Embrace your creed

2013 is almost at the end and in terms of my spoil's list, I'm not even done!

There's a total of 8 films in it (Not including the video games and CD's) and sadly, I didn't managed to watch all of them in theaters.  Heck, there's like two films that I haven't even watched yet! That's so frustrating! So, to make the geek side of my personality satisfied, I'm planning on making reviews for all of the films in my list (Thor 2 and Monster's University) and this year's films that were surprisingly awesome! This includes Elysium and Now you see me.  Let's just hope I can discipline myself to finish all of this before new years; considering that I am having so much fun playing Batman Arkham Origins and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag!!!! SO AWESOME--Okay! Calm yourself now.

Yet another Marvel film for this year and I must admit the jealousy I have for Marvel Studios right now.  Ever since Disney bought the company, their movie marketing has been really crazy.  It's almost impossible not to miss it whenever your outside and especially when you're at the mall.  I've been keen on learning how to advertise artworks or films creatively; without the dependency of money.  So, seeing them making Thor or Iron man a trend really makes me feel that my efforts are almost pointless.  Thor is like everywhere and I can't accept the crazy advertising fondly because I don't think Thor is much of a big hype as compared to The Avengers.  I understand if a company would go crazy with a film with that much of a big gimmick but for a character who's still young in the cinematic universe; having only two films (Thor one and The Avengers) is not enough to make this one an all time favorite.  Yes, I do believe comic book characters need to age well in Cinematic universe.  It has more certainty because to understand the character's legacy and translating it into another medium really takes time in the creative and thinking aspect.  I mean, when it comes to Hollywood, anybody could make a big mindless explosive film.

Overall plot

On to the movie itself and to be frank, it didn't lived up to it's hype.  While watching, I had a good time.  I laughed and smiled.  By the end of the film, as I walk out of the cinema, I felt nothing.  There were no emotional engagement with the character or plot; none of those "I feel your pain *insert favorite fictional character here* ".  None of those self reflection or even deep analysis of the plot and character.  It is a fact that most commercial films has the same basic outline of the plot; hero has a problem, hero faces the problem and hero wins.  And to complain about this is nonsensical, if you don't like it then go watch those art house films.  The problem here is that there were no love for the characters; Thor, Jane Foster and the ever so shallow villain, Malekith.  

The bad

I didn't know who Malekith was in the comic book universe and I didn't want to.  I wanted to be surprised by the plot since knowing too much of the fictional history partially ruined my experience with The Dark Knight Rises.  Malekith was just very one dimensional; a basic summary of his portrayal in the story.  He wanted to conquer the 9 realms and that's it! No personal issues or self motivation; just a simple "Screw you, I'm evil!".  I was however shocked when Thor's mother died.  That was unexpected and it motivated me to love Thor but it was soon diminish when her death affected Loki's character development better. 

The good 

Ah, Loki.  Perhaps, the most loved villain in Marvel's cinematic universe.  I couldn't fathom this phenomenon at first.  I see Loki, at first, only as that typical sympathized bad boy characters.  He kills people with no mercy? It's okay because the love of his life was killed mercilessly. Haha.  It's not boring, it just take time for me to appreciate since I notice how writers tend to use this often only as a tool to gain sympathy from audiences.  I hate Kratos from God of War the most when it comes to these bad boy characters.  However, I'm glad that I was finally proven wrong with Loki through this film.  I felt him.  I felt his anger.  Like most audience would admit, he was the best thing of the film.  Not to mention his brief funny scene while shape shifting into The Avengers.  Sadly, that fire was almost ruined by an obvious 'there's a sequel' scene.  I love sequels but I'd prefer to have one story at a time; concluding the stories first then make a new one.   

The honesty 

While I try to be constructive as possible, I must admit that the biggest factor that influences me for this film is that I really just don't care about Thor; not being a fan for the comics and in films.  It's almost that same notion of Superman's dilemma; he's too strong and so you'd already expect that he would win unconditionally and effortlessly.  Like I said, there were no love for the character and the love story was just bland.  Loki is the star of the show and this is, sort of, sad because the effort was being put into Thor as the main character.  On a side note, Idris Elba was also awesome!  He was awesome in Pacific Rim too! He even get that brief epic moment as Heimdall! He even was also one of the few good things in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  Okay, I'm repeating myself here. 

The conclusion 

This film is in the sequel's section of the list and it earns a solid 3/5 for a good time.  I had a good time watching it; releasing my stress and all.  That rating is also for convincing me to love Loki and, sadly, for the lack of love for Thor, Jane Foster and Malekith.