First off,
sorry for the delay in updates but i have been playing tag with a throat virus.
But I am back and better than ever… Or some such nonsense.
I was going
to talk about the latest Bay-verse Transformers that was went to see last Monday,
but seeing how I contracted the plague from it I am not sure that is actually
safe.
No in honesty something else tugged at my
attention. Marvel is re-launching Thor, the not so red-headed Norse god of
thunder and tosser of tools. So what is the big deal, they guy have died at
least two or is it three times and lost his powers a good deal more. Well you
see this time the hammer pass to a girl, not really new in its own right, we
have had Thor-girl and I seems
to recall some alternate stories with female Thor characters. Now as usual the
collective shit of comic´s conservatists where flipped and some very angry men
declared that they will never touch a Marvel comic again. To this I am pretty sure Marvel just laugh
and keep counting their money. So why all the anger, well for some it seems
that this is just a tasteless marketing ploy, a short term change just to
appease the “PC Maffia” and pick up some quick goodwill points, and I am sure
that has some merit seeing how hardly any change in the Marvel universe sticks.
Will this new female Thor stick, who knows… But I think it an interesting
change as it seems that original-Thor somehow loose his way and feel like/become
unworthy to lift the hammer. Now seeing how the hammer have an enchantment cast
upon it to prevent anyone not worthy (or someone of truly monstrous strength as
it has been proven in the past) to wield it´s power this is not a completely unlikely
scenario.
Ok to be
very specific it says ‘Whosoever holds
this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ And that “he” is another thing that has some
people up in arms and ready to wish the life out of both writer and artist. Now
Thor was first produced in 1962 and I am sure that the idea of a female
readership, or an adult one for that. Did not even enter their mind. They made
stories for young boys. So I think it is ok to interpret this as a less gender
specific enchantment in our modern society.
Now anyone
familiar with comic artists and their relation to the female form might ask
them self, what kind of chainmail bikini clad, Barbie shaped abomination of
male power fantasy will replace the former god of thunder… Well… None actually…
Apart from a small diamond shaped cut-out it is a very sensible outfit, at least
for being Thor. She also have a half helm covering most of her head, also a
very sensible choice for a warrior god, now one could argue that the breastplate shaped after the curve of her breasts would be very bad and i agree. But baby steps and all that..
I´l include an image here.
So the
tower is crumbling and we start to see more and more diversity in comics.
Something I think is good and opens up for more interesting stories, and this
one could be a classic. The mighty god who is fallen and have to redeem himself
and prove his worth to himself and others, this does very much mirror the early
Thor stories when he was struck down for being an arrogant arse and had to
learn humility and responsibility by living with those he saw as beneath
himself.
This is one
comic, together with the new Ms Marvel that I will keep an eye on and I recommend
you to do the same if you want something different. I will try to make a post
later after reading some of the issues of the new Thor and give my reactions to
it.
So then… Over to Mr
Bay… I went in to see TF4 expecting to have the experience form the second and third
movie repeated but hoped for something closer to the first one. I am glad to
report that there are no robo-testicles in this one, so already there it has a
leg up on the second movie. I would actually place this one as my second favorite
Transformers movie and with some cutting and splicing it could easy be the best
one. Why… Well first and foremost the human comedic element is reduced and the
villains have a very clear and logic motivation for what they do, human and
robot alike. The new Autobots are likable and while the majority of the Decepticons
in the movie are just grunts and target practice it still makes sense. The Decepticons
designed to stand out do really stand out and have a good amount of screen
time. Also who does not love to see a robot that turns in to a truck punch a
giant robot t-rex in the face. Another breath of fresh air is the fact that we
finally get to see high and mighty prime crack.
Unfortunately
that is all the good I can say about it. The movie is paced in a way that would
make a 90´s MTV music video seem slow and deliberate. It is also a 2+ hours of
Bay masturbating over his favorite action scenes. It is like he preparing for a
wedding. Something new, something old something borrowed and something blue… ..
. But if you can just detach your brain and hold om to your seat it works
fairly well as an action movie. Still not sure what the Dinobots are doing in
the movie apart from selling more toys and give Optimus something to ride. Now
if I had the choice I would end it here, no more movies in this
universe/timeline. Perhaps no more Transformers movies at all. Because it is
all wrapped up and things are resolved. Or at least as resolved and wrapped up
as it needs to be.
But I doubt
I will have such luck.
Next up on
the silver screen will be Guardians of the Galaxy and then it is back in to
Bay-land with TMNT. But I am sure I will post before that.
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