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intertribalThis was entertaining, much more so than most superhero or pseudo-superhero movies. It's not particularly subversive, and the humor is kind of slapstick, but oh well. The bad guys (to the extent that there even are bad guys...) are all aliens, so at least there's no demonization of human cultures going on. The parts that take place on Earth are way more fun than the parts that take place on, uh, Thor's home planet. Overall, alternated between funny and campy!dramatic, but in a very non-annoying way - and we all know how easy it is to annoy me.
I thought they actually did a really nice job with the everyday folk in this one - Natalie Portman's character was very likable and relatable and cute (and everything about Thor was filtered through her perspective, which was awesome, because it almost felt more like he was the love interest, not her - which is really fucking rare in action movies, to allow women to show desire - usually it's just like, Exasperated Love Interest Suddenly Becomes Willing To Make Out With Hero, How Did That Happen? Don't Ask), with her main adjective probably being "clever." Her assistant, Darcy - the political science student - was the comic relief, and was a riot. Then their beleaguered scientist mentor dude was Stellan Skarsgard, and he did a good job; I generally like Skarsgard anyway. It all takes place in a very desertified New Mexico.
The aliens - Thor's people, and their enemies the Frost Giants - are a little headscratchy. They have a nice-looking planet, sure, with the cosmos as their sky and a long psychedelic crystal highway that leads out to the rainbow bifrost bridge - kind of like something off a sketchy "space art" web site. And their attire reminded more of Saint Seiya than anything else, did anybody watch that show? Disturbing anime, that. Anyway, they're all completely identical to humans aside from their ridiculous armor, which was played for some laughs when they eventually came to Earth. The Frost Giants are corpse-gray with red eyes and live in a desolate ice world. Character development in this "realm," as Thor would say, was a little weak, but I think is a good example of what I was saying the other day - heroic heroes are more interesting than antiheroes.
Thor comes straight out of Hero Mold, you see. He is a total stupid dumbfuck when he first becomes an adult, but his flaws are hero flaws - wants to go after the enemy and teach them a lesson, doesn't want to wait for diplomacy, must defend honor, blah blah blah - a lot of sound and fury and prideful bombast, but he doesn't angst or consider switching sides or even behave all that reprehensibly. There was one part where I thought he might suffer A Very Painful Lesson (TM) because he's smashing all these Frost Giants with his whack-a-mole hammer while miles away his friends are about to get eaten by a gigantic ice Balrog/Troll, but no, he sees that they're in danger and saves them. He has some character defects, but they're heroic defects. And he becomes much less of a dumbfuck as the movie progresses. But thank God, you know, thank God that he wasn't "I'm just a loser and I'm sad about my average life but holy shit look I have superpowers now I am uber cool woohoo." I am so done with that kind of superhero. With Thor, at least we've moved beyond the standard "what does this power mean?" conversations, because you know, Thor knows he has power. He's been groomed to be a leader all his life. So instead of "you too can be a leader" claptrap you can actually concentrate on what good leadership is (not that this movie is very deep, but eh). And if that means that fewer boys in the audience can "relate" to Thor, too damn bad for them. Captain America looks right up their alley.
Loki, his brother, the "bad guy," is a whole bucket of crazy. He's kind of sympathetic, and he's certainly Thor's shadow-self, and he doesn't seem to be motivated by Unrepenting Evil or whatever, but neither his motives nor his personality are consistent. I don't mean that he develops as a character like Thor does - he's just wildly inconsistent. I accept that he's keeping his true motives and plan to himself, but towards the end I kept going like "Loki, why are you doing that? I thought that's what you wanted!" and "Loki, what the fuck?" Unlike Thor, you never really figure out what Loki believes or values - we get that he values himself, yeah, but he seems to have literally no opinions or belief system beyond that - which is just as bad as the villain that is evil Just Because.
But, oh well. The movie ultimately comes down not on the side of genocide, which for an action blockbuster, is pretty good.
I thought they actually did a really nice job with the everyday folk in this one - Natalie Portman's character was very likable and relatable and cute (and everything about Thor was filtered through her perspective, which was awesome, because it almost felt more like he was the love interest, not her - which is really fucking rare in action movies, to allow women to show desire - usually it's just like, Exasperated Love Interest Suddenly Becomes Willing To Make Out With Hero, How Did That Happen? Don't Ask), with her main adjective probably being "clever." Her assistant, Darcy - the political science student - was the comic relief, and was a riot. Then their beleaguered scientist mentor dude was Stellan Skarsgard, and he did a good job; I generally like Skarsgard anyway. It all takes place in a very desertified New Mexico.
