Thor 2

[MGM]

I'm assuming everyone's seen it by now, so spoilers and all that.

Also, I know somewhere the movie's been slightly discussed, but I for the life of me can't remember where (obviously NOT IN THE RIGHT FORUM!).

Anyway, I thought it was weak. It was a decent movie and somehow the humor was great. But as a whole, it didn't really flow. The humor contrasted too much with the tragic events (the deaths). And the funny sidekick gets a funny sidekick? Sorry, but one is annoying enough.

Also, would've figured to see more of Sif and the Warriors Three, especially with the movie posters and all that. BTW, is it the Warriors Two in the movie? Hogun was barely there.

And eh... those dark elves looked really lame. For such a high-budget movie, those were some aweful costumes there. And yes, so was that of The Collector. Unbelievable they went with that.

Oh, and couldn't anyone warn me that the post-credit scene isn't worth the wait?

[Stocky Boy]

I quite liked it.

I can't recall any moments now when I thought the humour jarred with the seriousness of the scene, like with Iron Man 3, but I do actually recall feeling that way a few times in the film. Saying that now, I'm not sure the funny scene with Thor on the tube was worth putting in at that particular moment of the film.

There was one massive movie trope that I had to roll my eyes at. This was the scene where Erik pulls out a map of Great Britain and starts drawing intersecting lines to reveal the location of where everything is going down.

The fact that Hogun is set aside very quickly now explains why he didn't get a movie poster. I think the problem there and with the first film is it's hard to make a trope like the lead's supporting two characters work when you are trying to do it with four characters. Easy solution, remove one of them during the story.

Oh, hooray! A major film set in London!!!

I love the alien explanation of the Asgardians. However, it does make me chuckle that in something like Agents of SHIELD where one character made the remark that maybe the other pantheons are aliens that the three abrahmic religions remain ring fenced off from suspicion.

Something within the film made me chuckle in the same sort of way. The sort of way where you're left asking yourself how that works. Why do you bother steering a fight towards the use of hand held weapons when you have long ranged lasers? There's a reason our terrestrial warfare is done with drone scouting and bomb/missle drops with the closest hand to hand fighting being rifle skirmishes. If you've got the tech and resources to avoid a face to face conflict then you would choose that option.

I did love the artistic choices. I love the supernatural (but technological) sparks that occur when a hand shield is hit or a sword is slashed. Don't recall this from Sif or the warriors three though.

I thought the plot was basic, but fine for what it needed to be: another infinity gem driven story. I thought everything was execute well and the only problems was the excessive reliance on comedy and a few thudding tropes.

I know remember something I put in that other thread, which was a Shipping List thread if I recall correctly. I think it's worth mentioning here. How could the asgardians give the Collecter the gem? He had enslaved creatures as collection pieces!!!

[MGM]

Saying that now, I'm not sure the funny scene with Thor on the tube was worth putting in at that particular moment of the film.

...

Something within the film made me chuckle in the same sort of way. The sort of way where you're left asking yourself how that works. Why do you bother steering a fight towards the use of hand held weapons when you have long ranged lasers? There's a reason our terrestrial warfare is done with drone scouting and bomb/missle drops with the closest hand to hand fighting being rifle skirmishes. If you've got the tech and resources to avoid a face to face conflict then you would choose that option.

On itself, those moments work quite well, though. But it seems jarring with the rest of the movie.

You mean the invasion of Asgard? Yeah, that was stupid. They've got cannons protecting the city, but once the invaders are there, they attack them with swords. Against lasers. Really?

[Stocky Boy]

You mean the invasion of Asgard? Yeah, that was stupid. They've got cannons protecting the city, but once the invaders are there, they attack them with swords. Against lasers. Really?

Once you see the laser canons it really boggles the mind as to why they have a huge focus on swords, when they've mastered long range weapons. Now caste your mind back to the fight on Hogun's home realm, Vanaheim. Shouldn't they have brought their laser rifles to the fight? The Dark Elves did. Caste your mind back further to the first film. Would lasers not have been a good idea in Jotunheim when they fought the Frost Giants? And, what was the first thing SHIELD did when the asgardian Destroyer thing was left on Earth? They found a way to develop a rifle out of it!


Going off topic of the film here...

When you go down this route of thinking, it then bursts a few other bubbles we've become accustomed to accepting without giving it much of a thought. Why doesn't Captain America use a rifle? Also, come to think of it, why isn't Wolverine? Any character that doesn't have long range capabilities should probably carry a rifle and side arm and also be paired with someone who does have long range powers. Hell even people like Cyclops should carry a sidearm and rifle in case their visor button breaks. Hawkeye's default weapon should be a rifle. The bow does not have the same rapid fire rate as a rifle. The bow should be reserved for when he needs to land a bomb in a spot that he can't reach in a straight line.
Why doesn't Batman carry a stun gun? He's a fantastic engineer, he could create one. He may have a no kill principal, but that doesn't mean he can't carry a gun that incapacitates targets. Thinking about the wider context of stun guns, the moment one of these is invented and it has the rapid fire rate, portability and stopping power of conventional guns, but without the fatality, you then reach a point where it doesn't make sense for self defense to have guns that can have fatal consequences if you can offer the benefits of a gun without the death.


Back to the film and it's ideas...

Is Asgard the only realm that floats on a rock and all the other realms are like Earth; spherical?

[XIII]

That's the only thing that's bugging in the Thor movie universe, how Asgard looks like some kind of Coruscant. I really didn't expect the Dark Elves to be some kinds of extraterrestrials warriors with laser and all that.
Aside from that, I enjoyed the movie and wouldn't consider it weak. I had more fun than for Iron Man 2 (easy) and Iron Man 3.
The Cap cameo was fun.

[wolf_2099]

The Cap cameo was great.
The Cap preview beforehand was too.


