biggest childhood dreams were playing out in front of me. If this movie isn't at least nominated for art design at the Academy Awards its a real shame. This film pulled off something that I think would have broke most directors. I mean the concept isnt somethibg most audiences are accustomed to, and Thor isnt the easiest to oull off especially when it comes to asgard. Aomehow though they made it work and then some. Ok I'm gushing here, and its about the art design lol. Anyways, the whole movie was great. To me it feels like the first true comic book film. They didnt shy away the mature if comics and the heroes in them. These were gods fighting gods and giants. This is something other comic heroes can't do. They have to hold back or pull their punches, but here it's all out their. I had some minor problems with a couple lines and once again I feel like Doyle's score is telling me how I should feel instead of letting me decide. His scores are good, but I prefer more subtle music in emotional scenes. Not really into violens being used to make audience teary eyed. These minor annoyances aside I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I am dedinitely looking forward to the sequel. I plan to see this again.

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

The movie was great. Liked the family aspect of it and how Thor got broken down from arrogant to humble and with a purpose literally from being cheered by the asgardians to dirty in mud and humbled by not being worthy of the hammer. Lokis acting was top notch.

 

[S.A.A.D.]

I tend to agree with this, however I feel Brannah fell short in conveying it. It takes someone like you to run around and explain it to a great deal of the audience before they understand and or accept what happened.

The film is great on paper, really great. The actors are strong too. But concepts such as character change due self imposed exile over thinking you're responsible for your own fathers death fall insanely flat here. To see this done right look no further than The Lion King. In this movie its more like he finds out he can't go home and the next day he's making breakfast for his new friends, whereas they're is a lot more going on here than that. More over the romance in this was just confusing. Again in the Lion King it's very clear how and who he feels for and why you want them together, in this it's just a contrived love for absolutely no reason than she's the first person he saw and she has an understanding of the true nature of the cosmos, whereas see's her work in him i guess.



Again that action beat falls short in conveying it's purpose, If the warriors three were supposed to achieve a goal then flesh it out, I get that they were buying the towns folk time, but for anyone who doesn't the scene is just a very mundane short action beat that further proves how pointless these characters are. You come out of the theater and your like, what's up with those warriors, they're so pointless... If they were seen to be powerful it would be different in that it would convey that Thor can do what their combined power can't, but here it's comes across flat.(maybe if the movie had the gut's to be shot in a real city with buildings knocked over and such...they had the budget)

Like in Wolverine Origins, hollywood needs to stop thinking they are fooling anyone by making the main character appear to be dead before the film is even close to being done. It's not immersive story telling. If you are going to do it, save it for the end. I love how Asgards scale exists in establishing shots only and one or two neat interiors.

I love what this film was supposed to be, and perhaps that's why it's getting positive ratings, but I think like Hulk(and IM2) Marvel just didn't translate it to the screen well. The action in this film is insanely overrated and relies on post a little to much. The only compelling set piece is surprisingly the raid on the shield base. I also really like what it takes to be worthy of Thor's hammer.

I can't wait to read the novelization, I have a feeling it will be a great one.

Hiemdall is misconceived in this film.

As much as I like this film and I DO
I feel it's a joke compared to the style and execution of a film like Gladiator. It's just a superhero movie and Marvel seems content with that. People like Harry Knowles are hurting it by selling it they way they are. A similar thing happened with his review of IM2. The people that enjoy this film the most are the one that go in cold and find a gem I think.

6.5/10
would have been a 7 but shield needs to go. Thank goodness they weren't around for the spiderman films.

Look, I like Gladiator, but really? Did you have to compare it to that? It doesn't have to be like Gladiator in order to be good. It's not fair to Thor at all...

 

[Marvin]

Look, I like Gladiator, but really? Did you have to compare it to that? It doesn't have to be like Gladiator in order to be good. It's not fair to Thor at all...

With Thor and with Gladiator.
We can talk about how strong the film looked..
We can talk about how engaging he action was..
We can talk about the political scheming...
We can talk about how emotionally charged the characters were to each other..
How bad we want out fallen prince to get back at the conniving worm that wrong him and ruined his life..

When compared to Gladiator it's all put into context...it's ok but marvel could have really kicked ass and fans need to start calling them out on it.

I do think that Ridley Scott would have made this movie a lot stronger though. In visuals and in tone(if he brought his writers along) AND because of that I see this film for what it is imo.

Something that could have at the very least looked as strong gladiator(a lot of sand and armor), but instead it's another marvel movie...which is great and all but they get what they put into it and from me it's un-fair comparisons to what it could have been.

You're right of course, it's unfair.
fan boards have a way of bringing this out of me. Comic book films need to strive to be better than their "genre," Wolverine could have been like and better than First Blood, because it would have taken everything that movie was and layered it with lore/powers. I just want comic book films to be as powerful as normal films and I feel if Thor was everything it was but without the marvel lore/title, it would be seen for the meh film it is but "fans" and audiences alike.

