Thor: The Dark World (2013)

[Zeke]

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/rorschachsrants/news/?a=64960

Christopher Eccleston has been cast as the villain! YES! :dance So happy.

[Rutabaga]

Just found this out...OMG!

Fantastic!!! ;) :eee :dance

[Captain Untouchable]

Also, confirmation on who the villain was; which I don't think we officially had yet.

I never thought I'd say this, but I am looking forward to this way more than Iron Man 3. :ohno

[Dasquian Belargic]

Fantastic!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Awesome news- plus Zach Levi is in it. :love

[Captain Untouchable]

^ They wanted Zach as Fandral in the first movie, but he was unable to film because of his commitments to Chuck. Luckily when replacement Fandral had to drop out, his schedule was more accommodating! :eee

[Darth Turbogeek]

I never thought I'd say this, but I am looking forward to this way more than Iron Man 3. :ohno

I found Thor to be a surprisingly thoughtful film so yeah this is definatly on the to see list. Dunno if I would exactly say I'm looking forward to this more than IM3......

The real weakness in Thor was Jane Foster / Natalie Portman so if they focus on Thor and the Dark Elves I'm sold.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

I was already on board for this film.... this is just icing on the cake for me.

[Captain Untouchable]

The real weakness in Thor was Jane Foster / Natalie Portman so if they focus on Thor and the Dark Elves I'm sold.

I wouldn't call her a "weakness", necessarily. She wasn't great, but she was a very welcome change from the typical love interest in a comic book movie. She wasn't a damsel in distress, nor was she some tired "I don't have powers, but I can kick ass anyway!" trope. She didn't get in the way, didn't hog the limelight too much, and she was a reasonably good tool for exposition in the story.

I don't like her, I'm not attracted, and I'm not rooting for the Thor-Jane romance to go anywhere... but as a character whose inclusion was demanded by the source material, they made her a useful storytelling device rather than a token female. Calling her a weakness is maybe a little unfair.

[Dasquian Belargic]

As long as there is plenty of Loki, I can ignore Natalie Portman.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Calling her a weakness is maybe a little unfair.


No, it's completely fair. Her character was played wooden, she had zero chemistry with Hemsworth and could have been written out entirely to the improvement of the movie. Source material be damned or replace Portman, I dont care.

The fact is that her range is basically Black Swan or plank, nothing in the middle. In Thor we got plank. We'll get plank in the next one, I'm sure of it. The sad fact is, the woman playing Sif generated more "I give a shit about Thor" in one glance where she's asking how Thor is at the end of the movie than Portman ever did for the entire time she was seen.

Portman can act, I've seen it and been impressed but dammit, this aint her kind of role at all.

[Droo]

I couldn't disagree more with what has been said about Natalie Portman and her role in Thor. Far too often, I believe people misattribute poor acting upon actors whose roles simply aren't that interesting. Jane didn't exactly have any scintillating lines, but as a character, she had a clear purpose to serve as a means for Thor to be introduced to the human world, and provide him with a connection to it. She achieved at least that. Her chemistry with Hemsworth was absolutely fine, perhaps for some the romance needed more exposition, although I think what we got was adequate for the kind of film we got. And as far as being a plank is concerned, Queen Amidala was wooden acting, and Portman's performance was nowhere near as bad as that. Personally, I found her charming and a source of levity, much like the film itself.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Some set photos!

http://www.themarysue.com/thor-set-photos-sif/#0

[Rutabaga]

First teaser!

Needless to say, the Tumblrverse has exploded over the last few seconds of this. :love

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[Captain Untouchable]

There are not enough adjectives to emphasise how awesome that is. :ohno

All three super movies this year look amazing.

[Callista]

This just made my morning...


^______________________________^

[Kyle Krogen]

I needed a paper bag and about ten minutes to calm down from that trailer. I am perhaps a bit more emotionally invested into this compared to some since I roleplay as Jane Foster on a Marvel board I am currently writing on. Thus I am reduced to a screaming fangirl mashing at my keyboard to express my feelings. I was truly afraid this movie was going to be terrible due to the complications during production, and the rumors that Natalie Portman didn't even want to star in the movie. Even if it is dreadful, I'm sure I'll eat it up. Like Asgardian candy.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

http://i.imgur.com/apYu8jh.jpg
Thor is pleased with this trailer.

