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xparrot(Whoops it's been a while -- just posted this on Tumblr but thought I'd put it up here too since this is a better place to talk...)
Went to Thor Ragnarok last night and just, WOW YES WOW. It lived up to its preview and that is saying something (if anything I am disappointed I watched the preview, it spoiled some bits a little. Not that there wasn’t so much more to enjoy, it’s not that it ruined all the best stuff, but.)
It was hilarious and ridiculous and took the occasional turn into heartfelt and then whiplashed out of it in that way that I love so much. The characters were all perfect, both in casting (oh my god Cate Blanchett was such an outrageously awesome villain, her voice and her poise and that helmet) and in characterizations.
And the leads -- Loki was amazing, amaaaaazing, everything I want my Loki to be; but I actually think Thor might have been even better -- the one worry I had, watching the previews, was that they would make Thor into a complete doofus, but no -- while he is a blowhard idiot and a lot of the jokes are at his deserved expense, he’s also courageous and perceptive and legit clever, a lot, like, briefly talking science with Bruce or executing plans and just...okay, I wrote 150K of Thor, I got really fond of the guy, and while this version isn’t mine, it’s what I loved most in mine.
And Thor and Loki together were perfection, every single scene they had, and there were a ton of them, which will get spoilery so under a cut they go.
I don’t know what my more favorite thing is. That Loki is a trickster, the god of mischief, that every single goddamn thing he does is motivated both by emotions and in pursuit of some chaotic agenda, but you can never tell how much is one or the other, like, maybe he’s a better person than he seems, or maybe he’s even worse and is just getting better at hiding it.
Or that Thor has his number now, that Thor was manipulating Loki more than vice versa, and so slickly, playing both on his emotions (his whole ”I wanted us fighting side by side but that’s not what you want” and the “you could be more”) and his trickster side (”you’re getting predictable”) and Loki at the end is there for real, and is it because he wants to be beside Thor? Or because he just wants to prove Thor wrong now? Or because he has another plan?
(The question is, how well does Thor know him -- does Thor know that Loki totally absolutely without-a-doubt took the Tesseract? And that’s probably why Thanos is dropping by to pick it up...)
From their first scene -- that Thor had figured Loki out (how long did it take him to suspect? Clearly Surtur saying Odin wasn’t in Asgard was just confirming what Thor had already guessed) and then he threatens him and then Loki reveals himself (and the Asgardians don’t seem THAT shocked, like, how many of them did suspect? Loki, you’re so bad at this) -- and then Thor and Loki are on Earth and snarking at each other like estranged brothers but not like nemeses.
And them with Odin, Loki twitching every time Odin said “my sons” -- and how much do I love that, that despite the occasional “adopted” quip, that’s a joke; the reality is that Loki is Odin’s son and Thor’s brother, no matter what he does or how reprehensible he is -- that you can’t undo family with a convenient “we’re not technically blood relations,” that’s not the way it works. And Hela is their sister, too, in all her pain and anger and power.
I loved the mythical themes, that these are gods. “GOD of thunder,” Thor keeps insisting, but he’s right to, it matters -- the power isn’t in his hammer, the power is what he is. And Loki is the god of mischief and there’s a certain...if not absolution, at least understanding there? Even Heimdall doesn’t really hold a grudge against him, there’s this sense of, ‘Well, it’s Loki, what are you going to do?’ -- you can’t change him, not exactly, but you can redirect him; a trickster isn’t innately evil, just innately chaotic, and chaos is necessary.
Which sounds like a serious analysis of such an absurdly silly movie, especially when I loved it for being so silly (though that was not least of which because tricksters are so much better in comedies). But there were so many delightful themes and stories embedded in the silliness!
(and I haven’t even mentioned Valkyrie and her incredible introduction! Or Taika Watiti voicing Korg. Or Loki’s black suit on Earth, thank you costumers, thank you so much...)
Went to Thor Ragnarok last night and just, WOW YES WOW. It lived up to its preview and that is saying something (if anything I am disappointed I watched the preview, it spoiled some bits a little. Not that there wasn’t so much more to enjoy, it’s not that it ruined all the best stuff, but.)
It was hilarious and ridiculous and took the occasional turn into heartfelt and then whiplashed out of it in that way that I love so much. The characters were all perfect, both in casting (oh my god Cate Blanchett was such an outrageously awesome villain, her voice and her poise and that helmet) and in characterizations.
And the leads -- Loki was amazing, amaaaaazing, everything I want my Loki to be; but I actually think Thor might have been even better -- the one worry I had, watching the previews, was that they would make Thor into a complete doofus, but no -- while he is a blowhard idiot and a lot of the jokes are at his deserved expense, he’s also courageous and perceptive and legit clever, a lot, like, briefly talking science with Bruce or executing plans and just...okay, I wrote 150K of Thor, I got really fond of the guy, and while this version isn’t mine, it’s what I loved most in mine.
