Thor: Ragnarok... Rocks!

***WARNING: Spoilers! Spoilers! If you haven't seen Thor: Ragnarok yet and don't want things to be ruined for you, you're advised to click away and not read the comments below.***

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Thor: Ragnarok Movie Poster

Yes, yes, the title is a little cheesy. Forgive me, I just got over super sick and now I'm getting sick again. I'd put this post off longer, but it's been put off long enough. But I promise you, since it's the holidays and everyone is busy, this will be short and sweet. It's hard to be my chatty self when I'm not feeling the best. ;)

We went to see Thor: Ragnarok opening weekend, and it lived up to my excitement going into it. I know the previous two Thor movies weren't the best, but from the previews of Thor: Ragnarok, I had high hopes for this one. And it didn't disappoint.

It is kind of sad, though, that it took three movies to finally get to a decent Thor movie. Thor: Ragnarok is by far the best of the bunch.

I think the biggest highlight of this movie was the character arc for Thor. This movie was truly a coming-of-age movie for him. Anything that came before this pretty much boils down to the antics of youth. I guess when you're a god, adolescence might extend a bit longer than most people, so even though Thor was never clearly a teenager in any of the previous MCU movies, once Thor: Ragnarok was released, you could completely feel how his previous actions were very much like a teenager.

Well, Thor finally had to grow up, and it was done with a great conflict with Hela. The fact that she was his sister made the conflict all the better. And you got to have Loki in the mix with all of that -- his ever selfish self. Loki was definitely true to character, and you know he snatched the Tesseract even as he was helping Asgard rid itself of Hela (I mean, it's got to be available for Thanos to grab for Avengers: Infinity War).

The other endearing thing about this movie was the humor. I am by and far a Guardians of the Galaxy fan girl, and most of that is due to the humor. I was glad to see that kind of humor brought into a Thor movie. Even though the core conflict was pretty serious, the humor added to the story and rounded out the characters.

However, I do admit at points they took the humor a little too far. There were a few spots that it felt inappropriate. The main one that comes to mind is near the end when Korg mentions squishing his friend. It's a rather serious moment as they're escaping an exploding Asgard, and I felt the attempted humor was misplaced at that point.

I promised short and sweet, didn't I? Well, that's all I got for now. I highly recommend Thor: Ragnarok, if you haven't seen it yet. If anything, you'll get a laugh, but I'm happy to say that the story and character growth was there as well instead of the humor being used as a crutch. I can't wait to see what Thor does next now that he's had to grow up.

No No No No No No No No - LEGO Batman!

The LEGO Batman Movie! I saw it, and my comments on it are below. Be forewarned, there are spoilers. So many spoilers. If you haven't seen it yet and don't want to hear about all of the awesome pop culture references, then go watch it and come back and read this post. You really should go see it. And don't tell me you'd rather see 50 Shades Darker instead (for shame).

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The LEGO Batman Movie Poster

LEGO Batman was AWESOME!

OK, yes silly reference to the first LEGO movie, but it comes with the territory. And I actually think The LEGO Batman Movie was better than The LEGO Movie.

First, the song in the opening seen -- best Batman song ever! "Who's the Bat(Man)." It's on my list to buy. ;)

Onto the serious stuff? Nah, not yet. But I have to say, I really did enjoy this movie. And not just because the toddler sat through it entranced instead of making a scene in the theater. I was literally laughing out loud through most of the movie, and for me that's great. Everyone needs to laugh. It's good for the soul. Honestly, it was nice to see the Batman/DC franchise poking fun at itself, among other things.

Let's see, some of my fav lines... Barbara Gordon: "Batgirl? Can I call you Batboy?" Oh, and when Sauron tells Joker the Bat Cave is under Wayne Manor. Joker: "You mean to tell me Bruce Wayne is... Batman's roommate?"

Part of the humor, though, was in the pop culture references. When Joker goes to the Phantom Zone, it's filled with so many bad guys from a lot of other movies and books. Voldemort, The Eye of Sauron, Godzilla, King Kong... but my favorites were the Gremlins and the Daleks! I'm likely dating myself with the Gremlins, but I got all giddy when I saw Spike right away in the Phantom Zone. And you have to love the Daleks and their infamous line: "Exterminate!"

There were so many Easter eggs and references in this movie that I'd have to watch it a couple more times to catch most of them -- and I'd probably still miss some (because let's face it, I haven't seen and read everything, so some stuff may have gone over my head). Siri is Batman's computer! Too funny.

