Post by Power NeXus on May 6, 2011 4:14:51 GMT -5
I just got back from seeing the midnight premier of Thor about an hour ago, and I think I'll write up a review while it's still fresh in my mind.
I found the beginning of the film very exciting to watch, albeit a bit slow in progressing the plot. The battle with the Ice Giants was absolutely fantastic. Sif and the Warriors Three all getting cool battle shots, Loki using his magic and trickery for his own brand of fighting, and Thor just smashing crap up left and right, practically soloing half the Ice Giant army. I was very pleased to see Sif and the Warriors Three get much bigger roles in the film than I had been expecting.
After Thor lands on earth, the plot has begun picking up pace a bit, which was nice. One little thing that irked me was that Thor seemed to get accustomed to the ways of earth a bit too easily. I wasn't looking for any of the cliche comedy you see in movies that involve a guy from a completely different culture trying to adjust to ours, but I was expecting to see more scenes of social awkwardness than the one instance of smashing his coffee mug on the floor. However, that was just a minor thing.
It really started getting exciting when Thor broke into the SHIELD base set up around Mjolnir. I had fun watching that good, gritty hand-to-hand combat. Thor's fight moves were stylized enough to be totally cool, but still grounded in reality enough to be believeable. Being a Hawkeye fanboy, I almost squealed with excitement when Barton made his appearance. (Hmm... should I take a gun with me?.... NAAAHHH!) However, I was very disappioned that he never got to take his shot. I swear, if Marvel doesn't make a movie about him, I will kill somebody...
I couldn't help but smile when Loki makes his appearance in Thor's cell. True to the comics, he is made out to be an excellent schemer and liar, and a very cool villian to boot.
I was somewhat surprised (not in a good way) by the way that Thor got out of the SHIELD base. SHIELD has already established itself as an organization so important that it can sieze all of Jane Foster's equipment for themselves just because they want to. Now they've had a guy break into their base, beat the crap out of the men stationed there, and attempt to take a magical mystical artifact... and they're just going to let him go because some dude claims makes up a back story for him? And Jane Foster's scientific journal, which they had just stolen and packed away a few hours earlier, is just sitting out in the open where anyone can easily pocket it? It all just seemed pretty iffy to me.
The battle scene with the Destroyer armor had both good points and bad ones. I loved the reference to Tony Stark, I loved how Lady Sif and the Warriors Three had a good blend of 'totally cool' and 'totally out of place' going on, and I loved watching the armor beat the crap out of everyone and everything that got in it's way, and then b**chslapping Thor and walking away like a boss. Then it got kinda bad. For one thing, what ever happened to Thor picking up his hammer? Wasn't that the whole point of him trying to reach it in the SHIELD base earlier? Why does it now suddenly just fly to him? For another thing, what caused Thor to become worthy of wielding it again? He's spent half the movie being all pompous and arrogant. Now suddenly he's willing to sacrifice his life to save his friends? He's known Jane for, what, all of two days at this point? That's a heck of a big personal change in a short amount of time. Lastly, his battle with the Destroyer armor was extremely anti-clamactic. In the comics, the armor is supposed to be absolutely invincible. I was expecting the movie to involve Thor traveling back to Asgard so he could turn off the armor with some master control. I was not expecing him to whip it around in a tornado and then one-shot it.
After that point, I can't really think of anything bad to say about the movie. Loki's betrayal of the Frost Giant king wasn't entirely unexpected, but still pretty well done. Thor's battle with Loki was tight (though it could have used a little more Trickster God magic and a little less spear fighting). I found myself very emotionally drawn in when Thor begins to destroy the Rainbow Bridge in an attempt to save the Frost Giants' realm (the name of which I will not even attempt to spell). But what drew me in more than anything was Loki. His inferiority complex ("I never wanted to be king. All I have ever wanted was to be your equal." "I could have done it, father! I could have saved us all!") really made me feel sympathy for him. In my opinion, Loki made this movie just as much as Thor did.
As for the scene after the credits, I nearly wet myself when I saw the cosmic cube, and Loki magically lurking around. Perhaps the Skrulls won't be the only baddies appearing in The Avengers?
However, I do have one question that I'm hoping somebody else could answer for me. That guy was just some scientist who traveled around with Jane, right? So why is he suddenly so important that Nick Fury would want to show him the cosmic cube?
Summed up: All the fight scenes, with the exeption of the fight with the Destroyer Armor, were absolutely fantastic. The special effects were superb. The cast was flawless. This movie did a fantastic job of transitioning a comic book hero to the silver screen. The only real problem with this movie was it's cliche and predictable plot, and Thor's magical overnight change from brash warmongerer to worthy hero.
