Thor sequel

[Uncle Yuan]

Looks like they've got a director.  I don't know a thing about her, but it looks like an interesting choice.

http://www.eonline.com/news/thor_rumblings_from_above_sequel/269343

[lugaru]

Being the usual director nerd I wanted to jump in with a big biography on Patty Jenkins but I barely know her TV work and I was personally not too fond of Monster, her one actual film, mostly for script reasons rather than anything to do with cinematography or direction... way too manipulative in a "natural born killers but in real life" way. Meh, willing to give her a chance though, Marvel has been great about choosing lesser known directors and really giving them a platform to achieve fame.

As a "gender issue" I was a little bit more thrilled with Lexi Alexander headlined the Punisher: War Zone movie which turned out to be a campy mess but otherwise maybe the best punisher film to date... it is at the same time extremely brutal (Punisher is a Jason style figure, but seriously haunted by a mistake) and somewhat funny (everything involving Jiggsaw).

[captmorgan72]

Spoiler

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/07/26/thor-2-chris-hemsworth-severed-hand/

Spoiler in the headline itself. I can't believe this is going to happen to Thor.

[Tomato]

Wow, that's so horrible. How could they possibly do that to Thor. I might even cry, I'm so upset.[/sarcasm]

Spoiler

Thor has died, gone to hela's realm, come back, and been more or less unscathed in the comics on multiple occasions (not to mention been turned into a toad, a woman, and half a dozen other oddities). This might be shocking to non-comic fans, but really, we all know he'll get it back thanks to Asgarian voodoo or whatever. I'm more interested to see if, in the meantime, he does indeed jam Mjolnir into the stump and start beating people up with it.

[captmorgan72]

Wow, that's so horrible. How could they possibly do that to Thor. I might even cry, I'm so upset.[/sarcasm]

Spoiler

Thor has died, gone to hela's realm, come back, and been more or less unscathed in the comics on multiple occasions (not to mention been turned into a toad, a woman, and half a dozen other oddities). This might be shocking to non-comic fans, but really, we all know he'll get it back thanks to Asgarian voodoo or whatever. I'm more interested to see if, in the meantime, he does indeed jam Mjolnir into the stump and start beating people up with it.

Lol, I was kinda trolling.

[steamteck]

I'll reserve judgment until I see it but iron man 3 has pretty much broken my faith.

[spydermann93]

Conspiracy: All of the Avengers save for Cap, Hawkeye, and possibly Black Widow are going to be removed through various films in order to form Cap's Quirky Quartet

[crimsonquill]

Conspiracy: All of the Avengers save for Cap, Hawkeye, and possibly Black Widow are going to be removed through various films in order to form Cap's Quirky Quartet

Whedon just confirmed that Black Widow and Hawkeye both return in Avengers 2 with bigger roles. He also confirmed that Capt 2 is very much a political thriller in nature which changes how Steve Rogers trusts Nick Fury and carries over into the Avengers sequel.

- CQ

[Midnite]

Thor: The Dark World Official Trailer HD

[Shogunn2517]

I know I can't be the only one who would have much rather preferred a villain along the lines of either The Enchantress, Executioner, Absorbing Man, Wrecking Crew, Surter or even Ulik over some elf. 

But hey, I don't make the movies, I just watch them.

[captmorgan72]

Love the new trailer but I have a HUGE problem with Jane slapping Loki's face and his head snapping to the side like he just received a powerful punch. In Avengers it looked like Loki barely felt Cap's punch.

[BentonGrey]

Yay!  I am super excited about this, and it looks beyond awesome!  Did anyone recognize the huge rock dude at the end?  Major nerd points for anyone who can catch the reference.

Shogunn, while I would also love to see some of those guys, I don't have much of a problem with their choice because Malekith is a great villain, and he's been in some really awesome stories.  Maybe we'll see Ulik AM, or the Enchantress and Executioner in Thor 3.

Cap, watching it, I don't think it really looked like he was reacting to the slap as if it hurt, more in surprise. 

