Dawn of a new year: 8760 hours remain.

So there's this new tradition which I began a year, or two ago (I dont remember, strangely enough), where I would make a poem about the end of the old year, and the start of the new.
Normally, I shared those via whatsapp to a few friends, but this time I'm gonna post it. 

As for the title of this post, its a reference to the way the 3 day cycle works in Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Anyway, Enjoy :) 

Ladies and gentlemen, we bid 2018 adieu, 

which started on a monday, so it shall too end, 

A year so long, it felt like two,

leaving that negativity behind, as a way to ammend.

A year in events, though not all bad, 

In personal growth, this year was rich,

made richer still, with memories we've had,

though happier now, at the end of this kitsch.

End of the old year, almost 8760 hours we spent,

in graduations, birthdays, and a smile on our face,

in tears, woes, break-ups, and things we lament,

though hours run out soon, this final race.

Look to the light now, instead of the dark, 

as we start to count once more, 8760 hours remain,

To the year yet to be, to share its spark,

to better times, a mix of all things insane. 

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year. :) 

(At the time of posting this, the world has already hit the new year in a couple of places. 

Russia is gonna be either incredibly fun, or suffering an extremely long New Years, cos it has 11 different unique time zones)

I used to think that Elephants didnt have friends

I used to think, when I was really little, that the things that separated humans from elephants wasnt that humans walked on two legs and elephants walked on four, or that elephants had trunks while we had noses. Nope. What my brain came up with, when I was less than five year old, was "Humans have friends." Just that, a simple statement.
Now, of course, I know better. Elephants DO have friends, with friendships that are stronger than a lot of the human ones I've seen around me.
But that's not what I want to talk about today.

This is actually a weird one for me, because it simultaneously hits me right at home in a way that I can feel like my breath is coming out shallow when I think about it, and at the same time I feel next to nothing about this event, like I've become entirely disjointed and removed from the situation.
Not sure which is fine, and which one isn't.

Sometime in the month of September, 2008, I got off the plane that had brought me home. I had said goodbye to my friends, some of my teachers, and to all the places I'd lived and been. Coming back home, the first thing that hit me was the heat. It probably sounds like a Russell Peters joke, but it was incredibly hot (or it felt like it to me) in Chennai and the short walk from the plane to the lobby, and the airport to the car, was ridiculously sapping. Travelling for more than 12 hours probably didn't help either, but hey.

So, its been 10 years now since I left Australia, and came home to India. And somehow people still talk to me and confuse me for an NRI... Well done people, rolling 1 for a perception check...

As I mentioned earlier, it feels really weird. Not only to talk about it, to even acknowledge that its happened. 10 years ago, I was this 13 year old kid, who landed up in a place where I didn't even speak the language, despite it supposed* to being my mother tongue. (*I was born in the north, so the whole speaking tamil was limited to speaking to my grandmoms at home. We spoke English at home mostly... so yeah.)
Now... Its 10 years later, and it feels slightly surreal to even think about it.
Unlike my usual existential crisis that I face, alone and a few hours before my birthdays, where I'm feeling the effect of turning a year older, this one feels equal parts anxiety inducing and indifferent.

10 years ago, I was still writing my book. The one I mentioned in the first post on this page, and the same book of which, I keep sending extracts to various friends. The main thing that has changed in the last 10 years, is that its no longer the same story. Hell, its the 4th revision of the original story, that featured a boy with a magic sword that could slow down time, as he saved his village from a skeleton army, despite having been tossed out as an outcast.** It has changed from digital (Yeah, back then, I was using my dad's laptop and writing my book, when mom and me were awake late at night, watching the first IPL series, and I would be writing in the breaks or the moments I lost interest), to written (across three notebooks) and now back to digital (2... no, 3 laptops later. Only one died, relax people. My writing hasnt killed anything or anyone yet.).  (**Yes. That was the start of the first draft of the book).
10 years later, I'm back to writing the book in my breaks, and with a lot of things not having been changed at all.