[Dasquian Belargic]

at the risk of playing to expectations...

:swoon: loki

[Rutabaga]

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb164/Rutabaga64/animated%20gifs/hiddlestoned/ohyesloki_zps22e41c92.gif (http://s207.photobucket.com/user/Rutabaga64/media/animated%20gifs/hiddlestoned/ohyesloki_zps22e41c92.gif.html)

[Razielle Alastor]

at the risk of playing to expectations...

:swoon: loki

yes, here as well..:eee

[Rutabaga]

Just in case you hadn't seen or heard about this little surprise appearance at the Marvel panel at Comic Con....

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[Dasquian Belargic]

There's a new poster for this film: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/08/01/new-poster-for-thor-the-dark-world

...needs less Natalie Portman

[Rutabaga]

And more Hiddles. Much more Hiddles.

[Fred Fiddich]

I think it looks cool. *shrug* Jane Foster is fairly central to the plot premise, so it'd be a bit daft if she wasn't on there.

I just think it's a shame that Chris Eccleston's name didn't warrant being mentioned on the poster. :(

Edit:

Damnit, should have posted as Glen. :mischief

[Darth Turbogeek]

Portman was the worst thing about Thor - the lady goes from unbelieveably good (Black Swan) to wood plank terrible and nothing in between.

[Rutabaga]

New trailer. :)

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[Captain Untouchable]

"Anyone else?" :lol

[Glen Hawkins]

There's a new sneak peek scene out, courtesy of Germany and... well... it's quite revealing. Doesn't spoil anything that you couldn't have inferred from the last trailer... but it's a few minutes straight out of the movie, so viewer discretion is advised.

B6kT4Tb8Zhw

The clip shows that in at least one scene, Heimdall is going to be an epic badass Asgardian action hero, which is great news for people who are fans of Idris Elba, Heimdall, and epic badassery. It also gives us a (very brief) glimpse of Zach Levi in costume, and a (moderately brief) glimpse of Kurse, the Darth Vader to Malekith's Palpatine.

What surprises me though is that the clip seems very scifi: there are spaceships, laser machine guns, forcefields, and that sort of thing. Rather than embracing the "technology disguised as magic" approach that the rest of the realms seem to have... the Dark Elves seem to have an almost Star Wars quality. It certainly seems from the clip that this makes them a pretty dangerous foe, and I'm sure it's at least partly to prepare audiences so full-on scifi in Guardians of the Galaxy isn't such a surprise... but huh. I guess I was expecting the Dark Elves to be a little less Mandalore, and a little more Mordor.

[Droo]

Oh, China.

Thor 2: The Steamy Bromance (http://kotaku.com/chinese-cinema-turns-thor-2-into-a-steamy-bromance-1460021493)

[Rutabaga]

Oh, China.

Thor 2: The Steamy Bromance (http://kotaku.com/chinese-cinema-turns-thor-2-into-a-steamy-bromance-1460021493)

That totally and thoroughly made my day when I first saw it yesterday. :lol

The movie is opening here in the US tomorrow, but lucky me, I'm working this weekend, so I'm gonna have to wait until next weekend to see it.

[Captain Untouchable]

Anyone else seen this yet?

I found it pretty enjoyable, and I thought it was a very stylish movie. The amount of scifi in there was surprising, but flying boats with machine gun lasers but also rudders was pretty cool. It seemed to link back into the rest of the Marvel movieverse much more than I was expecting it to, particularly visually: when Kurse went all fiery it looked remarkably like the vis-effects for Extremis, and those black hole bomb things reminded me of the Gravitonium effects from Agents of SHIELD a few weeks ago. It felt like everyone used the same "science", they just approached it from different angles using different names.

The story felt very much like a folklore adventure story, there was lots of really cool banter, and Loki's Captain America impression was fantastic. My only criticism is with the ending: Kurse was defeated with the same kind of ease as the Destroyer, and the fight with Malekith just sorta happened without any personality. I heard they cut out a lot of Malekith's scenes, so I wonder if it'll play out differently in a director's cut. Still thoroughly enjoyable: just a little too straight forward I suppose.