And Thor and Loki together were perfection, every single scene they had, and there were a ton of them, which will get spoilery so under a cut they go.
I don’t know what my more favorite thing is. That Loki is a trickster, the god of mischief, that every single goddamn thing he does is motivated both by emotions and in pursuit of some chaotic agenda, but you can never tell how much is one or the other, like, maybe he’s a better person than he seems, or maybe he’s even worse and is just getting better at hiding it.
Or that Thor has his number now, that Thor was manipulating Loki more than vice versa, and so slickly, playing both on his emotions (his whole ”I wanted us fighting side by side but that’s not what you want” and the “you could be more”) and his trickster side (”you’re getting predictable”) and Loki at the end is there for real, and is it because he wants to be beside Thor? Or because he just wants to prove Thor wrong now? Or because he has another plan?
(The question is, how well does Thor know him -- does Thor know that Loki totally absolutely without-a-doubt took the Tesseract? And that’s probably why Thanos is dropping by to pick it up...)
From their first scene -- that Thor had figured Loki out (how long did it take him to suspect? Clearly Surtur saying Odin wasn’t in Asgard was just confirming what Thor had already guessed) and then he threatens him and then Loki reveals himself (and the Asgardians don’t seem THAT shocked, like, how many of them did suspect? Loki, you’re so bad at this) -- and then Thor and Loki are on Earth and snarking at each other like estranged brothers but not like nemeses.
And them with Odin, Loki twitching every time Odin said “my sons” -- and how much do I love that, that despite the occasional “adopted” quip, that’s a joke; the reality is that Loki is Odin’s son and Thor’s brother, no matter what he does or how reprehensible he is -- that you can’t undo family with a convenient “we’re not technically blood relations,” that’s not the way it works. And Hela is their sister, too, in all her pain and anger and power.
I loved the mythical themes, that these are gods. “GOD of thunder,” Thor keeps insisting, but he’s right to, it matters -- the power isn’t in his hammer, the power is what he is. And Loki is the god of mischief and there’s a certain...if not absolution, at least understanding there? Even Heimdall doesn’t really hold a grudge against him, there’s this sense of, ‘Well, it’s Loki, what are you going to do?’ -- you can’t change him, not exactly, but you can redirect him; a trickster isn’t innately evil, just innately chaotic, and chaos is necessary.
Which sounds like a serious analysis of such an absurdly silly movie, especially when I loved it for being so silly (though that was not least of which because tricksters are so much better in comedies). But there were so many delightful themes and stories embedded in the silliness!
(and I haven’t even mentioned Valkyrie and her incredible introduction! Or Taika Watiti voicing Korg. Or Loki’s black suit on Earth, thank you costumers, thank you so much...)
no subject
Date: 2017-11-04 05:20 am (UTC)BTW, I’ve recced “No Such Liberty” numerous times. It’s one of the first novels I read in this fandom and it’s still one of my all time favorites.
>>>I don’t know what my more favorite thing is. That Loki is a trickster, the god of mischief, that every single goddamn thing he does is motivated both by emotions and in pursuit of some chaotic agenda . . . . Or that Thor has his number now, that Thor was manipulating Loki more than vice versa, and so slickly, playing both on his emotions (his whole ”I wanted us fighting side by side but that’s not what you want” and the “you could be more”) and his trickster side (”you’re getting predictable”)
Yes! This is exactly what I loved about both of them. And I’m very happy that Thor *finally* has his number and that the ongoing joke where he throws things at Loki is his answer to “are you ever not going to fall for that?”
>>>From their first scene -- that Thor had figured Loki out (how long did it take him to suspect? Clearly Surtur saying Odin wasn’t in Asgard was just confirming what Thor had already guessed)
Yes, it was clear he’d figured Loki’s impersonation out before he arrived on Asgard.
>>>(and the Asgardians don’t seem THAT shocked, like, how many of them did suspect? Loki, you’re so bad at this)
No they didn’t seem particularly shocked, which did surprise me.
>>>and then Thor and Loki are on Earth and snarking at each other like estranged brothers but not like nemeses.
Yes! Loved it. Yes, to everything else you said.
I’m already ready to watch it again.
no subject
Date: 2017-11-04 09:40 pm (UTC)And so glad you still like "No Such Liberty" -- I think I've told you before but thank for the recs :) Am still very fond of that story.
I’m already ready to watch it again.
Oh yes, need to figure out when I can! :D
no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 06:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 09:28 pm (UTC)