The aliens - Thor's people, and their enemies the Frost Giants - are a little headscratchy. They have a nice-looking planet, sure, with the cosmos as their sky and a long psychedelic crystal highway that leads out to the rainbow bifrost bridge - kind of like something off a sketchy "space art" web site. And their attire reminded more of Saint Seiya than anything else, did anybody watch that show? Disturbing anime, that. Anyway, they're all completely identical to humans aside from their ridiculous armor, which was played for some laughs when they eventually came to Earth. The Frost Giants are corpse-gray with red eyes and live in a desolate ice world. Character development in this "realm," as Thor would say, was a little weak, but I think is a good example of what I was saying the other day - heroic heroes are more interesting than antiheroes.
Thor comes straight out of Hero Mold, you see. He is a total stupid dumbfuck when he first becomes an adult, but his flaws are hero flaws - wants to go after the enemy and teach them a lesson, doesn't want to wait for diplomacy, must defend honor, blah blah blah - a lot of sound and fury and prideful bombast, but he doesn't angst or consider switching sides or even behave all that reprehensibly. There was one part where I thought he might suffer A Very Painful Lesson (TM) because he's smashing all these Frost Giants with his whack-a-mole hammer while miles away his friends are about to get eaten by a gigantic ice Balrog/Troll, but no, he sees that they're in danger and saves them. He has some character defects, but they're heroic defects. And he becomes much less of a dumbfuck as the movie progresses. But thank God, you know, thank God that he wasn't "I'm just a loser and I'm sad about my average life but holy shit look I have superpowers now I am uber cool woohoo." I am so done with that kind of superhero. With Thor, at least we've moved beyond the standard "what does this power mean?" conversations, because you know, Thor knows he has power. He's been groomed to be a leader all his life. So instead of "you too can be a leader" claptrap you can actually concentrate on what good leadership is (not that this movie is very deep, but eh). And if that means that fewer boys in the audience can "relate" to Thor, too damn bad for them. Captain America looks right up their alley.
Loki, his brother, the "bad guy," is a whole bucket of crazy. He's kind of sympathetic, and he's certainly Thor's shadow-self, and he doesn't seem to be motivated by Unrepenting Evil or whatever, but neither his motives nor his personality are consistent. I don't mean that he develops as a character like Thor does - he's just wildly inconsistent. I accept that he's keeping his true motives and plan to himself, but towards the end I kept going like "Loki, why are you doing that? I thought that's what you wanted!" and "Loki, what the fuck?" Unlike Thor, you never really figure out what Loki believes or values - we get that he values himself, yeah, but he seems to have literally no opinions or belief system beyond that - which is just as bad as the villain that is evil Just Because.
But, oh well. The movie ultimately comes down not on the side of genocide, which for an action blockbuster, is pretty good.
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Date: 2011-05-22 03:50 pm (UTC)Yeah, that is what I mean.
I wish there was some example that we could talk about so I would know what kinds of movies you mean that make you feel like your life and the world at large are meaningless, like something we've both seen or whatever.
So basically in a less realistic, less "serious," more idealistic world, it's okay because then we're dealing with ideals - but as soon as it becomes more realistic, it doesn't work because heroes don't work in the real world? Because that's an interesting sort of split you've got there. Seriously, I would love to hear examples of the two different kinds of movies here.
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Date: 2011-05-22 05:17 pm (UTC)I dunno, man, pretty much everything lately makes me feel like my life and the world at large are meaningless. You could probably pick anything. Okay, okay, serious answer... seriously, I have a hard time finding deep, artistic meaning in movies. They tend to make me feel more sentimental, and I tend to appreciate them more if they simply offer me a world at odds with my own (at least so it seems lately), such that it reminds me that there is more to life than work and food and rest. Again, ending with me feeling burnt out. Think normal. Er...examples, right. Maybe this would be better when I'm awake. Requires too much thought, sorry.
As for the latter thing...I mean I consciously think of them as junk food movies or whatever, but for the moment I am immersed in them, I can buy the idealistic world. Like some comic book movie, like, I dunno, Sin City, or Batman, or whatever. Maybe. Or something equally fantastical, though sometimes comic-like stuff can be more 'real' or comment on real society more than an idealized portrait of real life. So I dunno. I'm not much good for examples right now. I'm about to get my 3 hrs of sleep, then back to work.
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Date: 2011-05-22 08:05 pm (UTC)