Comic Book Movies

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Damn, I didn't even think about that. I'd like to think that Loki being inactive was just him being cocky about his superiority, since he is just a cocky person in general. Not to mention that Loki was never much of a fighter in the first place. He never really much in the climax of Thor either. But it is still a weak point now that you mention it.

I actually really liked Loki in Thor. His development into a villain was my favorite aspect of that movie, personally. I thought he was living up to his development in The Avengers as well, until the 2nd half in which he becomes much less of a threat. I do still think that he's a great villain, overall, but yeah, he didn't really do nearly as much as he could have in The Avengers. That said, I still have high hopes for him having a lot of interesting further development and moments as a villain in the next Thor movie.

Well, for one thing, the money trading part in the beginning didn't really need to happen, with the wimpish Asian guy. You could've just kept in the scene where the Joker walks into the crime boss's meeting and got a hit ordered on him, kept some of the scenes with Bruce but left out his trip to Hong Kong, and cut straight to the Joker faking his death.

Well, perhaps some of those scenes weren't completely necessary, or could have been done differently, but IMO they were all done well, and they all still progress the plot forward in some small way, at the very least. At any rate, maybe the movie is padded and I'm just not seeing it, but for me what makes it work so well is how fast-paced it is. On that note, I think that the movies is really good about constantly moving things forward without wasting any time, yet at the same time it doesn't shy away from slowing things down at a moment when a character is having an emotional moment, or to just have a little bit of comic relief every now and then.

I thought there was more, but now that I think back on the movie, I'm not so sure what else I'd cut out.

I kind of like it the way it is, so I don't think I'd change anything about it, myself. The same goes for The Avengers, though, which as a matter of fact already had a lot cut out of it before it finally ran in theaters, but honestly, while I am genuinely interested in seeing the extra 35-minutes that were initially removed from the film, I do think I like the original theatrical release just the way it is. Obviously Joss Whedon cut those scenes out for a reason and I think he made a good decision, as the film moves at a consistent pace without ever feeling too fast or too padded.

[Avaitor]

Well with Thor 2, Loki's going to play a major role but won't be the main villain. I think that's a good call, as he can still have plenty of development but let someone else in Thor's rich rogues gallery take charge instead.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well with Thor 2, Loki's going to play a major role but won't be the main villain. I think that's a good call, as he can still have plenty of development but let someone else in Thor's rich rogues gallery take charge instead.

Perhaps it'll be something along the lines of X2, where Loki ends up begrudgingly working together with Thor against a greater threat to them both (much like how Magneto temporarily works together with Xavier in X2, though still has his own motives and agenda to attend to in the process). I think that'll make for a very interesting character dynamic between the 2 brothers, and that sort of plot has a lot of potential behind it. Its possible, too, since even though I haven't read the comics I've heard that Thor and Loki have worked together before in some good stories, unless I've heard wrong.

[Avaitor]

I think they might be saving Thor and Loki to team up for if and when they bring out Surtur. I'd rather they save that arc for the third and not have Loki side with Thor in the sequel. I think they might need the time in Thor 2 to resolve the turmoil from the Avengers.

But who knows, I could be wrong and thee could be enough time for them to wrap things up and team up together if needed.

[gunswordfist]

In the 2nd half of The Avengers, Loki is really no longer all that threatening, and even becomes a bit comical. All of a sudden he doesn't seem so intimidating anymore despite having an entire army at his command, and he doesn't seem to be giving the heroes any serious trouble as they constantly have the edge over him. I mean, its still a really fun 2nd half of the movie, but when I stop to think about it, I do agree with my uncle that it feels like the odds are pretty much in the favor of the heroes. The movie tries to remedy that by having a nuclear missile thrown the heroes' way, but that plot point doesn't last long and in fact is turned around in a way that helps them in the end. I just feel like it kind of ruins the overall impact of the movie if things end up seeming a bit too easy for the heroes, but I guess that was supposed to be the point of them teaming up and working together. Still, at no point in the film did I ever feel like the heroes were even close to losing, which kind of bothers me a little bit when I think about it.

Damn, I didn't even think about that. I'd like to think that Loki being inactive was just him being cocky about his superiority, since he is just a cocky person in general. Not to mention that Loki was never much of a fighter in the first place. He never really much in the climax of Thor either. But it is still a weak point now that you mention it.

I don't really see how TDK was padded. Literally every moment of the film something important was happening. On the contrary, I say that for the most part it uses its time very wisely, and not a single minute is wasted on something pointless or that doesn't either contribute to the plot or characterization for one of the cast.

Well, for one thing, the money trading part in the beginning didn't really need to happen, with the wimpish Asian guy. You could've just kept in the scene where the Joker walks into the crime boss's meeting and got a hit ordered on him, kept some of the scenes with Bruce but left out his trip to Hong Kong, and cut straight to the Joker faking his death.

I thought there was more, but now that I think back on the movie, I'm not so sure what else I'd cut out.

