Slashdot Mirror
Thor: The Dark World — What Did You Think?
On Friday, Marvel released its latest superhero blockbuster, Thor: The Dark World. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston reprise their roles as Thor, Dr. Jane Foster, and Loki. Christopher Eccleston, best known for his role as the Ninth Doctor on BBC's Doctor Who, portrays Thor's nemesis in The Dark World: Malekith, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. Despite a strong opening weekend at the box office, critical reception has been lackluster. The movie averaged 66/100 on Rotten Tomatoes and 54/100 on Metacritic, but user reviews rated it higher, at 86/100 and 8/10 respectively. io9's review calls the plot "completely forgettable," but also said, "at a time when superhero films are gravitating towards Christopher Nolan-style darkness, it's really nice to see a movie go swinging into adventure with a song in its heart." Comic Book Resources also commented that the movie was a lot of fun, but added, "the film doesn't quite reach its true potential due to a villain who never truly feels like much more than an amorphous bad guy." Those of you who went to see it over the weekend: what did you think?
And the product placing could have been better as well.
It is what it is. Not the best Marvel movie but I didn't mind the admission price. One thing though....why is it the heroes always run into the one, only and correct cave on an entire planet? Thor and Jane avoid a storm and run into the one place with a time/space wormhole. Almost as bad as Kirk getting chased into the only cave on a ice planet that had Spock sitting in it. ( First ST/reboot movie ).
I thought I had disabled the slashdot advertisements a while back.
You never even catch a glimpse of Kat Dennings' assets. She's wearing heavy clothing the whole movie.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
If it did not have the love sequences between Portman and Hemsworth it would have been *cough* worth it.
Leave it to Hollywood to make dialogue awkward and cringe-worthy. It got good once the action started rolling, but there really was no chemistry between the two lovers, and Kat Dennings' character felt so forced I felt uncomfortable in the chair.
Special mention to Skarsgård for doing perhaps the best scene in the movie in which he uses shoes to explain the coming convergence. It looks like he had a lot of fun doing that and he seemed quite relaxed and confident in his role, unlike Portman who seemed off the whole time.
They confuse me. On one hand (or both), I really love looking at them. On the other, I have to imagine they are quite a burden. Men are burdened but not quite like that and it's usually quite manageable. I like things the way they are -- I'm not complaining. But they do confuse me a bit.
The Asgards are skinny little grey people.
No, what that movie really needed was a script. And maybe a story where the synopsis doesn't fit on a post-it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The phone rings when they're outside seeking shelter. They can even keep the existing dialogue, but you get two or three quick shots of them triangulating based on signal bars. Maybe even show Thor isn't a total doofus and has more than three brain cells, by having him notice that they lose signal when they are aren't in line with that cave up on a ridge.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
Seeing it on DVD won't make you like Sandra Bullock better but it will greatly diminish the amazing immersive experience of this particular movie. Seriously, see it on the largest screen you can find and see it in 3-D (and I'm usually a 3-D hater). You won't be sorry.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
Mere mention of it here reminds me how much I miss the byline that Slashdot used to carry:
"News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
An interesting aside, if one for a moment suspends disbelief and takes the plot as something real, and isn't that what we're supposed to do in fiction books and movies???
The Asgardians had technology... Jane Foster and her cohorts had science. When she was on the medical table in Asgard, those working on her explained what they were doing, but it was more of a "work-the-machine" level explanation. Jane understood what was happening.
Ultimately the Asgard machines weren't able to do the trick, because they didn't really understand them or know what any underlying capabilities might have been. The duck-taped-together things did the trick, because there was knowledge there, if not craftsmanship.
Also, Thor did what Jane needed him to do at the end. Without question he accepted her competence. My wife liked that.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
I've posted about this before, so don't want to bore anyone, but I kind of connected with her character's personal loss and willingness to simply give up, especially in the isolation of the situation. I think Sandra Bullock played that pretty well. (enough that I got a little choked up during the movie)
My wife of 20 years died of a brain tumor almost 8 years ago, seven weeks from diagnosis to death, and there are still times I want to curl up in bed, wishing all the air would get sucked out of the room, so I could wake up with her somewhere else... The reasons I don't simply give up is because (a) if there's something after this life, I'll see her again then; (b) if there is *not* anything after this life, then checking out early would be a waste; and (3) I know she would be disappointed in me if I quit.
Remember Sue...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Once upon a time, when a superhero movie with a budget and talent behind it came along once every few years, they were pretty exciting and entertaining. But with Marvel squeezing out films as quickly as they can turn the crank, plus Warner getting one out now and then, and fantasy/sci-fi films (e.g. Middle Earth, Transformers) being made from the same big-budget CGI-heavy dimly-lit mold, there's getting to be very little special about any of them.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
There was always an implied "or".
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Obviously, London skyscrapers are simply more worthy than SHIELD's helicarrier, thus making it impossible for the hammer to smash through them. It's the same reason Thor was able to hang Moljnir on that very worthy coathook without it ripping off the wall from the weight.