Best scene of the film for me though?
When he walks into the apartment and hangs up his hammer.

I'm with Andy on everything he said about the laser guns though, it kept taking me out of the movie.

[MGM]

The Cap cameo was awesome, also because I'd never read about it. It was quite unexpected.

And yeah, hanging up the hammer was fun. Although I expected that the peg would've come off.

[Mr Wallstreet]

Ill just agree with what everyone said about hand to hand weapons vs. laser guns. Overall the film was a very good action film. It wasn't as great as the first but still very solid.

Despite Loki having a more diminished role, he still remained the most compelling character in the entire film. His irrational hatred for Odin & Thor contrasted with his love for his mother showed still more layers to his character.

Thor by comparison became the dutiful son; noble and solemn to a fault - which is not a bad thing but made him somewhat boring. I understand he whole point of this was to make him the exact opposite of Loki but it didn't leave him much emotional range to play with.

And did anyone else notice that Odin became a huge dick? He kept insulting Jane and berating the people of earth. As a king he needs to find a "suitable mate" for his son and wants to spare him the heartache loving and losing a mortal, but Gods he really loathed humans beings.

Also, did anyone notice that people keep committing treason on Odin's watch? Thor defied him in the first 5 minutes of the first film and again in this film along with Heimdell, Sif and the warriors 3. Not much of a king, especially when his war strategy consisted of throwing as many sword wielding asardians against the dark elves as possible whenever they returned

Which leads to my next question, if there are people from other realms living on Asgard, why do humans rank so low on the totem pole?

Did anyone else notice they changed Fandril?

[Stocky Boy]

Following your question about whether other realm inhabitants live on Asgard, firstly, where do you get the idea that there are non asgardians on Asgard?

But, now, truly following your question do the other realms know about the other realms? Does everyone on Jotunheim, Vanaheim and the other realms all know about Midgard? Is Earth the only cosmically ignorant realm?

Fandril definitely changed. A few websites mentioned it before the film's release.

I was expecting Odin to be more patient and understanding given that his role in the first film was that of a peacekeeper. I guess the script simply required him to be more aggressive, although I don't think it needed to be the case.

I was taken by surprise with the Cap cameo too. It was great.

The Cap 2 preview looks fucking awesome!

My favourite moment in the film was probably Thor jumping off of a balcony in Asgard and catching Mjolnir as it appeared from the right side of the screen.

[Stocky Boy]

I do love how the alien direction does allow you to skip over magic and religion in one move. Unfortunately, it does open up questions about weapon choice practicality.

You know, I'm actually very curious what Marvel Films would do the Olympions, Celestials and the Inhumans given the alien bent they've gone for with the Asgardians. Bits and pieces about the Inhumans and maybe more so the Celestials will likely make it into the films what with Galactus's eventual second appearance. But, it would be very interesting for me to see how Marvel Films would handle Hercules and Zeus.

[wolf_2099]

I'd love to see an Inhumans film. Just sayin'.

[Mr Wallstreet]

Hogun is part of the Warriors Three and I'm pretty sure he doesn't fall into the category of traditional Asgardian. Also in the 2nd film, while on Vanaheim, Thor mentioned that Hogun should stay with his family - who live on Vanaheim and that Vanaheim is his home - not Asgard

As for the other realms knowing or not knowing, I'd say most of the other realms (now including earth) know about the other realms.

Zachary Levi from "Chuck" is now portraying Fandril

My favorite part was Thor crashing in the middle of the London train station and asking directions for getting back into the fight before getting on the train

One thing I really liked was whenever Thor lost his hammer and he wasn't on Earth, his hammer would fly into space and then return to earth when Thor reappeared

[MGM]

Really, Chuck is Fandril? I hadn't noticed.

While yes, Hogun is not a traditional Asgardian, it completely conflicts with the Warriors Three aspect AND the fact that Thor's friends help him. I mean, he has three close friends and only two get to help (and Sif). Hogun was completely redundant in the movie, while Volstagg and Fandril played a rather important (if small) part.

[Stocky Boy]

Like I said, four supporting characters for the main lead is quite a bit. The easiest way to deal with that is give one of them an excuse to not be in many scenes.

Wally, on a technicality I'm not counting the Vanir as separate from the Asgardians who are otherwise known as the Aesir. The Vanir and the Aesir were warring gods. The Aesir won and and the Vanir seem to now be referred to as the 'old gods'. Freya is from Vanaheim as are the other two 'all mothers'. Heimdal is supposedly a Vanir and obviously so too is Hogun. I think Sif is Heimdal's sister, so she's a Vanir as well. Aesir and Vanir are as close as you can get. So, given how they are like two branches from the same tree separated over two realms, I'm not counting them as if they are two separate races, and therefore I'm not counting Hogun's presence on Asgard as if he's different to the Asgardians/Aesir.
I was thinking that you meant their were giants, dwarves, elves or Earthlings on Asgard.

[Tragic Angelus]

I believe the actor playing Hogun is also in 47 RONIN that comes out next month, and I wondered if his filming schedule conflicted which could have been the reason his role was diminished. No guarantee but possibly.

The actor who first played Fandril is now the male lead on ONCE UPON A TIME I believe and his schedule did conflict which is why he was recast.

[Stocky Boy]

That also makes sense and kind of sounds more likely to be the reason why Hogun didn't appear as much.

Anyone else feel it's weird that the aesir use horses along the bifrost, but have the technology to create flying ships?

[MGM]

I'm thinking we're over thinking this too much, or at least more than Marvel.

[Tragic Angelus]

I agree there. One rule I always remind my friends of in these films: Don't pull strings.

[Mr Wallstreet]

I still think Edbert would've made a better Fandril

[Tragic Angelus]

Except I can't grow facial hair