by Kathy Fuller
If you didn’t get a chance to read Frank Darabont’s interview posted here on TVWriter™, stop now and go read it.
No, no, it’s fine. Really
I’ll wait.
Ah! Welcome back. Remember this part?
The other thing is, a lot of the best writing has fled to television because they don’t want it in movies anymore. Hopefully the pendulum is swinging back, but I think movies by and large have sucked for some years now because it’s all the special effects extravaganzas, and I don’t give a damn about any of the characters because there’s no writing there.
I can’t think of a better quote to sum up Thor 2. The story and characters (except for Loki) were as dull as the first movie, which is why Darabont’s quote is so perfect: clearly no one gave a damn about the story or the characters when they made this movie. But of course the special effects were ah-mazing.
The lack of characterization in Thor 2 saddens me, because the potential is there. Even Loki, who wins because he’s an anti-hero here, suffers from character development. Thor is just muscles and a hammer, and Jane is as nebulous as the purple ether the cardboard villain is trying to acquire. I still have no idea what Thor sees in her.
Of course Thor 2 succeeds in it’s special effects and action. I guess that’s all that matters anymore. I’ve become increasingly disappointed in superhero movies since The Avengers–which proved that you can write a good story with great characters and still have a lot of action and CGI. While they’ve all been entertaining on a certain level, the creators should strive to go beyond that. Why be merely good when you can be great?
Then again, being great means thinking outside the box and taking a risk or two. Who in Hollywood wants to do that anymore?