Also, the plot twist at the end? Oh my. :ohno

[Darth Turbogeek]

Disagree about what you said about the final fight - I thought it was fantastic with some actual originality that used the premise of what was going on really well.

A few thoughts - The movie was a bit boring until Loki gets unleashed. Then it rocks hard.

Portman - one of those movies where she isnt playing a wooden board.

Thor fangirl service is obvious.

And as said, LOVED the final fight. Clever :D

Not as good as IM3 but really, really enjoyed it. Phase 2 films are turning out great!

[Morgan Jones]

^ Bad word choice on my part, maybe: it's not the final fight I didn't enjoy... just the final showdown but. The whole throwing people into different worlds was all kinds of cool, but the actual climax / absolute final hero vs villain confrontation just didn't have as much punch as I was hoping. When you compare it to the first movie, with the whole hammer on Loki's chest / smashing the Bifrost / Loki letting go of the sceptre thing? Didn't feel like it had quite the same resonance. It's a small niggle though, in an otherwise fantastic film. *shrug*

[Crusader]

Is it just me or did someone else feel irritated by the lazyness of the royal airforce? Two fighter jets vs an alien space ship. I guess the British military has just become to dependant on the doctor when it comes to aliens.

[Dragon]

I'm sure I can't be the only one who thought this, but...

Now you're thinking with portals!

Anyway, lot of fun, would see again. Parts of it made for better Star Wars than the last three Star Wars movies. I'll agree with Mark that it starts a bit slow, but I appreciated the look into Thor's development as future king of Asgard, and the glimpses we had of the other realms. It was also great fun seeing Jane make the trip to <strike>Narnia</strike> Asgard for once, and I loved her curiosity about the all the Asgard tech.

I think my feelings are similar to Jace's, though I don't think it was just the ending that lacked punch - really, the whole central plot, comprising Malekith, the Dark Elves, and the McGuffin of the month, felt thin and boilerplate to me, as if it was just serving as an excuse to put Thor and Loki back into action. That's actually not a horrible thing, because those characters (and Loki in particular) are captivating enough to carry the feature by themselves. But I was excited to see Christopher Eccleston in a villain role, and pretty much all they asked him to do is scowl and speak in faux-Quenya. Actually, I'm impressed that even buried under all the makeup, special effects, voice processing, and fantasy language I could still recognize Eccleston's performance at all - it makes me pine even more for the complex, nuanced villain I was imagining. If there are any deleted scenes that add new layers of depth to his character, I'd very much like to see them.

In this cut of the movie, however, the focus is elsewhere, and it's hard to complain too terribly much. The art direction is beautiful, and this film is chock full of eye candy, even for those of us who aren't there to ogle Chris Hemsworth's abs and Tom Hiddleston's greasy hair. It's also a lot funnier than I expected it to be. Marvel appears to be getting these movies down to a science, and it's making me very excited to see the next installment.

[Droo]

I thought this was an improvement on the first film, which I also loved. And while I agree with some of the criticisms here, such as how it was slow to get into the real meat of the story, I found the whole experience was lifted by frequent, and witty, moments of humour. The film was much funnier than I expected it to be, and it never seemed to forget that its first objective was to entertain, which it did very well. My only complaint in this area is the villain, in Malekith and the Dark Elves: very dull, very one-dimensional, and poorly executed. Everytime they were on screen the entire movie seemed to wilt. Fortunately, we had Loki to provide their antithesis. And once he was free, did he ever make use of his screen time. What a joyful baddie!

Natalie Portman, who I think is a wonderful actress, had little do this time around compared to the previous film, in which I felt her character was more engaged, and engaging. Here, she just gets infected by the nondescript McGuffin of doom, and her talents were wasted. As were Eccleston's, and I am in complete agreement with Andrew's reasoning on that. In terms of cast, I'm just so pleased to see everyone from the first film back, and I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but I was chuffed to see Darcy back. I enjoyed all of her little moments in this film, and the last.

