Special Edition Podcast

Special Edition – Thor: The Dark World

Show Notes

To me, Mjölnir! For Asgard! Conor Kilpatrick and Paul Montgomery assemble to discuss Thor: The Dark World! How does the sequel stack up to Thor’s thunderous big screen debut in 2011? There are laughs! There are tears! Dudes get hit in the face with hammers! All of that plus just what to make of that mid-credits sequence and what does it mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Total Running Time: 00:33:30

(If you haven’t seen the movie yet be forewarned – there be SPOILERS ahoy! So don’t scroll down any further if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.)

Thor_The Dark World_Poster

Music:
“Apocryphon”
The Sword

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Comments

  1. I loved the hell out of this movie even though I was constantly annoyed by a desperate housewife behind me and giggling teenage girls I awe of Hemsworth. Thor was a joy from start to finish.I was shocked by the extremely weird looking mid credit scene with the Collector and his funky servant girl, but I cheered like hell with the reference that we’re going to a story with the Infinity Gauntlet!

  2. Some thoughts on “Thor: The Dark World.”

    1. Loki does not steal the show, as so many less than perceptive media film critics have claimed. Hiddleston plays Loki well, but I never felt like cheering for Loki. He’s still a bad guy, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so Loki and Thor make common cause.

    2. Chris Hemsworth does a terrific job playing Thor. Thor is not as challenging as say, Hamlet, but Hemsworth is a good actor who gets the tone of the character perfectly. It also helps that Hemsworth is extraordinarily good looking. The camera loves him.

    3. I liked the parts in Asgard better than the parts on Earth. The comedy with Kat Dennings and Skarsgard seemed rather forced to me. I wanted to spend more time in the fairy tale world of Asgard where the falling snow looks wonderful, and even the funerals are conducted beautifully.

    4. Now, to contradict myself. I think it would be fun if Thor 3 took a page out of the current Thor comic, and showed Thor back in Europe’s middle ages. I think there are lots of fun stories that could be told about Thor interacting with Vikings. I’m not sure how Ragnarok could be handled in Thor 3, since Balder hasn’t even been introduced in the movies, yet.

    5. My overall grade for “Thor: The Dark World,” is a B+.

    • “Loki does not steal the show, as so many less than perceptive media film critics have claimed. Hiddleston plays Loki well, but I never felt like cheering for Loki. He’s still a bad guy, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so Loki and Thor make common cause.”

      Perhaps not for YOU but he certainly stole the show for the audience I saw the film with–they loved everything he did. And he stole the show for people I know who can’t stop talking about how much they loved Loki in it.

      This is not a case of people missing clues or themes or some other matter of perception. This is a case of people with differing opinions than yours and that doesn’t make them less perceptive. They just have different points of view than you, are looking for different things, like or dislike things differently, etc etc.

  3. I really liked this movie a lot, better than the first one. I really want to go see it again because people laughed and clapped so much during it that I missed quite a few things…..and also because it was really good. I thought the special effects were great and it was a good looking movie all the way around (saw it in 2D). I really liked that so much took place on Asgard and that they moved around quite a bit between worlds.

  4. If that mid-credits scene is any indication, Guardians is gonna feel like a long Star Trek: Original Series episode.

    • Did anyone else think that del Toro’s collector was a little reminiscent of Brad Douriff’s Mentat in Dune? The over-exaggerated movements and way he said things? Not sure that being compared to “Dune” is a good way to introduce your sci-fi movie.

    • Yeah the set design was VERY reminiscent of original series Trek.

    • @BC1, I had the exact same thought. Much more than a little reminiscent. I loved it though. I love Dune and the whole low budget extra weird sci-fi look. I also loved the mid credits sequence simply because I got to see The Collector on a big screen. I am (now) looking forward to GoG but I agree with that it may be a little too weird for the general public though. But, hey screw them, are’nt these movies really about the 612 people or so that really dig this stuff? As long as each of us agree to buy at least 1000 tickets a piece, it should be just fine.

    • Del Toro’s speech actually reminded me of The Usual Suspects. He spoke much clearer obviously, but the meter and character that he spoke with made me go back to that.

  5. Just saw it this morning and I really liked it. Not the greatest solo movie by Marvel Studios but the strongest release by them since Avengers. Here’s a few specific things:

    1) Tom Hiddleston is still fantastic. I really am intrigued to see how they’re gonna handle him taking over as Odin in future movies.

    2) The supporting cast on both Thor and Jane’s side get a much needed boost in screen time. Kat Dennings and Skarsgard are hilarious in this with Skarsgard stealing the film at points. (Love the idea that he’s gone completely insane thanks to Loki) But it was great to see more of The Warriors Three and Sif get much more time in this. That was my one big issue with the first Thor in that they hired fantastic actors to do them, and got one or two laughs when they land on Earth, but they got little to do. Hope they get even MORE screen time in the eventual third movie.

    3) While movie can be funny I think the writers tried a bit too hard a times. Again, Skarsgard and Dennings were great but anything else kinda landed with a thud.

    4) For a first time director Alan Taylor did a fantastic job. Great action scenes in this.

    5) That mid-credits scene was not only awkward but kinda bad. Since James Gunn directed it I cannot really be pleased on what’s to come for Guardians of the Galaxy. It just looked really cheap almost to the point that I was seeing a stage from the show Farscape. (I LOVE Farscape but man it really looks bad in that sequence) Shout out to Benico Del Toro for giving 110% on the weirdness though.

    Overall I’d give it a sold B and it is easily the best superhero movie of 2013.