That's one thing Nolan has done well with Bat's and I hope Marvel starts doing in the (very) near future.

 

[Secret_Riddle]

http://cinematicriddles.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/review-thor/

I posted a review of this on my blog. In short, I liked it a lot. Although, my impressions of it wouldn't be quite as positive outside the context of the broader universe. (a 3/4 instead of a 3.5/4)

Better than expected though! Lots of fun. Around the same level as the Iron Man films for me. Loki is an absolutely brilliant villain!!

 

[Flemm]

The one thing that has really stayed with me from my first viewing last night was just how great Hiddleston and Hemsworth are in this movie. Marvel has two stars on their hands here. I expect them both to get a big push in the Avengers.

Something held me back from really loving this movie, though. Something about how the story was told. It's a simple story, which is fine, even a good thing. But it felt to me like that simple story was told as if the filmmakers were constantly worried that the audience wouldn't get it. For a simple story to be really effective, it needs to be told simply and elegantly. There were moments when I could feel that coming through in this movie, but a lot of the time it felt like the story beats were being oversold. Sometimes it was the music cues, sometimes it was just a little too much exposition, or a trite line of dialogue. Just enough to take me out of the story a bit. I felt like I wanted to be able to go back to talk to the creative team at some point midway through production and tell them: "We are going to get it. It works. The cast is perfect. Don't oversell it. Have confidence."

I'm curious to see how I will feel at a second viewing, though.

 

[S.A.A.D.]

With Thor and with Gladiator.
We can talk about how strong the film looked..
We can talk about how engaging he action was..
We can talk about the political scheming...
We can talk about how emotionally charged the characters were to each other..
How bad we want out fallen prince to get back at the conniving worm that wrong him and ruined his life..

When compared to Gladiator it's all put into context...it's ok but marvel could have really kicked ass and fans need to start calling them out on it.

I do think that Ridley Scott would have made this movie a lot stronger though. In visuals and in tone(if he brought his writers along) AND because of that I see this film for what it is imo.

Something that could have at the very least looked as strong gladiator(a lot of sand and armor), but instead it's another marvel movie...which is great and all but they get what they put into it and from me it's un-fair comparisons to what it could have been.

You're right of course, it's unfair.
fan boards have a way of bringing this out of me. Comic book films need to strive to be better than their "genre," Wolverine could have been like and better than First Blood, because it would have taken everything that movie was and layered it with lore/powers. I just want comic book films to be as powerful as normal films and I feel if Thor was everything it was but without the marvel lore/title, it would be seen for the meh film it is but "fans" and audiences alike.

That's one thing Nolan has done well with Bat's and I hope Marvel starts doing in the (very) near future.

Dude, comparing Thor to Gladiator is optional. Optional, it's not necessary, it's not as if there will be repercussions if you were to not compare Thor to Gladiator.

 

[Infinity9999x]

you know, the one thing i'm baffled about, and no disrespect to peoples opinions, is the criticism of thor's change.

I mean, didn't you see the scene where loki visits thor at the shield complex? That is the tipping point for thor. As far as he knows, he is responsible for his fathers death. His own mother wants nothing to do with him anymore. If that doesn't make you buck your ideas up and look at yourself in the mirror... What will?

Also with loki saying he can't ever return, it makes thor accept that yea, he's stuck on earth, you might as well deal with it.

Loki visiting him was certainly the tipping point, but most people don't jump straight into being understanding and compassionate the way Thor did. We didn't see him get angry, or try to work through his grief at being the supposed reason why his father died. I really felt we needed a few more character building scenes, especially because the romance felt a little contrived between Portman's character and Thor. They were both such good actors that I didn't mind, but they needed a little more meat in that relationship.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I don't think the complaints about runtime were that negative. The movie was really good, but it could have used another 15 minutes to flesh things out a bit more is all.

15 minutes is alot of screentime if you think about it. I can't really think of any more scenes that could convey that Thor is changing. If they're all dialogue scenes, that's a long time for 15 minutes. To me that would slow the film down. The scenes that were shown were substantial and enough for Thor to make him realize what he was doing.

You know, the one thing i'm baffled about, and no disrespect to peoples opinions, is the criticism of Thor's change.

I mean, didn't you see the scene where Loki visits Thor at the SHIELD complex? That is the tipping point for Thor. As far as he knows, he is responsible for his Fathers death. His own Mother wants nothing to do with him anymore. If that doesn't make you buck your ideas up and look at yourself in the mirror... what will?

Also with Loki saying he can't ever return, it makes Thor accept that yea, he's stuck on Earth, you might as well deal with it.

Yup, this is what I got from it.