[spydermann93]

Yay!  I am super excited about this, and it looks beyond awesome!  Did anyone recognize the huge rock dude at the end?  Major nerd points for anyone who can catch the reference.

Could it be

Spoiler

A stone man from Saturn?

or Kronan from Ria (same thing )

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Love the new trailer but I have a HUGE problem with Jane slapping Loki's face and his head snapping to the side like he just received a powerful punch. In Avengers it looked like Loki barely felt Cap's punch.

I makes sense to me.  A natural, normal, instinctive reaction to getting slapped or hit on the face is to turn away from it.  If you aren't expecting it, particularly, you will react that way whether it actually hurts you or not.  If you are expecting an attack, however, as when Cap punched Loki, you can easily brace yourself and shrug it off, if you know you won't be hurt, but only if you know it's coming and choose to suppress the reflexive reaction.

[BentonGrey]

*Ding Ding*  That's right Spyder!  Very nice work!  Haha, if you look at the face, it has to be.  That is a really, really cool little piece of fan service.  I mean, even among fans of the character, who is going to know that?

Well said, Cat, that's what I was thinking.

[captmorgan72]

Love the new trailer but I have a HUGE problem with Jane slapping Loki's face and his head snapping to the side like he just received a powerful punch. In Avengers it looked like Loki barely felt Cap's punch.

I makes sense to me.  A natural, normal, instinctive reaction to getting slapped or hit on the face is to turn away from it.  If you aren't expecting it, particularly, you will react that way whether it actually hurts you or not.  If you are expecting an attack, however, as when Cap punched Loki, you can easily brace yourself and shrug it off, if you know you won't be hurt, but only if you know it's coming and choose to suppress the reflexive reaction.

Don't confuse me with the facts. When I saw the rock creature Benton, I immediately thought of Planet Hulk.

[Cyber Burn]

Love the new trailer but I have a HUGE problem with Jane slapping Loki's face and his head snapping to the side like he just received a powerful punch. In Avengers it looked like Loki barely felt Cap's punch.

I makes sense to me.  A natural, normal, instinctive reaction to getting slapped or hit on the face is to turn away from it.  If you aren't expecting it, particularly, you will react that way whether it actually hurts you or not.  If you are expecting an attack, however, as when Cap punched Loki, you can easily brace yourself and shrug it off, if you know you won't be hurt, but only if you know it's coming and choose to suppress the reflexive reaction.

Don't confuse me with the facts. When I saw the rock creature Benton, I immediately thought of Planet Hulk.

Ditto.

My computer doesn't have sound, so I couldn't hear any of the dialogue, but visually, the trailer looks pretty interesting.

[steamteck]

From the looks of it Marvel may be back on track. I'm cautiously excited.

[detourne_me]

Sorry for dredging up this thread, but....
I just saw Thor: The Dark World, and Holy Cow guys, it is AWESOME!
Much better than the first one with some seriously funny moments.
It's very self-contained in the fact that much of the principle cast of the first one has a chance to shine.
What I mean is that screen time is very evenly spread among secondary characters like Odin, Sif, Volstagg, and Heimdall.
There are also a lot of references to other happenings in the Marvel U, and some GREAT endings and reveals after the credits.  I won't mention them, unless people ask. And only then they will be in nested spoilers.

Kruse and Malekith are pretty fleshed out as well.
The balance between comedy and action is really consistent with previous Marvel movies, and it doesn't go overboard on action (*ahem Man of Steel)

In all, I highly recommend seeing it, and if trends continue, The Winter Soldier looks to be great too, as I thought its trailer was better.
Oh, and I think Phase 2 Marvel Studios movies will have a new opening. It's similar to the comics flipping, fade-in Marvel, but cooler.
....yeah I actually or excited for a new lead-in.

[detourne_me]

Ok.  So my friend also saw it yesterday.  I guess there were two after credits scenes.  I left after the first one.  Mistake!
Apparently the 2nd one doesn't contribute much story, but is a nice ending.