That part was there to give Lucius more screentime and to set up the cell phone technology. I thought it was really stupid for Bruce to go to Hong Kong as himself and then as Batman later at night though. Too much of a chance of someone getting suspicious since Batman and Wayne are two of the most famous people from Gotham.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I always thought Road To Perdition was overlooked. Honestly, I think Hanks being nominated for Castaway and not this was a bit of a shame.

[gunswordfist]

I keep on forgetting about Lone Wolf And Cub. In the back of my head, I tried to figure out what movie series escaped me but I then remembered. I'd put the two I saw ahead of The Avengers as well.

[Avaitor]

Oh, this was just announced- Hawkeye will be in Captain America 2. No word on Black Widow appearing in any of the flicks before Avengers 2.

[Foggle]

Saw Amazing Spider-Man tonight. Loved it. Way better than Raimi's films IMO.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm curious to what you thought of the origin story compared to Raimi's first film. I can guess that this one was more accurate than Raimi's, but I found my own pros and cons for each.

The origin story in Raimi's film is a bit more rushed, but it also has the benefit of getting to the meat of the story much quicker. I like how in this new one they take the time to build up Peter's character quite a bit before he's Spider-Man, but on the downside I felt like they took way too long to tell his origin as Spider-Man and felt that the movie was moving a bit too slowly until he finally....you know, becomes Spider-Man.

As for the Uncle Ben's death thing (this really shouldn't be a spoiler to anyone), I like how Peter is actually there to see it in this movie, but honestly I felt like it was actually a bit more effective in Raimi's movie if only because Peter actually had a lot to feel guilty about. He had been completely selfish and was miss-using his abilities to win money. In this reboot, its true that he had a reason to feel guilty since he let that guy go after robbing the store, but his reasons for being pissed off and storming out on his Uncle in the first place didn't seem as selfish as they were just him having trouble dealing with some personal issues. Either way, I honestly liked the way both films handled that part of the story, but I think that's one area where I actually like the way Raimi did it better, whether it was more accurate or not.

On the whole, though, this is definitely a better movie than any of Raimi's Spider-Man movies. I still like those, though (well, except for 2, maybe, which I still don't get why its so well-liked by so many people), and I have to admit that those are what got me into Spider-Man in the first place.

Anyways, I was just making a few comparisons between the 2002 Spider-Man and this movie just because its interesting to do so.

[Foggle]

I'm curious to what you thought of the origin story compared to Raimi's first film. I can guess that this one was more accurate than Raimi's, but I found my own pros and cons for each.

Raimi's is actually quite a bit more accurate to the original comics iirc.

The origin story in Raimi's film is a bit more rushed, but it also has the benefit of getting to the meat of the story much quicker. I like how in this new one they take the time to build up Peter's character quite a bit before he's Spider-Man, but on the downside I felt like they took way too long to tell his origin as Spider-Man and felt that the movie was moving a bit too slowly until he finally....you know, becomes Spider-Man.

As for the Uncle Ben's death thing (this really shouldn't be a spoiler to anyone), I like how Peter is actually there to see it in this movie, but honestly I felt like it was actually a bit more effective in Raimi's movie if only because Peter actually had a lot to feel guilty about. He had been completely selfish and was miss-using his abilities to win money. In this reboot, its true that he had a reason to feel guilty since he let that guy go after robbing the store, but his reasons for being pissed off and storming out on his Uncle in the first place didn't seem as selfish as they were just him having trouble dealing with some personal issues. Either way, I honestly liked the way both films handled that part of the story, but I think that's one area where I actually like the way Raimi did it better, whether it was more accurate or not.

I pretty much agree with you completely here, though I do think I preferred the way it was handled in this new one, if only slightly. But that's only because you get to see more of and learn more about Uncle Ben, so I was actually pretty sad when he died.

On the whole, though, this is definitely a better movie than any of Raimi's Spider-Man movies. I still like those, though (well, except for 2, maybe, which I still don't get why its so well-liked by so many people), and I have to admit that those are what got me into Spider-Man in the first place.

Yep, those are what got me into Spider-Man too! I still like the first Raimi movie, though. I think. I kind of flip-flop on that one. Either way, I much prefer SSM to any of the films. >_>

[Dr. Insomniac]

The trailer for Man of Steel... why does it look like they're remaking Forrest Gump?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The trailer for Man of Steel... why does it look like they're remaking Forrest Gump?

That's insulting to Forrest Gump. That movie was actually good. This movie looks like it'll actually manage to make Superman more boring than ever before. It also doesn't help that its being directed by Zack Snyder. I haven't liked a single movie that he's ever done.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, Zack Snyder's filmography leaves a lot to be desired:

Dawn of the Dead- Passable, if completely unremarkable remake of the Romero classic.
300- Awful adaptation of an awful graphic novel.
Watchmen- Mediocre adaptation of a perfect graphic novel. Well, he did the best he or really anyone could, but in all honesty, it shouldn't have been filmed to begin with. You're only going to lose so many little subtleties on screen and end up rehasing what Alan Moore perfected.
Legend of the Guardians- Boring and uninvested.
Sucker Punch-... the less said about it, the better.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Well, at least it'll be better than those planned Superman Lives or Flyby ideas.