Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

[Jimmy Higgins]

Thor Ragnarok

Some good moments, but a superhero movie is what is: flashy as hell yet utterly predictable.

Spoilers are hidden out of courtesy, but really, if you take about 30 seconds to think about it, there's no such thing as a spoiler for a superhero movie.

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None of the main characters can die, or if they do, it doesn't really matter because they'll be brought back in the next one somehow. And this one did that. Apparently Hulk died in some prior movie but here he is, alive and well in this one to everyone's (meaning no one's) surprise.

And the villain was killed... or was she? Only box office receipts will tell.

Again, good eye candy, but I really can't wait for this long running fad to die down.

5/10

Personally, I think I saw this film 5 or 6 times before it was no longer fresh, enjoyed it that much.

Regarding the big bad:

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Her power came directly from Asberg. No Asgard, no power. Presumably snuffed.

Regarding Hulk:

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This seemed like a plot hole, as the plane allegedly crash on an island at the end of Ultron (though never shown). But for this movie, somehow he warped through space.

Now my question about Ragnorak regarding the Hulk:

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When Banner jumps out of the aircraft and hits the ground in the final battle, was the a joke or sacrifice? When I first saw it, seemed like humor, as in he tried to Hulk out on the drop, but didn't. But then I pondered whether he sacrificed himself, and not knowing if he'd be able to turn back into Banner, by falling to "his death" knowing the Hulk would come back out and save the people.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The falling thing was what he did during the Hulk movie. He jumped out of a helicopter and the adrenaline of falling to his death caused him to Hulk out. This was him doing the same thing, but he bounced on the ground a couple of times and lay there for a bit first for the sake of humor. He also said in the Avengers movie that he shot himself in the head once and that just had him turn into the Hulk and spit the bullet out. So, it wasn't any kind of sacrifice and he knew he'd be fine.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The falling thing was what he did during the Hulk movie. He jumped out of a helicopter and the adrenaline of falling to his death caused him to Hulk out. This was him doing the same thing, but he bounced on the ground a couple of times and lay there for a bit first for the sake of humor. He also said in the Avengers movie that he shot himself in the head once and that just had him turn into the Hulk and spit the bullet out. So, it wasn't any kind of sacrifice and he knew he'd be fine.

No he didn't, though he didn't fear death. He feared earlier in the movie that if he turned into the Hulk again, he may never be Banner again.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The falling thing was what he did during the Hulk movie. He jumped out of a helicopter and the adrenaline of falling to his death caused him to Hulk out. This was him doing the same thing, but he bounced on the ground a couple of times and lay there for a bit first for the sake of humor. He also said in the Avengers movie that he shot himself in the head once and that just had him turn into the Hulk and spit the bullet out. So, it wasn't any kind of sacrifice and he knew he'd be fine.

No he didn't, though he didn't fear death. He feared earlier in the movie that if he turned into the Hulk again, he may never be Banner again.

Oh, right. I misunderstood the use of the word sacrifice.

In that case, yes, he did sacrifice himself. He was very much aware that he needed to turn into the Hulk to save all of those people, but that by doing so he might never be Banner again. His was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the lives of innocents because, as Thor said at the beginning of the movie, "That's what heroes do".

 

[Jayjay]

Since we're talking about superhero comedies, I just watched

Deadpool 2
7/10

More of the same kind of humor as the first one, a little bit more superheroes and special effects, but the jokes are maybe a tad more lame and not as surprising this time around. I did get a few chuckles along the way, but now that one knows what to expect, it's not as funny. Nothing rivals the "Francis" joke from the first one for example.

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Except maybe "You killed Black Tom, you racist sonofabitch!"

 

[Opoponax]

The falling thing was what he did during the Hulk movie. He jumped out of a helicopter and the adrenaline of falling to his death caused him to Hulk out. This was him doing the same thing, but he bounced on the ground a couple of times and lay there for a bit first for the sake of humor. He also said in the Avengers movie that he shot himself in the head once and that just had him turn into the Hulk and spit the bullet out. So, it wasn't any kind of sacrifice and he knew he'd be fine.

No he didn't, though he didn't fear death. He feared earlier in the movie that if he turned into the Hulk again, he may never be Banner again.

Oh, right. I misunderstood the use of the word sacrifice.

In that case, yes, he did sacrifice himself. He was very much aware that he needed to turn into the Hulk to save all of those people, but that by doing so he might never be Banner again. His was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the lives of innocents because, as Thor said at the beginning of the movie, "That's what heroes do".