With so many references stuffed into this movie, I'm actually a bit overwhelmed and not sure what others to mention!

I'll move on then and get a little more serious. Not too serious. Promise.

Not only does The LEGO Batman Movie have great humor, it actually has a solid story arc and character growth.

Batman has relationship issues. Right from the beginning he doesn't even want to claim Joker as his main villain (and the Joker's face when he's rejected is priceless). This stems from the loss of his parents, and you see him struggle with this throughout the movie and eventually overcome it and start to let people in. Which then ends with him finally admitting to Joker that he's his main villain. Great arc and a funny one at that. Not the normal "love" story which we see so often in most Batman movies.

Actually having a good story arc and the character growth at the end just strengthened the humor of the movie for me. I was expecting to laugh, but I didn't expect a great story to go along with it! Seriously well done.

Oh, and the last bit I have to mention: Harley Quinn. How can I not? She's one of my fav villains. I loved it that they kept switching up her outfit to reflect the many looks of her character through the years.

If you want a laugh, make sure to watch The LEGO Batman Movie! And if you've seen it already, there's no reason you can't see it again, right?

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Character Growth

SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom there are spoilers in this essay.

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When I first started reading Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, it reminded me a lot of A Clockwork Orange, with all of the new terms of this futuristic world thrown at me--Whuffie, deadheading, ad-hocs. It took some time to get used to this world, but once I did it was an enjoyable read. The odd, new terms and the imaginings of this type of future didn't overtake the novel, but aided in this truly character-driven story.

Money no longer exists, and it's Whuffie that people earn and spend. Whuffie can't be earned with a normal job, but through social interactions, popularity, and respect. "By measuring the thing that money really represented--your personal capital with your friends and neighbors--you more accurately gauged your success" (14). In essence, it's your social standing that earns someone the good life in this future world--one that can plummet with the simple acts of sabotage or murder. Oh, and if you're murdered, they'll just regrow a clone and download all of your memories back into a new body, as long as you've made a back up. In a society where you can no longer die, it's your actions that pay your way through life (or lives). Whuffie makes the world turn.

And it's no different for our main character, Julius. He pings Dan's Whuffie, much higher than his own, the first time they meet. Once in Disney World, another attempt to reinvent himself, he grows his Whuffie by helping his new girlfriend, Lil, by maintaining and improving the rides and demonstrations. Dan shows up with all of his Whuffie gone, in need of help. When Julius brings Dan home, Lil's reaction also demonstrates Julius's perception of Whuffie. "I knew she was pinging his Whuffie and I caught her look of surprised disapproval. Us oldsters who pre-date Whuffie know that it's important; but to the kids, it's the world" (22). Julius has the need to maintain his Whuffie and stay connected, or online, to the technological computer-like thing in his head.

This all changes, though, and goes through ups and downs once Julius is murdered. He becomes obsessed with bringing down the person he thought murdered him. Then he forgets to back up, and soon a glitch is found and he goes offline. He would have to restore to a new body and lose months of striving to one-up the person he thinks had him murdered and months of memories lost with his friend Dan. See, Dan won't be around much longer--he intends to kill himself via lethal injection and finally end his life, once his Whuffie is back up, so he can go out on top. Slowly, Julius's mind also unravels, and his Whuffie plummets after he sabotages the Hall of Presidents.

No Whuffie left, Julius only has Dan to turn to. Yet Dan is the one holding onto a secret--he was the one who had Julius murdered. The person he had stuck around for, not wanting to lose his memories for, was the person who betrayed him. Yet this last year of Julius's life, he'd changed and grown enough to realize that it didn't matter. "I couldn't make any sense of my mind. Dan, taking care of me, helping me, sticking up for me, carrying this horrible shame with him all along. Ready to die, wanting to go with a clean conscience. 'You're forgiven,' I said. And it was true" (197). He even forgives the girl Dan hired to murder him. And his reaction to her at the end shows that he doesn't hold much stock in Whuffie anymore. "I wondered if we could be friends when it was all over. She probably didn't care much about Whuffie, one way or another" (200). Julius becomes her friend and companion, and they head up into space to continue their lives together.

This character growth was the core story in Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. The science and the futuristic world were only used to aid in showing this character growth. And who doesn't like to fantasize about living in Disney World?

Side Note: This book is currently available for free download through iBooks.


Works Cited

Doctorow, Cory. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 2003.


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