Review Detail
9.1 29 10
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
If there's a big issue dragging down the MCU as a whole, it's the excess of comedy. Along with the frequently formulaic plots (interestingly averted on TV, with shows like "WandaVision" and "Loki" daring to experiment a bit, but the theatrical releases still cling to the formula) and the overabundance of CGI, this is what consistently keeps these movies from becoming anything beyond fast food entertainment. Even the best ones in the franchise suffer from an obligatoriness of shoehorned jokes, almost as a recipe that can never be varied. And it comes across as the makers not trusting their own material, feeling the need to mock and lampshade it non-stop as in trying to save face and apologizing for making something so "silly". For a deeper essay on this, I recommend the already classic YouTube video "What Writers Should Learn from Wonder Woman" by Just Write.
The unfortunate result is that we, the viewers, can very well miss that under all the jokes there may be a pretty good story after all. The official cut of "Thor: Love and Thunder" did very little for me. It felt both unengaging and unengaged. It was like watching all the worst parts of "Thor: Ragnarok" (which I liked a lot) without any of the best parts. So, this edit was an eye-opener. Once the silly garbage has been removed (or toned down - fear not, there are still some jokes there, it hasn't been turned dry), the story reveals itself to be actually pretty good, and touching even. Dear Hollywood: themes of heroism, loss, love, grief, pain, self-worth and such, need no tongue-in-cheek approach. Let stories be sincere. A sense of adventure is all that's needed in order to keep it from being overly sad. That, not cinematic self-mocking.
A tremendous job of distillation that more than making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, removes the sow's ear to reveal the silk purse that was buried underneath. Technically it's excellently executed as well, the new effects are completely seamless, and the recreated credits sequence is impressive.
I wish the official MCU approach was closer to this overall. Highly recommended.
The unfortunate result is that we, the viewers, can very well miss that under all the jokes there may be a pretty good story after all. The official cut of "Thor: Love and Thunder" did very little for me. It felt both unengaging and unengaged. It was like watching all the worst parts of "Thor: Ragnarok" (which I liked a lot) without any of the best parts. So, this edit was an eye-opener. Once the silly garbage has been removed (or toned down - fear not, there are still some jokes there, it hasn't been turned dry), the story reveals itself to be actually pretty good, and touching even. Dear Hollywood: themes of heroism, loss, love, grief, pain, self-worth and such, need no tongue-in-cheek approach. Let stories be sincere. A sense of adventure is all that's needed in order to keep it from being overly sad. That, not cinematic self-mocking.
A tremendous job of distillation that more than making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, removes the sow's ear to reveal the silk purse that was buried underneath. Technically it's excellently executed as well, the new effects are completely seamless, and the recreated credits sequence is impressive.
I wish the official MCU approach was closer to this overall. Highly recommended.
D