Was there any suspense in that move? It's like Jesus sacrificing himself. He knows how it's going to turn out, and it's all gonna come up roses. Same thing here. It's the same sacrifice as foregoing a decent lunch but knowing that you're going to be picked up in a limo an hour later and taken to a fine French restaurant where the food is free.

It's the same with all superhero flicks. No one that matters is gonna die, and if they do, they're not really dead anyway. And the only way Odin's actually dead is if Anthony Hopkins dies in real life... hell, he'll just be replaced with someone else if need be, and come back in some X way.

Wanna give superhero movies some suspense? Have Tony Stark get his guts ripped out and eaten, be fully dismembered, and his head put on a pike in front of the Hall of Justice (or whatever they call it) and never bring him back.

 

[Jayjay]

Oh, right. I misunderstood the use of the word sacrifice.

In that case, yes, he did sacrifice himself. He was very much aware that he needed to turn into the Hulk to save all of those people, but that by doing so he might never be Banner again. His was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the lives of innocents because, as Thor said at the beginning of the movie, "That's what heroes do".

Was there any suspense in that move? It's like Jesus sacrificing himself. He knows how it's going to turn out, and it's all gonna come up roses. Same thing here. It's the same sacrifice as foregoing a decent lunch but knowing that you're going to be picked up in a limo an hour later and taken to a fine French restaurant where the food is free.

He did stay as Hulk for the rest of the movie, if I recall correctly. In infinity war they conveniently ignore it but that's an entirely different movie, made by different people. So you could say, that the sacrifice in this case was valid and it didn't come up roses, at least as well as you can do in this type of serialized format.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Oh, right. I misunderstood the use of the word sacrifice.

In that case, yes, he did sacrifice himself. He was very much aware that he needed to turn into the Hulk to save all of those people, but that by doing so he might never be Banner again. His was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the lives of innocents because, as Thor said at the beginning of the movie, "That's what heroes do".

Was there any suspense in that move? It's like Jesus sacrificing himself. He knows how it's going to turn out, and it's all gonna come up roses. Same thing here. It's the same sacrifice as foregoing a decent lunch but knowing that you're going to be picked up in a limo an hour later and taken to a fine French restaurant where the food is free.

He did stay as Hulk for the rest of the movie, if I recall correctly. In infinity war they conveniently ignore it but that's an entirely different movie, made by different people. So you could say, that the sacrifice in this case was valid and it didn't come up roses, at least as well as you can do in this type of serialized format.

In Infinity War things happen for a reason with Hulk. They didn’t forget anything.

 

[Jayjay]

He did stay as Hulk for the rest of the movie, if I recall correctly. In infinity war they conveniently ignore it but that's an entirely different movie, made by different people. So you could say, that the sacrifice in this case was valid and it didn't come up roses, at least as well as you can do in this type of serialized format.

In Infinity War things happen for a reason with Hulk. They didn’t forget anything.

So how does Banner know about Thanos, whom he never saw?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Also, why is there only one suit of Hulk Buster armour? If Stark is as concerned about the threat of alien invasion as he claims to be and he's already invented a tool which allows a regular human to go toe to toe with the Hulk, why are there not a few thousand of these being cranked off the assembly line each week?

 

[marc]

He did stay as Hulk for the rest of the movie, if I recall correctly. In infinity war they conveniently ignore it but that's an entirely different movie, made by different people. So you could say, that the sacrifice in this case was valid and it didn't come up roses, at least as well as you can do in this type of serialized format.

In Infinity War things happen for a reason with Hulk. They didn’t forget anything.

So how does Banner know about Thanos, whom he never saw?

There is a fan theory that Banner is really Loki. This explains how he can’t hulk out, and knows so much of what happened when the real Banner was in Hulk form. Sounds plausible to me.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

So how does Banner know about Thanos, whom he never saw?

There is a fan theory that Banner is really Loki. This explains how he can’t hulk out, and knows so much of what happened when the real Banner was in Hulk form. Sounds plausible to me.

Or that the writers of Infinity War just ignored the plot point of his not knowing what happened when he was in Hulk form for the sake of the story. Sounds more plausible to me.

 

[Jayjay]

So how does Banner know about Thanos, whom he never saw?

There is a fan theory that Banner is really Loki. This explains how he can’t hulk out, and knows so much of what happened when the real Banner was in Hulk form. Sounds plausible to me.

I've heard about that theory. But why would Loki have to pretend to be attempting to hulk out even when nobody (except the audience) is watching? And it would really undermine Thanos saying that there is no resurrection this time, so he would know all about Loki's tricks. I concur that the banner remembering Thanos is just something the writers forgot about. Different movie, no big deal.

