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Watched this last night (thanks to a tip from a fellow RP-er that we really ought to see it before going to see Avengers: Infinity War tonight) and it was awesome! So much fun, and so much character development! There was a real Buffy feel to it with the gorgeous mix of humour and action (right from the start, with Thor hanging in chains bantering with the bad guy and apologising for rotating), so much so that I had to check that Joss Whedon hadn't been involved in this one too, but apparently it's all down to Taika Waititi, who was brilliant as a soft-spoken rock monster and also apparently responsible for all the humour, most of which was improvised! I feel like I'm going to need to keep an eye out for him!
It was a shame I'd checked the cast list to find out who people were because knowing Hulk was in it made it obvious who Thor's combatant in the arena would be (would have been nice to be surprised by that) but I loved it anyway and loved all the interplay and the new developing relationship between the two of them. Loved Valkyrie as well, and I even enjoyed Jeff Goldblum, who I normally can't stand. He was so over the top that it worked.
Loved Loki's play at the beginning and the revelation that it was him not Odin, and loved the way this movie really established how the relationship between him and Thor works, and has always worked. It's one of those relationships like the Doctor and the Master that has to be trod very carefully in order to make the bad one villainous enough to be a threat but fun enough and with enough of a spark of hope of being able to bring them round to the good side. I felt this trod that line beautifully.
The only thing I was bit disappointed in was Hela. Cate Blanchett was wonderful but her character was sidelined for about half the movie and never really felt like much of a threat. There didn't seem to be enough that was different about her to make her an interesting villain. Okay, the stuff about "How do you think Odin came to rule so much" and the twisting of Asgard's history was interesting, but making her Thor's sister didn't really mean much because he hadn't grown up with her as he had Loki so there still didn't feel like much personal connection between them.
A final note of praise for Karl Urban, whom I did not recognise until about halfway through the film, despite knowing he was in it! Awesome acting, as always, and while I'm sad that he was not at his usual level of prettiness for this, I thought he brought amazing depth and range to a character that could easily have been extremely one-note.
Overall verdict? Loved it. :-)
It was a shame I'd checked the cast list to find out who people were because knowing Hulk was in it made it obvious who Thor's combatant in the arena would be (would have been nice to be surprised by that) but I loved it anyway and loved all the interplay and the new developing relationship between the two of them. Loved Valkyrie as well, and I even enjoyed Jeff Goldblum, who I normally can't stand. He was so over the top that it worked.
Loved Loki's play at the beginning and the revelation that it was him not Odin, and loved the way this movie really established how the relationship between him and Thor works, and has always worked. It's one of those relationships like the Doctor and the Master that has to be trod very carefully in order to make the bad one villainous enough to be a threat but fun enough and with enough of a spark of hope of being able to bring them round to the good side. I felt this trod that line beautifully.
The only thing I was bit disappointed in was Hela. Cate Blanchett was wonderful but her character was sidelined for about half the movie and never really felt like much of a threat. There didn't seem to be enough that was different about her to make her an interesting villain. Okay, the stuff about "How do you think Odin came to rule so much" and the twisting of Asgard's history was interesting, but making her Thor's sister didn't really mean much because he hadn't grown up with her as he had Loki so there still didn't feel like much personal connection between them.
A final note of praise for Karl Urban, whom I did not recognise until about halfway through the film, despite knowing he was in it! Awesome acting, as always, and while I'm sad that he was not at his usual level of prettiness for this, I thought he brought amazing depth and range to a character that could easily have been extremely one-note.
Overall verdict? Loved it. :-)
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