(Quick side note here. Sometime in my college years, I came home and found a bunch of old backups on CDs, and in one of them was this copy of my book, which I thought I had lost to the ages since the old computer didnt work anymore at the time, and almost all data had since been lost.
Boy, was that a mistake to read... It was okay, from the viewpoint from a budding writer of the 8th grade, but it makes me cringe now, almost as much as Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. Of which, I shall be writing a ranting post about. S.O.O.N {Soon, or, otherwise, never})

10 years later, and I've made and lost a lot of friends. Some forever, some due to pointless fights and some just cos its "what happens" I've been told.
I've undergone a traumatic experience with a surgery (Crossing that off my bucket list), with the lead up, actual surgery and the post op "experience" (If you thought that I would be talking about events that happened in 10 years, and not mention the second... third worst thing to happen to me, You Were Mistaken.)
In the last few years, I've lost touch with my once-best-friend, and that still sucks majorly. But you push through. I've stopped swimming, and my college experience was, in general, depression and anxiety. I've lost a lot of relatives in the past ten years, and almost lost all my photos with them, when my laptop crashed (Note to all readers: Keep backups of all your important pictures and memories. You wont be able to recreate pictures with your puppy, your late grandma, or your old friends who live around the world)
All in all, its been harrowing.

I sent the message about it being 10 years to a friend of mine, and he said, "Hey, you did what you did. Do no underestimate what you've done." And he's right.

So, its not all bad news.
Through the most mind numbing and boring class of a particular semester, my brain (psyche) fractured to the point that I was able to start poetry. It sounds bizarre, but to combat the brain death I was experiencing, my brain decided to go into poetry. And I've posted a few poems since then, but the one poem that I started in class is still in the works.
Speaking of in the works, I've now written more than I've written in the past. And read. Which is great.
But.
The last 10 years haven't seen the release of a Harry Potter book, so... thats a negative (The cursed Child is not considered canon. There is no war in Ba Sing Se).
Through the magical means of the internet, I've managed to reconnect with a few of my old friends from Aus, and one guy even from before Aus, like holy crap. The internet is amazing (Yeah, I felt my age with that one...)
I survived depression. While the actual act of going into, and staying in depression wasnt ever fun (It was actually quite boring, just being unable to leave your bed, and staring at a single blank spot on the wall next to you as you couldnt fall asleep), it was... actually something that I'm glad happened cos when rebuilding, I was able to build stronger because of it.

College.
Now. I went into college bright, energetic, and excited and happy about it and that I was gonna learn so much, and it promptly wrecked me, day after day, night after night. My friend came to college once for a cultural fest in my first year, and somewhere in the lull of the conversation, she turned to me and said "You're not happy here, are you?", which should have been incredibly indicative, but I played it off to her, and myself, that it was cos I was probably subconsciously thinking about her leaving and going back. It was a simpler time when lying to yourself worked.
Why mention college now? Again I mean.
Cos at the end of the whole thing, I left... hopeful. Somewhere, sometime, I was hopeful when I left there, about the world, and about the rest of things.
I even left a message on the walls of the college that read "To all of you, good luck. Pass it on." Which, doesnt seem like much, but it can mean a lot to some panicked kid as he's pacing up and down, worried about a test or a lab.
Despite all the shit thats happened, there was enough of a spark left at the end to render me hopeful.
Mr cynical, mr "It can definitely get worse than this, but I'm gonna be fine".

There are three things that also happened to me in the last ten years that I dont wish to ever not have happened, even if I was given the chance to reshape history and make the bad things vanish.

I made friends with certain idiots, without whom the passage of time would have been entirely unbearable, pointless even.
Of them, three come to mind (as I write this in a frenzy, eager to finish and go have dinner soon). A friend most sweet, she like a thousand watt bulb, whom I have been the closest to once; An old roommate with whom I had an 18 hour AOE game against, and we had to call it a draw cos our heads were pounding; A friend whom I've known since the beginning of the 10 year period, who will one day make it to the stars, and a friend made more recently (relative to 10 years), who taught me that love can be more than what corny lines you write on birthday messages, and who kept me restrained from asking too many questions during the 8 o clock classes.