[Podmark]

Thanks for you review DM. I was iffy on seeing this in theaters, so hearing that you really liked it gives me something to think about.

[Talavar]

Other early reviews are generally quite positive as well.  Only a week away!

[stumpy]

Just saw it last night. I generally liked it! As good as the first Thor, IMO. Maybe not quite Avengers, but still enjoyable.

Plenty of action. Or destruction porn or whatever people determined to be a little snooty about it are calling it. I enjoyed the action and pace of the movie. It only bothers me when there are 5 or 10 minutes of buildings being destroyed and no real advance in the overall progress of the battle or plot. To me, this was about the right mix of action and plot intricacies. Thor is a heavy-hitter, so the movie can't play out as too much of a chess match.

I generally enjoyed the humor. Not everyone did, though. My gf (who also enjoyed the movie overall) had a couple eye-rolling moments where her comment was, basically, "They are trying too hard there."

I will make a few semi-critical (and spoilery) observations.

Spoiler

First, and carrying over from the previous Thor movie, I basically find myself not caring about the Thor + Jane Foster romance. I know this is often the formula that Hollywood uses to take a multi-planet-spanning movie and make it "accessible" and "relate-able" to ordinary folks. E.g. "Sure, Thor is an godlike being from another world with advanced technology we can't touch and where people live (and relationships develop) over thousands of years. But, he still falls in love with the Earthling girl-next-store (who happens to be a quantum astrophysicist) just like anybody would." Meh. At best, I don't really buy it. At worst, I find it condescending.

There is a scene where Thor and Odin argue about whether to wait for the Malekith and the dark elves to come after the aether in Asgard or to take the aether and go after the elves. Odin argues that putting the Aether so close to the elves' grasp is too big a risk and Thor argues that waiting for the elves to attack Asgard will cost too many Asgardian lives. Odin states that he  will have every last Asgardian will fight to the death, if need be. This is after we have seen a flashback where Malekith sacrifices most of the elves in an attack on Asgard. Pointing out a seeming moral equivalence between the two leaders, Thor snaps, "What makes you different from Malekith, then?" Odin rages, "The difference is that I will win." Now, that was a decent dramatic scene and all. But, I will admit very much wanting to shout at the screen, "There's also the part where Odin isn't planning on ending the universe and killing everyone in it. Some might think that would be a substantial moral difference. I mean, as long as they're splitting these little hairs."

Finally, like every other viewer, I'm sure, the "surprise" reveal at the end had me wondering, "Um... So where's the real Odin?" I mean, either Loki pulled off a heckuva scam in impersonating Odin to Thor while the real Odin and (particularly) Heimdall and the other Asgardians were looking in some other direction. Or, Loki somehow took out Odin - a pretty major feat on its own - and will be impersonating him indefinitely. Or Odin is in on the gag, or some equally unlikely ruse. Anyway, regardless of what actually allowed that to happen, the movie leaves the details of a fairly huge plot development completely off-screen.

[Podmark]

I just came back from seeing it and I really enjoyed it! Nice pace, lots of amusing lines, good action, and Tom Hiddleston stole every scene he was in. I really enjoyed Loki in this movie, probably my favorite performance of his so far. And Dr. Selvig was really funny too.

Spoiler

I knew Loki wouldn't be dead. Can't wait to see what happens next.

And as for the post credits scene:

Spoiler

Wow The Collector was weird. It's a good thing I'm already excited for GotG because that scene didn't do much for me.

[Talavar]

Re: Loki...

Spoiler

him posing as Odin is clearly set-up for future shenanigans, and explaining it in the last 5 minutes of the film would have been a huge tangent.  It's a tease for future sequels, not a major plot point of this story.

[stumpy]

Re: Loki...

Spoiler

him posing as Odin is clearly set-up for future shenanigans, and explaining it in the last 5 minutes of the film would have been a huge tangent.  It's a tease for future sequels, not a major plot point of this story.