 

[Jayjay]

Also, why is there only one suit of Hulk Buster armour? If Stark is as concerned about the threat of alien invasion as he claims to be and he's already invented a tool which allows a regular human to go toe to toe with the Hulk, why are there not a few thousand of these being cranked off the assembly line each week?

You could say the same about the regular Iron Man suit. Didn't work so well in Iron Man 2 and Avengers 2.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

They worked great. War Machine is a second Iron Man suit and I think he killed more of the aliens than the entire Wakandan army. If he had a better suit (instead of essentially wasting that better suit on an untrained civilian who could barely half use it), he’d have done Thor levels of damage.

If the goal is to protect Earth, as Stark claims it is, having a lot of highly trained people in them is the best solution.

 

[Jayjay]

They worked great. War Machine is a second Iron Man suit and I think he killed more of the aliens than the entire Wakandan army. If he had a better suit (instead of essentially wasting that better suit on an untrained civilian who could barely half use it), he’d have done Thor levels of damage.

If the goal is to protect Earth, as Stark claims it is, having a lot of highly trained people in them is the best solution.

Of course, Stark not sharing his technology doesn't make sense in grander scheme of things. But comic book universes need to have some excuse as to why the hero is special. In Iron Man 2, the government and an evil competitor stole his tech, and then it was used against him by an evil Russian scientist. In Age of Ultron, he had unmanned drones and they got repurposed into henchmen by an evil AI from outer space. So, while these incidents by any common sense would be easily avoidable, in the context of the MCU which is basically a fantasy land, these are the reasons why Stark keeps his tech to himself and a few trusted buddies.

 

[Ford]

I watched Thor: Ragnarok last night. A few thoughts...

I did not know Cate Blanchett was Hela. I avoided reading anything about the movie beforehand (and they didn't really go out of their way to promote her part) so when I got to the credits I almost wanted to rewind and watch it again. She's incredible. Totally unrecognizable. And as IMDB points out, since Marvel is owned by the Mouse House now, Hela is technically a Disney Princess.

They really nailed the mix of humor and action in this one. The thing that bothered me about The Dark World is that the humor came mostly in the form of quips and one-liners by the supporting characters that felt really out of place in what was - as the title indicates - a dark story. This one, they put most of the humor on Thor's beefy shoulders, and it works. There's no bumbling Earth scientists injecting wackiness. Just Thor being Thor.

And since we're talking Infinity War and MCU...

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Can somebody over there at Marvel Studios please get the relative super-powers of their characters straight? As this movie reminds us, Thor is a god. As we learned in Ragnarok, he doesn't actually need the hammer. But like at the beginning of this movie, as Infinity Wars opens hapless Thor is stuck in another situation after getting his ass more or less thoroughly kicked. Which one is it, guys? Is he a god with godlike powers? Or a "puny god" as Hulk might say? Dr. Strange toys with (gods) Thor and Loki in this movie, but in IW when faced with definitely-not-godlike Thanos thugs, he barely survives. The heroes are weak/strong depending on the situation, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of consistency.

Overall, it was enjoyable. 7/10

 

[prideandfall]

And since we're talking Infinity War and MCU...

the thing you have to remember about thor in particular is that... he's an alien from the world of asgard, and they are not humans. they have a different physiology, and have also advanced their science to a level that we humans consider to be magic.
also, they are not "gods" as the word infers in the english language, they are not divine beings or cosmic celestial deities - they're just the royal family of asgard, and humans worshipped them as gods because of their technology, and since they have a society and culture that appears to be one solely of leisure, they are inclined towards the ridiculously dramatic and so picked up the use of the word "god" to refer to themselves, though they are in fact not gods by any technical definition of that word.

thor is a particularly powerful asgardian also gifted with notable strength even among his own kind, who also seems to have certain "magical" or otherwise supernatural powers which seem to be present in most members of the royal family, in his case some kind of control over electricity.
but that doesn't make him immune to the powers of others, nor does it make him able to wiggle his fingers and change reality.

 

[marc]

And since we're talking Infinity War and MCU

On the consistency, I can see some fluctuation with in reason. People can have good days and bad ones, get caught off guard. But some extreme changes annoy me as well. Some writer wanted Venom to fight Juggernaut. Should have been very one sided, but wasn’t. The worst offender is the Flash. He is so powerful that most of his enemies should be in prison before they get a word out. Yet a normal guy with a freeze gun can tag him.

 

[Ford]

And since we're talking Infinity War and MCU

The worst offender is the Flash. He is so powerful that most of his enemies should be in prison before they get a word out. Yet a normal guy with a freeze gun can tag him.

In the Marvel movies, I think that honor goes to Vision. He's a walking, talking Infinity Stone. Yet he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag if you gave him a pair of scissors.