    Here’s my entire thoughts in a review if any are interested:

    http://a-collection-of-ramblings.tumblr.com/post/66492456558/review-thorthedarkworld

  6. On a grading scale, I would give the movie a strong B. The villain was lacking depth, but I agree that he didn’t need any because the rest of the cast was strong enough. I’m more excited about where this takes the Marvel Movie Universe, in the big picture. The mid credits scene was weird, but I’m looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not worried that I won’t like it, but I do wonder how the public at large will dig it. It’s probably Marvel’s biggest gamble, but even if it fails, Avengers 2 will be there to big things back up.

  7. growing up one of my favorite movies was the Dolph Lundgren Masters of the Universe. I still love this movie to this day but all the flaws of it are painfully obvious to me now. I feel that this movie made good on an promise that I didn’t realize that movie made with me for an epic movie that mixes Fantasy and Scifi. I loved this movie.

    • Funnily enough, the Masters of the Universe movie was based in large part on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World stories. Watch it again and imagine He-Man is Orion and Skeletor is Darkseid.
      And of course Thor (IMO) is like the proto-Fourth World, so it makes sense that they are similar. I actually thought the same thing as I was watching Thor II.

  8. Hmmm, I haven’t seen any comment on the internet about the 2 minute trailer to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” that played in some theaters before Thor 2. If I understand correctly, the 2 minute preview was only shown during 3D screenings at Cinemark brand theaters. Essentially, the trailer expands on what we have already seen. We get to see what looks like the whole fight in the elevator. The bad guys try to use magnetic handcuffs to secure Cap to the wall, but he breaks the hold. Cap appears to have been tasered several times, but shrugs it off. At the end of the trailer, we see Winter Soldier’s bionic arm pick Cap’s shield off the ground, and we see Winter Soldiers face. Bucky is not wearing a mask, just kohl around his eyes.

  9. Best Phase 2 film!

    It is also my second favorite MCU film (after Avengers).

  10. The Agents of SHIELD episode that ties into the film doesn’t actually air until next week, Nov 19.
    Tonight’s episode premiers a different character.

  11. I can tell you this much: Jane Foster is a scientist, and any scientist knows that if you fall into a new dimension and see some creepy shit, you touch that shit right away.

    Guardians of the Galaxy looks so cuckoobananas, I earnestly do not care whether or not it’s good. I am so excited to see the WTF bomb drop out the bottom of the plane, I can’t stand it.

    • It grabbed her, right? Sure, she was standing too close, but I seem to recall that bit of aether reaching out to her. That doesn’t explain why the container was open to begin with, but that’s neither here nor there.

    • Yeah, the Aether grabbed her. As to why the container was open, well they just used Malekith’s box, so its no surprise it wasn’t built properly.

    • @Scarlet-Batman See, this is why you spring for DWARVEN craftsmanship.

  12. I was thinking about the mid-credits scene, and I wonder if it felt a bit off because it was shot with a high def camera. It was as if they just taped the scene with their camera then pasted it into the film, without adding a bit of movie magic to it.

  13. Speaking of next comic book movie, wasn’t Sin City 2 supposed to come out this year? Did it come out and quietly go away, or did it get moved and not announced?

  14. Ever since this, I’ve been in a Thor podcast tailspin. I just listened to that Matt and Brett love comics podcast on the Simonson run. Paul, I’m fairly certain Thor’s old school boots are not made of liger pelts…that being said, I always thought Asgard has some weird ass yellow boot leather.

    This movie has a few pretty obvious flaws, but was just so damn fun in spite of them all. With insane charisma scores like Hiddleston’s and Hemsworth’s, this movie can skate over plot holes bigger than Ginnungagap! (check your mythology books.)
    Seriously, this movie just so much charm–a superhero fantasy that manages to be dark without losing itself in the doldrums. Give us a hero who does what’s right and can still enjoy a good brawl. Give us a villain who relishes being a baddie every moment he’s on the screen
    Give us…

    ANOTHER!!!

  15. Great film…Loki and Thor are so f’ing PERFECT. Really rooting for Sif as well. That chick pulls off the role so well….and it’s tempting to put an underwear model in a metal bikini, but they treat her with such respect.

    I loved that they spent those few seconds to have Thor give Hogun leave to stay with his people. They really did their homework on this minor character (my favorite Asgardian BTW). I wonder what got left on the cutting room floor though…What was Hogun going to do with those two jet fighters?

  16. P.S. My one negative comment is that I think it’s a mistake to make the happy ending a post credit thing. That’s a conclusion, not an Epilogue.

  17. Jane a damsel in distress? Don’t say that!
    Look, in a superhero movie, someone needs to be in some sort of peril, right? Otherwise nothing much is going to happen. Sure, you can make Jane a super-competant ass-kicker, and only have Thor rescue strangers, but you are giving up a pretty patently useful emotional hook, there.
    She’s a scientist, just like Slevig. Selvig needed rescuing last movie, because what are scientists going to do against gods? This is what really bothered me in Iron Man 3; the bit where Pepper is suddenly a more deadly and effective superhero than Iron Man. It feels very Mich like someone was worried about Pepper coming off as a “damsel in distress” (I.e: having human vulnerabilities). I mean fair enough, but it’s just that if everyone can do it, what’s so special about Tony? If nobody needs resuming or protection anymore, why are we watching his movie?
    Also gotta disagree regarding Star Wars II (it rules. Kiss my Midichlorians), and the mid-credits sequence. It was corny, but also cool as hell. This is actually precisely where I’d like to see the Marvel Cinematic U head, more-or-less. Love James Gunn, love Rocket Raccoon, looking very much forward to the movie.
    I will agree that maybe the early Loki scene is unnecessary. It’s actually adapted from Chris Yost’s excellent prequel comic; the producers liked the scene so much they shoehorned it into the movie. It was better-written in the book, too (‘I meant to rule Midgard with the iron fist with which you rule the nine realms! I may have even stolen a mortal infant and raised it as my own!”)

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