Agree to disagree on this one, as a huge Superman fan (though overall I am more of a Marvel guy) MOS got a lot more right than wrong and I could write an essay on what it got right as well.
Fair enough. I've said my piece on Man of Steel on other forums so I don't feel a need to go into detail and I don't like harping on films that other people seem to like. Honestly even though the final battle seemed very dragged out, I actually really liked the film when I first saw it and bought it as soon as it came out on Blu-Ray. However, I liked it less and less with repeat viewings and after having time to ruminate on it realized a lot of the criticisms against it were spot on. Whereas with The Dark World the more I think about it and watch it the more I like it. We're similar in that I'm mostly a Marvel guy but love Superman. This is just one area we diverge.
Yeah the Avengers had nothing to with it did it? Come on man both Iron Man 3 AND Thor 2 got a HUGE boost from the goodwill that The Avengers drummed up, THATS why it made the money it did in November. Without TA it wouldnt have made as much money and that is just plain truth. A lot of people were disappointed in the movie as well and thats why we are complaining, so hopefully Marvel listen and address those complaints.
I wouldnt say Thor is a character with limited appeal anymore either, not after the 1st movie (which I loved) or TA.
You may very well be right. That's something we'll never know for sure. Both Iron Man 3 and Thor received similar percentage bumps (of course Iron Man 3 came immediately after and had the benefit of the 3D bump as well). But if either of the films were turkeys they would not have done as well as they did and not have gotten repeat viewings in the theater. Plus if everyone who saw Avengers saw Thor 2 it would have done even better at the box office. Based on the gross differential between the two post Avengers films, I think the people who saw the films were the ones who were interested in each respective character's story arc.
Cool, I am honestly glad you like it, wish I felt the same.
I had no definition what so ever about what I wanted Thor 2 to be, I didnt know enough about the characters to have a set movie in my. I just wanted a good movie with emotion and heart to it and I got non of these things.
I liked MOS, but that doesnt mean I want all CBM's to be like it, MOS needed more humour while Thor 2 needed a lot less. I actually think The Wolverine got the balance the most right in regards to humour in CBM's in 2013 despite MOS being my favourite. The 1st Thor got the balance much better as well. It got suitably serious when it needed to be and was very emotional at times. You didnt see any jokes made in the final battle of Thor 1 which is probably my favourite stand alone movie in the MCU.
As I have said nothing in Thor 2 had any tension, or consequence, because a joke would be made during the scene or 30 seconds after it, its just too much and ruins the movie for me. Taylor didnt want this much humour in the movie, I just wish they had let him do his thing.
I like and have read both Marvel and DC, I also like and read characters like Judge Dredd, Hellboy, Transformers, G.I Joe as well as some others. I want EVERY comic book movie to be good as it only helps the genre, but Thor to me was just Marvel's ego going crazy. Thor 2 could have and should have been as big and as good as The Avengers but Marvel seemed to micro manage the movie from the start and it came out very disappointing IMO.
They seem to be putting a lot more effort into Cap 2 which I hope lives upto the hype.
I'm actually of the opinion that if Man of Steel did not turn out to be the type of film it was and did not get the reception it did that Thor 2 would've been different. The characters are very similar in a lot of ways and I believe that Marvel wanted to distance itself from the negative backlash of Man of Steel by having a climax that was not dreary and depressing but actually fun. I could be totally wrong about this but that was my first impression.
In the end I don't think there is any more humor in TDW than in the Avengers. Darcy and Ian kissing in the middle of the battle was no less silly than a SHIELD agent playing Galaga - in my opinion anyway.
I agree with you that Marvel can't stick with that tone all the time though and hope they mix it up. I think they have to mix it up. Some characters naturally lend themselves to more serious material than others. Of course it also has to do with how a character is written. We've seen Batman campy and we've seen Batman dark as hell. I have high hopes for The Winter Soldier as well. Positive buzz for this one is more universal than the last two Marvel Studios films so we'll see.
Marvel isn't perfect but they are maintaining a very high level of quality especially relative to their quantity of output. They are making mistakes along the way but nothing egregious and they are learning from their mistakes. I look at TDW as an exciting chapter in a larger story and am totally game for the character to be pulled in different directions as they try new things. I am really enjoying the characterizations and world building and I'm always wondering what's next. You can't please everyone but I hope Thor 3 is a film that delivers elements that other people would really like to see. I actually think it's high time that Thor really cut lose in a battle. I'm of the opinion that Surtur appearing
might be jumping the gun but if he is part of the next installment, Thor's going to need to give it everything he's got.
BTW, Thor 2 was actually a troubled production from the beginning with the whole Patty Jenkins and Natalie Portman fiasco, Josh Dallas unable to reprise his role as Fandral, and Jamie Alexander getting seriously injured on set, the butting heads between Taylor and Marvel over the soundtrack and rumors about the director split and disagreements over runtime, etc. With all of that, I'm amazed that we got as good of a film as we did.
This was also Taylor's first box office film so naturally Marvel would want to try and reign him in a little. I would like to see what Taylor could do with more latitude but I'm beginning to think he might not be back for the third installment. Also as much as I liked his grounded approach, I want to see a little more fantasy and less sci fi. I liked the way Branagh presented the Jotuns. If fire demons from Muspelheim show up with laser guns I'll be pissed.
Easy guys. And Try not to get too far off track...
Hey yeah - Sorry if I came across as being incendiary. I'm certainly not trying to be - just expressing my views. I thought we were having a polite discussion but will be mindful of my words. We're all just fans who want to see great movies. It's all cool.