8/10
I found the beginning of the film very exciting to watch, albeit a bit slow in progressing the plot. The battle with the Ice Giants was absolutely fantastic. Sif and the Warriors Three all getting cool battle shots, Loki using his magic and trickery for his own brand of fighting, and Thor just smashing crap up left and right, practically soloing half the Ice Giant army. I was very pleased to see Sif and the Warriors Three get much bigger roles in the film than I had been expecting.
After Thor lands on earth, the plot has begun picking up pace a bit, which was nice. One little thing that irked me was that Thor seemed to get accustomed to the ways of earth a bit too easily. I wasn't looking for any of the cliche comedy you see in movies that involve a guy from a completely different culture trying to adjust to ours, but I was expecting to see more scenes of social awkwardness than the one instance of smashing his coffee mug on the floor. However, that was just a minor thing.
It really started getting exciting when Thor broke into the SHIELD base set up around Mjolnir. I had fun watching that good, gritty hand-to-hand combat. Thor's fight moves were stylized enough to be totally cool, but still grounded in reality enough to be believeable. Being a Hawkeye fanboy, I almost squealed with excitement when Barton made his appearance. (Hmm... should I take a gun with me?.... NAAAHHH!) However, I was very disappioned that he never got to take his shot. I swear, if Marvel doesn't make a movie about him, I will kill somebody...
I couldn't help but smile when Loki makes his appearance in Thor's cell. True to the comics, he is made out to be an excellent schemer and liar, and a very cool villian to boot.
I was somewhat surprised (not in a good way) by the way that Thor got out of the SHIELD base. SHIELD has already established itself as an organization so important that it can sieze all of Jane Foster's equipment for themselves just because they want to. Now they've had a guy break into their base, beat the crap out of the men stationed there, and attempt to take a magical mystical artifact... and they're just going to let him go because some dude claims makes up a back story for him? And Jane Foster's scientific journal, which they had just stolen and packed away a few hours earlier, is just sitting out in the open where anyone can easily pocket it? It all just seemed pretty iffy to me.
The battle scene with the Destroyer armor had both good points and bad ones. I loved the reference to Tony Stark, I loved how Lady Sif and the Warriors Three had a good blend of 'totally cool' and 'totally out of place' going on, and I loved watching the armor beat the crap out of everyone and everything that got in it's way, and then b**chslapping Thor and walking away like a boss. Then it got kinda bad. For one thing, what ever happened to Thor picking up his hammer? Wasn't that the whole point of him trying to reach it in the SHIELD base earlier? Why does it now suddenly just fly to him? For another thing, what caused Thor to become worthy of wielding it again? He's spent half the movie being all pompous and arrogant. Now suddenly he's willing to sacrifice his life to save his friends? He's known Jane for, what, all of two days at this point? That's a heck of a big personal change in a short amount of time. Lastly, his battle with the Destroyer armor was extremely anti-clamactic. In the comics, the armor is supposed to be absolutely invincible. I was expecting the movie to involve Thor traveling back to Asgard so he could turn off the armor with some master control. I was not expecing him to whip it around in a tornado and then one-shot it.
After that point, I can't really think of anything bad to say about the movie. Loki's betrayal of the Frost Giant king wasn't entirely unexpected, but still pretty well done. Thor's battle with Loki was tight (though it could have used a little more Trickster God magic and a little less spear fighting). I found myself very emotionally drawn in when Thor begins to destroy the Rainbow Bridge in an attempt to save the Frost Giants' realm (the name of which I will not even attempt to spell). But what drew me in more than anything was Loki. His inferiority complex ("I never wanted to be king. All I have ever wanted was to be your equal." "I could have done it, father! I could have saved us all!") really made me feel sympathy for him. In my opinion, Loki made this movie just as much as Thor did.
As for the scene after the credits, I nearly wet myself when I saw the cosmic cube, and Loki magically lurking around. Perhaps the Skrulls won't be the only baddies appearing in The Avengers?
However, I do have one question that I'm hoping somebody else could answer for me. That guy was just some scientist who traveled around with Jane, right? So why is he suddenly so important that Nick Fury would want to show him the cosmic cube?
Summed up: All the fight scenes, with the exeption of the fight with the Destroyer Armor, were absolutely fantastic. The special effects were superb. The cast was flawless. This movie did a fantastic job of transitioning a comic book hero to the silver screen. The only real problem with this movie was it's cliche and predictable plot, and Thor's magical overnight change from brash warmongerer to worthy hero.
8/10