The line goes; "Whomever wields this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

But in a way, Odin wanted Thor to possess it. He thinks he is worthy but just needs to be taught a lesson. Hence the reason the Hammer also landed on Earth. Still, Thor had to win it. Anyone worthy could have but Odin really wanted Thor to possess it.

This was such a great moment. You first think that Odin is talking about someone else weilding the hammer. And then you realize it was still Thor's the entire time. He always had faith in his son. He just wanted to teach him a lesson. And Loki trying to pull it was a great moment too.

And that brilliant cut of Odin muttering the words again in the finale.

 

[Rock Sexton]

The issue is it literally happens overnight, god or not, people don't change that quickly. The entire film more or less takes place over a day or two, and the amount of time spent with humanity is not enough in some peoples opinions to justify the sudden change in character. If he spent a lot more time amongst humans and actually learned more about what it is to be human it would have felt more natural, instead all it takes is a bit of interaction with Jane and friends for him to see the 'error of his ways' as it were and that's what makes it a weaker character journey, you kinda don't feel like he really learned anything deep or life changing.

It's not the humans who made him humble ..... it's thinking that for the first time in life he had no purpose, no family, no father, and no Asgard.

C'mon it's not that difficult. I know plenty of people who change cold turkey over all kinds of things. There's no rule book that it "takes X amount of days and X amount of hours spent with others" ....

 

[Rock Sexton]

That's not really what the film was trying to convey though, being mortal was clearly meant to be a humbling experience and ultimately what leads to him changing, it's as classic a story telling as you can get, the arrogant person who's life is changed by an experience or person of great humility. This does it, but in a very abridged way.

It's not at all, but it's the movie you're trying to make it out to be.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

i kno! I was like "oh thats stan lee"!! They were like..what?

But that scene was pretty funny tho lol

lol!

 

[Vartha]

15 minutes is alot of screentime if you think about it. I can't really think of any more scenes that could convey that Thor is changing. If they're all dialogue scenes, that's a long time for 15 minutes. To me that would slow the film down. The scenes that were shown were substantial and enough for Thor to make him realize what he was doing.



Yup, this is what I got from it.



This was such a great moment. You first think that Odin is talking about someone else weilding the hammer. And then you realize it was still Thor's the entire time. He always had faith in his son. He just wanted to teach him a lesson. And Loki trying to pull it was a great moment too.

And that brilliant cut of Odin muttering the words again in the finale.

I loved that part. Basically the side of Mjolnir showing the Celtic knot as a spell. Tho I didn't look to see if the top of the Hammer still had these runes. I translated them. lol

 

[Rock Sexton]

Morningstar,

It's really interesting when you think about the redemption angle. Yeah, Thor believes Loki about his father's death and that his Mother doesn't wish to see him again. It does humble him.

But, Sif does tell Thor that his father is, in fact, alive. It reveals Loki's true nature and his plans but it still doesn't change the fact that Thor was an arrogant prick in the first act and his father was in fact affected by his banishment...even if Thor doesn't know it.

Have you ever almost lost something then when you got it back you learned to appreciate it?

 

[Infinity9999x]

I was fine with Loki telling Thor of Odin's "death" being the catalyst to change him, but again, it just happened too fast. We saw him work through grief for a few seconds, that was about it. And I would have liked it if Portman's character had a bigger hand in teaching him how to be humble. I mean, Loki attribute's the reason to her, but we never really see a reason why Thor falls in love with her, or how he learned to be humble from her.

I would have liked just a bit more character building scenes with that. But still, even with what we got, it was still very enjoyable.

 

[Vartha]

.....heh I have Rock.....I miss my mind the most. Used to have a sign up at work that said, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most"

 

[The Morningstar]

I've seen someone bring up Gladiator.

No, Thor shouldn't look or feel like Gladiator. Thor is pure Kirby. It's cosmic/medievil.

The way i'd sum it up... Masters of the Universe... but better.

 

[Vartha]

I was fine with Loki telling Thor of Odin's "death" being the catalyst to change him, but again, it just happened too fast. We saw him work through grief for a few seconds, that was about it. And I would have liked it if Portman's character had a bigger hand in teaching him how to be humble. I mean, Loki attribute's the reason to her, but we never really see a reason why Thor falls in love with her, or how he learned to be humble from her.

I would have liked just a bit more character building scenes with that. But still, even with what we got, it was still very enjoyable.

You know what got me about that scene, is Thor should have known about the Odinsleep, and Odin technically being in a coma, not dead yet not alive.

 

[Rock Sexton]

The line goes; "Whomever wields this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

But in a way, Odin wanted Thor to possess it. He thinks he is worthy but just needs to be taught a lesson. Hence the reason the Hammer also landed on Earth. Still, Thor had to win it. Anyone worthy could have but Odin really wanted Thor to possess it.

Remember Frigga's line about Odin doing things "for a purpose"?