The ending was bonkers, and while it definately lacked the emotional clout and significance of the final showdown in the first film, I don't think it needed or deserved it. Malekith simply wasn't developed well enough for that kind of resonance, and I was glad for a relatively brief final confrontation, just to be rid of him.

I'm eager to check out the soundtrack for this film. There were a couple of moments when the music stood out, Frigga's funeral, for example, which was beautifully done, was accompanied by some nice music. I'm glad we got to spend more time in Asgard this time around, and it was an impressive sight to behold, so rich in detail. I loved the way the Dark Elves' ships moved, for some reason, just so poised and graceful. And I also enjoyed seeing what was basically the first trailer for SWTOR play out in the royal palace, instead of the Jedi Temple.

I don't know why, but I honestly wasn't expecting Marvel to better their first effort with Thor et al. and I'm glad to be surprised. This bodes well for the other movies to come, including the inevitable third Thor film which, judging by the twist in this film, will provide the dramatic finale this one lacked.

One last thing: did anyone stick around for the two after credits scenes? Benecio del Toro, where did you come from!? If he's going to be in the third film, he looks like he's got a very interesting character to play. And in the second scene, I laughed my head off at the sight of the huge Jotunheim beast scrambling over containers, chasing pigeons.

[Amos Iakona]

(comment deleted)

[Droo]

Ah! Well, in that case, I'll be looking forward to seeing more of that character in Guardians of the Galaxy. :)

Edit: Just realised you might want to spoiler tag your post, Jace.

[Amos Iakona]

I figure that's vague enough that it's not a spoiler. "GOTG in Thor 2 post credits scene" has kinda been in headlines on a lot of news sites, so... *shrug*

[Dasquian Belargic]

It's probably not a bad idea to slap a spoiler tag on there anyway, just for anyone who hasn't been keeping up to date with online news.

[Droo]

To be fair, it was news to me. It can't hurt to play it safe.

[Dragon]

I'm eager to check out the soundtrack for this film.

I had some Amazon gift card money from my birthday, so I went ahead and snagged it. It's by Brian Tyler, who also did Iron Man 3 (which I also bought). Both make for great driving music - high-intensity, percussive, bombastic cinematic adrenalin. However, the Thor soundtrack has much more emotional range, and I like it better overall. In addition to the cue you mentioned in spoilers, which is sublime, there's a very nicely menacing adagio motif for Malekith, a few augustly contemplative passages that remind me of the score of the original Thor (similar chord patterns, but still distinct), and of course that rollicking main theme. Tyler seems to be a very nice fit for Marvel along with Alan Silvestri.

[Zeke]

I have only one complaint, and it's that they totally gibbed Malekith to pander to Loki's swooning female fanbase. His role could've been so much less, and Christopher Eccleston's so much more, but nope, gotta bring the crowd in with Loki. He's worse than damn Wolverine was in the 90s. Otherwise, very strong movie.

[Rutabaga]

Finally saw it today, and I really, really enjoyed it. I thought it was better than the first movie, which overall I thought was entertaining but fairly average. This sequel expanded the story and effectively got deeper into some of the emotional aspects of the characters. It all led up to a great climax with the battle at Greenwich, which was ingenious, funny, and downright thrilling. My only real complaint about the movie is that I still feel basically no chemistry between Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman.

As one of those dreaded Loki fangirls, I was quite tickled with what we got, although I do agree that it would have been nice to see more of Malekith.

And the Captain America cameo got a HUGE reaction with the crowd I was with today. :D

[Peter McCoy]

Went yesterday, joining Droo on his second viewing. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Loki's "Ta-da!" was my best line and had me in stitches for a few minutes. I agree mostly with what's already been said. I was gutted at how they used Eccleston so poorly - anybody could have played the role in my opinion. And is it just me or did Malekith look a helluva lot like an Engineer from Prometheus!?

[Captain Untouchable]

Something that's been bugging me about Thor as I rewatch the movie is the Thor/Jane thing: not because of chemistry, acting, comics lore, or mythology... but just because of what it says about Thor as a person/character. Not really spoilers... just a ramble-rant.

[The relationship between Thor and Jane is supposed to come off like a Disney movie. Thor is this Prince Charming character, who swoops in and saves the day, falls in love, and they live happily ever after. It's a twee, fairytale perspective on romance... but that's the sort of thing that you're supposed to expect from a movie like Thor, right?