Clearly, it's a tease. But, it is also undeniably a huge plot development and it did happen in this movie. I certainly agree that it would have been time-consuming to explain it in this movie, which is presumably why it was left off screen. And, frankly, I am not claiming that they won't do a good job of making sense of it in Thor: The War for Asgard (or whatever they call the next installment), but it's always tricky to plop a flashback that explains events in one movie into the next movie. I mean, this isn't television, where they can start the movie with "Previously, on Thor..." ;-) And, frankly, as far as teases go, it's strategically pretty safe. Since Thor is basically given leave to do his heroing on Earth, there is no need to explain why he isn't aware of events in Asgard during the next Avengers movie. However, I am slightly annoyed at having my chain yanked about something that won't be dealt with for another two years.

[BentonGrey]

Good heavens, this movie was awesome!  I was COMPLETELY blown away!  I went in excited and fully prepared to enjoy a decent superhero flick, but Thor II exceeded my expectations more than any film I've seen in recent memory.  This is DEFINITELY in the top three of the Marvel movies, and it may even rival the Avengers.  It was alternately (and occasionally simultaneously) exciting, poignant, beautiful, and hilarious!  I absolutely and unabashedly loved it, as did Lady Grey.  I have no real criticisms, but as Stumpy pointed out, the Thor/Jane Foster relationship is still not as well-fleshed out as I'd like to see.  It improved dramatically in this iteration, however.  I agree with Pod, Tom Hiddleston turned in an AMAZING performance.  His Loki is, without a doubt, one of the best things about the Marvel movie U.  He takes a great character and makes him even better than comic fans knew he could be.  That, I think, is what struck me most about this movie and about the best of the Marvel movies in general: they are based on great stories, but they transcend those wonderful tales and become something even grander.  That's wonderful, and it has a lot to do with the quality of the performances the cast turn in.  Ohh man, I just about can't say enough in praise of this movie, so I suppose I'll stop here and just go see it again.

[XStream]

Benton, I am looking for the like button on your post.

I saw it last Sunday and I have to say I was blown away. Admittedly, I was a little worried Marvel couldn't keep the pace. Topping the Avengers seems like an impossible task, and although I loved Iron Man 3 (I know some of you did not) it did suffer from my high expectations. There have been many surprises in the past (the first Thor being one and Amazing Spider-Man being another) where I believe my low expectation added to my excitement about the movie. I was worried about Thor because my expectations were so high.

AND IT DELIVERED! I loved the first Thor, but this was a much better movie. I kept thinking, this is what I wanted to see in a Thor movie and I never even realized it! The action, the humor, the emotion, and the plot twist all kept me glued to the screen unable to eat my $20 popcorn. This is definitely in my top three favorite Marvel movies.

As some of you may know, I don't go to the theater to see a movie twice (The Avengers has been the only exception). But I am very thankful I took a group of high schoolers I mentor and Mrs. X wants me to take her to see it.

[Figure Fan]

Benton, I am looking for the like button on your post.

Same here, actually.

I really enjoyed the new Thor movie. It had a more ancient, mythical feel to it, while the first film had more of a sci-fi vibe. I've heard that quite a few of Malekith's scenes were cut from the film, but I wish they would have left them in to establish his motives. He came across as a little one-dimensional, but it didn't hinder the movie too much in the end. Loki was great as usual.

[captmorgan72]

Benton, I am looking for the like button on your post.

Same here, actually.

I really enjoyed the new Thor movie. It had a more ancient, mythical feel to it, while the first film had more of a sci-fi vibe. I've heard that quite a few of Malekith's scenes were cut from the film, but I wish they would have left them in to establish his motives. He came across as a little one-dimensional, but it didn't hinder the movie too much in the end. Loki was great as usual.

I too really loved the movie but I felt that this one had a far more sci-fi vibe than the first one. It almost felt Star Trekish with the Dark Elves ships and whatnot.