Secondly, my dog. Joey.
Now, Joey is someone who has been the cause of much grief, only because I had to say goodbye to him when I came back to college. He is an asshole, who refused to acknowledge me when I tried to video call him from campus, but hes also the person who sat on me, post surgery, protecting me from the guy who came every day to change my dressing.

Lastly...
This one is slightly complicated, but bear with me please. I know its been a bit of a long read, but its worth it, I promise.
I've been through a lot. Some of it my fault, a lot of it deserved, but all of it survived. I know I said already that depression isn't fun, but what I didnt mention is that there are "bad" days post "recovery"(as in its not entirely over).
Why do I say that then?
Cos I'm thankful that I got through it. Plain and simple.
Quoting my friend once more, "Dont underestimate what you've done."
And that is my point of this entire post.

We learn from stuff thats happened to us in our past. We lose people, we gain new ones.
We cry, we break, and we fall. But we get back up.
Not cos of some moral reason, or some religious one.
We get up simply cos we have to. For ourselves.
Cos we can.
Cos we have done for the past ten years.
Cos we can for the next ten again.

So, here's me hoping that whatever happened to you these past ten years, you've learnt from it all, and that the next decade that comes along become stories that you tell your family in the future, filled with tales of epicness, stupidity, and outright nerve.
That the next ten years have another ten seasons of Doctor Who, another season of Sherlock, and a movie franchise about the Marauders (If they can do Fantastic Beasts as a series, then theres no reason they cant do Marauders.)

 Cos if theres something that you learn in the next ten years, it can at least be that elephants not only have friends, but that they have best friends even (link).





But for real. The whole going down memory lane has been so surreal like you wont believe it... its been... Insane to say the least.
But, as Thanos would say, "Perfectly Balanced. As all things should be."

And also, if you have an introspective moment where you look back at yourself, and you feel the cringe... Apparently thats a natural reaction? Cos I would deffo go back and curbstomp 16 and 17 year old me cos of how much of a lil shit he used to be. Eh. We grow up eventually.

Coming Back Home.

Not sure if I've mentioned or not, but I am now officially back home.
Meaning that, for all intents and purposes, I am done with college for now. All I'm doing is waiting to get my degree and then its official. 

I had thought earlier to make a long post describing my life in VIT, as a sort of therapeutic "getting it off my chest" sigh of compressed anxiety and then relief. 

But then around about that time, my old laptop crashed.

Oh yes. I have a new laptop now. Its an Acer, and its able to play Warframe on high and not lag. Thats what most of you want to know right? What it can do?

Anyway.

Around about that time, my laptop crashed. My then roommate, and two of my older roommates and a couple of friends came to help out. While no one was able to actually do anything to fix it at the time, we did have a lot of fun making jokes at my expense and performing technical voodoo on the old system. 

So even though I had the app on my phone, I thought, "Why do something like that right now? Why not wait till a few months later when I can type on my laptop?" (At the time, I didnt think that it would take more than a week or so to fix it. 3 ICs, a couple of ports, and my laptop being sent to mumbai for repairs, later, and I realise thats so not the case.)

And basically since anyone who knows me knows what happened in college, since I was physically incapable of shutting up about it... It would be kinda redundant to write about it in this form, in this post, right now like. 

Not to mention slightly problematic. 

Cos. I would honestly be talking more about the food joints that served pasta outside the main campus, and the absolutely amazing views inside the campus. 

OH! Speaking of.
I am now a bit more reluctant to try pasta these days due to a failed experiment which involved uncooked pasta, strong (and I mean strong) peppered and salted boiling water, and a lack of a sauce. 

Yeah. Sometimes the experiments dont always pan out. 

Anyway, I left my college on a high note. 

I got all my stuff sorted. I got my stuff. I left finally.
And I was able to pass on a message to the future. "All the best to you all! Pass it on."
Hopefully that stays, and hopefully that helps anyone who manages to glance at it when they need it.

On coming home, there were a few things to notice almost immediately. 

One, My Dog. I dont know if I've ever spoken about him on the blog before. 40 Kgs of exuberance, dog hair and assorted crazy came barreling at me the instant I stepped through the door.