Problem is, if you think about it a little more, it's actually pretty messed up. By the end of the first movie, Thor and Jane have known each other for maybe two or three days. He only has a handful of opportunities to actually have a proper conversation during which he can get to know her (the diner, the car ride, on the roof, and cooking breakfast), and yet he is apparently so taken with her based on that relatively superficial encounter that breaking the Bifrost in the first movie is apparently some devastating choice that he has to make, and he then spends the next several years until the second movie pining after her.

It gets worse, when you bear in mind what Odin points out: she's a mortal; she'll be dead in the blink of an eye from his perspective. Jane can fully commit to a fairytale happily ever after, but Thor can't do that. Worse, Thor has spent a thousand years or so living with the mindset that he is an incredibly long-lived being, who has grown up learning to think that humans are "all so petty, and tiny", and are weak and in need of Asgard's perspective. Also, his only exposure to proper romance and love is Odin and Frigga, who have the kind of eternal relationship that he and Jane can't possibly have. He falls in love with someone who he has been taught by his society to perceive as inferior and fleeting: and over the course of the first movie, Jane doesn't really get the opportunity to prove to him that she isn't, either. She's smart for a human, but she does nothing to make Thor think of her as anything but a generic damsel in distress. It's like Superman and Lois Lane, only it's worse because Thor wasn't raised to think of himself as human.

Thor does on the other hand know Sif, who he has basically known his entire life. Sif is much more his equal. She has the same lifespan, she speaks to him like a peer rather than like someone who is in awe of him, and she's proven to him that she's plenty good in a fight: Thor doesn't need to "protect" her, nor does he ever try to. Unlike Jane, with whom he has a pretty archaic misogynist dynamic, his relationship with Sif is much more balanced. Sif is also quite clearly attracted to him, and they seem like a pretty good match even without mythology and comic book lore to suggest as much. Thor is definitely aware of this: even if he wasn't previously, his dad pretty much spells it out for him. Yet, when Sif tries to ask him out for a drink, Thor doesn't bother letting her down gently, with the kind of regard for her feelings that you'd expect someone to have for a close friend; he shrugs it off with all the subtlety of a hammer blow to the heart. Apparently, a thousand years of friendship and kinship doesn't measure up to that weekend in New Mexico.

This bugs me, probably more than it should. It would be fantastic if we could have an action movie like this which didn't feel it needed a romantic subplot; but if the Thor franchise does have to have that romance element it makes me uncomfortable that they picked the more chauvinist of the two.

What makes it worse is that in the comics and cartoons, that dynamic isn't there at all. In those depictions, Jane Foster is a paramedic, and the reason that Thor is attracted to her is because despite the fact that she's a mortal with no powers, she constantly rushes into danger, putting her life at risk in order to save other people because that is her job and what she's decided to do with her life. In that scenario, Jane Foster is "more impressive" from his perspective: Jane putting her life on the line is more significant than Sif doing so, because Jane isn't a super-strong nigh-immortal warrior badass. The Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon from a few years ago, aimed at children rather than the adult target audience of Thor, managed to portray a version of the Jane-Thor relationship in tiny subplot snippets that had more maturity and realism than the multi-million blockbuster did, which is... kinda disappointing.

I really like Thor, but it bothers me that he's such a jerk to his lady-friends.]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Sometimes guys are idiots because of puppy love.

[Chir'daki]

It's not so much Thor being an "idiot" that bugs me, it's that his entire relationship with Jane is based around the idea of her being his "lesser". Even her intelligence, which is well above average for a human, is more endearing than impressive on an Asgardian scale. The scene in Thor 2 [where she knows what the medical scanner does] is a "don't underestimate me because I'm human" sort of thing... but all of her intelligence and knowledge is stuff that Thor says was explained to him as a child.

They took away the part of Jane that to my mind Thor was/should be attracted to - her selfless heroism - and it kinda makes Thor seem like a bit of a jerk. It irks me, because it feels like an oversight on the part of the writers that ends up reflecting badly on a character who is otherwise a pretty solid role model.