Round 1: Thor v Avengers: Infinity War

[Missy]

And go!

[dc20willsave]

Voting for Thor because I think I have less issues with it.

[Dread]

On 7/24/2020 at 9:28 AM, dc20willsave said:

Voting for Thor because I think I have less issues with it.

Same. Haha! Both are bottom of the barrel for me.

[Professor]

I'm going with Infinity War.  Not sure why, first thought won out.

[Donomark]

IW is an altogether better movie...but Thor is so slept on, I wish I could vote for it.

[Missy]

This is the poll I've waited on the longest. Initially I was going to vote for Thor as the better-made movie. But I cannot do that for two reasons:

• The movie is nothing but unnecessary Dutch angles. (Rewatch it, there are potentially more Dutch angles here than in Battlefield Earth.)
• Thor never lifts Mjolnir.

The first can maybe be forgiven, as it was early days in the MCU and Kenneth Branagh was trying to bring excitement to a relatively unknown, potentially unrelatable character.

The second, however, is a major flaw in the development of Thor. Not only does he not get to prove himself worthy by finally lifting that which was taken from him, it's also heavily implied the sleeping / dying Odin is the one who whisks the hammer to his son. This means Thor never completes his journey / trial; Odin simply gives him a pass because The Destroyer (which is fucking awesome) nearly kills his only biological son. That has bugged me to high heaven since seeing Thor in the cinema. We invest 90 minutes into Thor trying to prove himself worthy of his powers, home, godhood, and throne, and it's simply handed to him in the end because his father is sad. It cuts the knees out of everything we've watched up to that point.

I'm not saying Infinity War is perfect, but it hits more emotional beats, does an excellent job bringing the universe together (eg Thor meets The Guardians of the Galaxy; Doctor Strange and Tony finally meet; Hulk cannot beat Thanos; etc.), and is simply more exciting.

[Donomark]

I don't agree with the Mjolnir thing, I took as read that his sacrifice earned the hammer returning to the one it belonged to. But I 100% noticed all the dutch angles in the movie. I was swaying back and forth when watching it.

[Missy]

10 minutes ago, Donomark said:

I don't agree with the Mjolnir thing, I took as read that his sacrifice earned the hammer returning to the one it belonged to.

On some level I could see that, but there was so much emphasis put on Thor lifting Mjolnir (RE: the rainy nighttime sequence) that it felt so wrong to not have him triumphantly grab the hammer and pull it from the stone. It's an easy fix too. (Please pardon the armchair screenwriter here.)

The Destroyer backhands Thor, sending him flying hundreds of feet.

Thor slams into the dirt. Silent. Near dead.

Slowly, Thor begins to lift himself to his knees, but he's too weak. He falls face-first to ground. After another silent moment, Thor lifts himself once more, his hand landing on a stone protrusion for support. His hand moves higher up the stone, revealing the head of Mjolnir. His hand moves higher still to the handle. Thor grips the handle for support. Not to lift the hammer, but rather himself. Thor does not realize what he's touching.

Thor is not trying to become a god, he's trying to fight an unbeatable machine as a mortal man. This act of humanity, ironically, is his final step to becoming The God of Thunder Thor was always destined to become.

Mjolnir comes lose from the stone, but Thor -- now standing -- still does not realize what's in his hand. He does not realize what he's accomplished.

Suddenly, a flash of lighting strikes the mortal Thor. He's lost in a cloud of dust and debris. When it settles, The Mighty Thor stand reborn as The God of Thunder.

[batguy10]

Voting for 'Infinity War' because (whilst its not perfect), I enjoy it more than 'Thor'. I think the latter is fine, but 'Infinity War' was stronger in my eyes, considering how much it had to balance and accomplish. 

[Delete]

Infinity War is a miracle that it worked.