Thor: The Dark World (2013) (Now a poll)

[dgwphotography]

I've added a poll to this...


New trailer - I'm really looking forward to this

[youtube:l7bx7ri4]npvJ9FTgZbM[/youtube:l7bx7ri4]

Edited August 7, 2013 by Guest

[Vic Sage]

looks cool, but i don't get who (or what) the villain is.
Darkness? Darkness is the villain? So can sunlight kick its ass?

[dgwphotography]

I see your point - the trailer doesn't really show Malekith...

[Vic Sage]

If you've got a "Dr. Who" as your villain, wouldn't you want to show him?

But really, what an obscure Thor villain to choose anyway *. One would think that, after Loki, you'd have to go with ENCHANTRESS, no? or HELA, even. And the EXECUTIONER is a complex and powerful villain whose tale ends in redemption, which is kind of cool. Even Surtur, Ulik or Ymir are more interesting Norse demon type villains than Malekith. And for more Earth-bound villainy, i'll take the Absorbing Man or the amusingly destructive capability of the Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver, and Thunderball).

Malekith? He doesn't even show up on the radar until the mid-80s, and then not very often since. Feh. whose running this chickenshit outfit?

*According to Thor Ann. #17, the 10 most heinous villains in Thor's history are:
- Grey Gargoyle
- Ego
- High Evolutionary
- Absorbing Man
- Surtur
- Ulik
- Enchantress
- Destroyer
- Hela
- Loki

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree. I would have chosen from Hela, Enchantress, and Executioner.

Walt Simonson's run on the title was terrific; I can't blame them for getting some inspiration from those stories, but I probably would have stuck with the more classic foes. I do hope, though, that in Thor 3, if there is one, that we get to meet Beta Ray Bill.

[dgwphotography]

I think Malekith is just a means to an end, whereby Loki is still the main villain...

[nymr83]

I think that after Loki, ALL the Thor villains are obscure to anyone who wasn't specifically a fan of Thor growing up.

[Vic Sage]

Then they might as well play to those of us who were. why pick a 3rd rater when the first 1st tier baddies are still available?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The Wrecking Crew or Absorbing Man would have the added benefit of having Loki involved without being the actual, direct baddy (as well as a point of entry for some potential humor).

Getting Surtur/Beta Ray Bill in there would have had the added benefit of taking you cosmic, and maybe working Thanos/Avengers 2 plot-setup in in roundabout fashion.

[nymr83]

Vic Sage wrote: Then they might as well play to those of us who were. why pick a 3rd rater when the first 1st tier baddies are still available?

My point was more that since none of the villains would be a "draw" to the wider audience of comic book fans (like, say, Spiderman 3 shoving Venom in there despite already having 2 other villains) they might as well just pick the one they can get the best story out of.

[dgwphotography]

I saw this Thursday night - it was a fun ride, with some obvious plot holes that are easily overlooked. It was easily better than the first Thor movie. 4 out of 5

[metirish]

Walked out after 40 minutes.....wtf was I thinking bringing Lorcan to this?....parent fail.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I enjoyed it, and was satisfied that they did a pretty good job. The attack on Asgard was a long stretch of special effects that made me feel like I was watching a video game. (That's not a good thing.) But other than that, it was fun. And I agree, better than the first Thor movie.

[metirish]

I thought the scenes introducing Dr. Jane Foster at the abandoned factory in the present day was a bit ham fisted.....seemed a bit clumsy ....and that annoying girl from 2 Broke Girls must have just came of that set because she played it the same way.....

[Vic Sage]

Me no likee so muchee.

Zero character development, with video-game action.
And as i feared, Malekith is an uncharismatic and uninteresting villain.

While the ending of the 1st THOR movie was kind of lame, that story was at least about THOR (and it had agent Colson!). This movie, on the other hand, is about some convoluted nonsense about darkness and aether and convergence, and our hero goes through practically no evolution in his character. Portman is basically there to stand around and look pretty while spouting pseudo-science, and i wanted to hit that 2 BROKE GIRLS girl about the head with a steel rod.

Speaking of steel rods, the villain is killed and his plot foiled by the scientist's invention, not so much by Thor. In fact, Thor plays a relatively unimportant role in the story's outcome. You could have done this movie with Loki and Jane Forster (and her pants-less scientist pal), with no Thor at all, and told pretty much the same exact story.

Favorite scene: Thor walking down the hall with Loki, and Loki screwing with Thor's head just for fun. Actually, my favorite scenes were any ones with Tom Hiddleston.

And which of the infinity gems were Thor's pals giving to the Collector for safe-keeping, in the scene after the final credits (which is now a de rigueur Marvel movie cliche at this point)? was it the "aether"? That's not an infinity gem. This scene was included to set up GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and I liked Benecio Del Toro in that cameo. But i like him in practically anything. i have mixed feelings about the GUARDIANS movie, from what i've heard and read so far.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't know what to think about Guardians of the Galaxy. I mainly enjoy these movies because of my childhood attachment to the characters. These Guardians are all strangers to me.

[Vic Sage]

Wel, they WILL have Yondu and Star-lord, so they won't ALL be strangers.
And Gamora, Nebula, Ronan and Drax should be known to fans of the Infinity Gems saga, and Thanos, and Warlock titles.
But it does seem that they've merged the characters of Nebula with Moondragon by having Karen Gillan shave her head for the part. In which case, i'll be well and truly pissed.

[Edgy MD]

I'm starting to get the notion from all Marvel superhero movies and TV shows that the greatest threat to makinkind is modestly charismatic Eurotrash and their damned fay hairstyles. Those fuckers apparently are so totally devoid of empathy.

[Vic Sage]

you don't need superhero movies for that (see DIE HARD, etal)

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, but Marvel an DC are on a roll. Every guy (seemingly) Green Arrow hunts down, or the assassin he hires for him... it's all:

"Jan Van der Sloot, you have failed this city!"

"Jo�o Infante, you have failed this city!"

"Natasha Grishkin, you have failed this city!"

[Vic Sage]

Gotta admit, not a fan of ARROW.
But maybe where he lives there is alot of evil eurotrash who have failed the city.

[Edgy MD]

Bleh.

Lot's of stuff stolen right out of Lord or the Rings, including the whole prologue.

[RealityChuck]

Dull and cliched. I am sorely tired of superhero films, but watched this because my wife still likes them. This did nothing to change my opinion.

Also, I've come to the conclusion is that Marvel villains are fundamentally stupid and the heroes aren't much better.

[Edgy MD]

Wait a micron. Yours and mine are the only two actual reviews?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

So, so forgettable. Like, literally-- I had to be reminded the other day by BetterHalfer that I'd seen this. (This and the third Iron Man.)