Avengers Assemble!

[Ingrid]

Ok, Anderson, verdict? And is it ok for the 8 year-old who loves Ragnarok?

[Matt]

We're seeing it Thorsday night.

[Anderson]

Ok, Anderson, verdict? And is it ok for the 8 year-old who loves Ragnarok?

Ragnarok had way more going on in it.

If the kid is cool with death and light dismemberment, should be cool. Lots of Guns and Roses, a little Abba.

If they're expecting the Guardians to be in it a lot, prepare for disappointment.

[BillyG]

If they're expecting the Guardians to be in it a lot, prepare for disappointment.

With this statement I am WAY more interested in this. I was worried this was gonna be the Thor and Pratt show, and anything with Pratt's face in it I avoid like the plague at this point.

[Anderson]

They're in it for 5 minutes tops and they basically leave when they all get fucking tired of dealing with Thor.

[Abraham Smashington]

Not gonna lie, that's a bit of a bummer. Not that I needed a full movie or anything, but was hoping for more. For whatever reason I do like the shit between Pratt and Helmsworth but can't really stand Pratt outside of Parks and Rec.

[Matt]

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER:

The greatest comparison I can make:
If RAGNAROK is THE MUMMY, then LOVE AND THUNDER is THE MUMMY RETURNS...lots of individually great scenes but also a lot of 'too much.'

The good:
- The film is occasionally extremely funny. The screaming goats are used just the right amount and they never fail to generate a laugh (they killed in my theater). A lot of the love triangle stuff between Thor, Jane, and Mjolnir was very funny as well.
- Russell Crowe is great playing a very interesting interpretation of Zeus. He was used just the right amount.
- The action sequences were all fairly well done. There's a particularly great sequence where all of the color is drained out (they're in the shadow realm) resulting in some pretty striking black and white imagery.
- The Guns n' Roses needle drops all work. I'm not a big fan of the band but the musical cues were spot on. In case you're curious, the songs used in the film are 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Sweet Child O Mine', 'Paradise City', and 'November Rain'. Dio's 'Rainbow in the Dark' is well used in the end credits.
- Christian Bale is flat out great as Gorr.

The bad:
- Too much Korg. A little Korg goes a long way and he's got maybe triple the screentime here that he had in RAGNAROK.
- It feels like whole subplots were excised to keep things moving along. Valkyrie feels this the most, like there are huge sections of her story that are simply gone.
- Sif and the Guardians of the Galaxy are essentially cameos. I think the GotG are gone after 10 minutes, give or take.
- Thor is in TOO MUCH mode for most of the film. There's no subtlety to it anymore. What worked so well in RAGNAROK feels forced here. He's occasionally flat out great but the overindulgence with the humor gets tiresome. That said, when he's allowed to dial it back and be somewhat serious, mainly in the scenes with Jane, he's great.
- The Jane Foster cancer story feels undercooked, like it was trimmed down by a lot. Indeed, Jane herself feels like an afterthought for the entire second act of the film. When the third act kicks in, it's like suddenly 'oh yeah, she has cancer and we need to address this' but it feels like it's too late in many ways.

It's definitely not a bad movie and I enjoyed it overall, but it's not a patch on RAGNAROK.

[BillyG]

Dio? Is this a new best Marvel movie on that alone?

Also, what's the story with all the GNR in this movie? Did Watiti just discover Appetite or something?

[Matt]

Dio? Is this a new best Marvel movie on that alone?

Also, what's the story with all the GNR in this movie? Did Watiti just discover Appetite or something?

GnR has a huge presence in the film beyond just the usage of songs. I'll leave it at that.
but I rocked the f out to Dio when that came on.
Also, the usage of 'Welcome to the Jungle' is perfect. The opening 30 seconds or so kick off a scene beautifully.

[Matt]

The more I think on this, the more frustrated I get with it. It's the kind of film that a talented director makes when he starts to believe his own hype, thinks he can't do anything wrong, and doesn't have anyone there to be critical of his decisions.

Earlier, I said that this was THE MUMMY RETURNS. Thinking on it more, this is more VAN HELSING to RAGNAROK's THE MUMMY.

[Abraham Smashington]

oooooof. I hope that's not the case when I watch it. Fuck Van Helsing. Nothing good in that movie.

[Matt]

oooooof. I hope that's not the case when I watch it. Fuck Van Helsing. Nothing good in that movie.

I don't hate VAN HELSING. The guy playing Dracula is off the mark and the ending sucks, but there's some good stuff in there that you have to sift through to find. That's how I felt on L&T.

[Abraham Smashington]

Well my expectations are already tempered due to your thoughts and Anderson mentioning that the Guardians aren't in it a whole bunch.

[Matt]

Well my expectations are already tempered due to your thoughts and Anderson mentioning that the Guardians aren't in it a whole bunch.

The GotG are there for the opening scene and that's about it. They're gone by like the 10 or 15 minute mark and never return. Even then, it's really only Chris Pratt who gets to do anything...the rest of them are window dressing, that's it. Mantis earns a solid laugh, though.

[FilmNerdJamie]

We're not even bothering with this weekend. Will hit up the Dolby Atmos screening next Sunday(?)

And we love Taikai (Ana used to correspond with him directly at her old job) and Ragnarok is one of the flat-out best MCU films. One of the rarest of rare ones I revisit.