Two, the house seemed to have changed. Yes, we had just moved a while back and there is always periods of packing, unpacking, repacking, and redoing all of that till you get it just right was going on. But no. The dynamic. 

Thing is that at this point, It finally hit me that I was gonna be home for a lot longer than I had been in the past few years. Earlier, there always used to be a nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me how many days I had till I had to return to college, how many days till course registration, and so on. Many times, I thought that similar thoughts were running through my family's minds as well. 

This time?

Nah. It felt like I was there, at home. Not just unpacking for a while, and taking a break till the next stretch of the onslaught, but there to take my clothes and keep them in for however long I wanted to, and put my posters up (I had only come home once, quite briefly, to the new house. If that sentence makes sense), and simultaneously forget about going to sleep at 2 AM or skip meals when I felt like it. 

Three, although, this came about about three weeks after I got back: taking my dog for a walk. Now, when I go home, the first person to get upset is my dog. He knows that I usually only come for a few weeks here and there, so he wouldnt come to me for a walk unless he desperately wanted to.
Now, he comes to me most often, and unlike others, doesnt take "try asking (person) instead" for an answer. 

Cut to yesterday or day before morning at about 6 AM, where I get punched in the face by Joey's unofficial girlfriend's snout, cos she was so excited and came flying at my face without warning. Joey got jealous, so had to take him for a few walks that day, instead of the usual. 

The thing that I think people were all waiting for were the results of the semester that just concluded.
It was a pleasant surprise that I got a B grade in what can easily be called my worst subject EVER.

But that came and went. As did a couple of headaches that followed. 

This post really isnt to talk about a lot of things, its just to give an update, to get back to writing, and to sorta take a stab at normalising things after coming home. 

So, I hopefully will be writing a review for "Ant Man and the Wasp", on the new laptop, on a couple of older games like the BioShock or Zelda series, and maybe something new as well like Warframe. 

In other news, between the untimely end of my old laptop and starting this post today, a couple of things have shown up.

They're continuing the original Teen Titans show, probably from where it left off at the end of season 5. NOT a continuation of Teen Titans Go. This is not a drill!

And secondly, while the laptop was dead, and I was still in the hostel, I came across this show on Amazon Prime, called "Deception". Its like a cross between Castle, Now You See Me, and the mentalist.
Unfortunately, only one season.

BUT.
The season as such is incredible.

A little predictable at times.

But just plain amazing.
Do check it out. :)

Hope you all are having a decent or even great day,

and hopefully I have something more to talk about the next time. 

-Ryan

A One Year Anniversary and reflections

Recently, a sort of anniversary has passed by. My first foray into Poetry actually.

And I didnt realise this till a few days later, when Facebook sent me a notification about it :P

Oh well.

Anyway.

I spent the day before the anniversary asking for prompts, so that in my breaks I could write something. Cos with work and what not, it had been a while.

A cousin of mine, she gave me the writing prompt: "Reflections". Well... She gave me a couple others as well, but I made a poem based on "reflections".

Take a look,
let me know what you think,
and as always, where you think I can improve. :)

"Reflections"

Dusty mirror, hanging on a wall,
showing the inside of a house for years.
Faces examined, and people passing through the hall,
where history lived, through smiles and tears.

In years gone by, the reflections it showed,
the large looking glass world, where magic once flowed.
A babe's delight at discovering it's twin,
and self conscious tugs and caressess of creases on your skin. 

A few years have passed, and the walls have become weathered,
the doors all creak, and the house has grumbled.
But new faces finally came, to the mirror's delight,
though it couldn't see them clearly, such was its plight. 

Though seeming familiar, the looking glass could tell,
that old faces these were not, for it had bid them farewell.
while waiting, it reminisced reflections of faces gone by,
of reflections of moments and thoughts gone awry. 

Now curious and impatient, the mirror once shook,
alas, to lose its dust, this effort was less than it took. 
But the old house listened to the mirror's shudder, 
as it passed through the walls, and made things better.

A door slammed shut, and the walls shuddered once more,
The new faces turned, startled, this party of four.
The mirror, now noticed, commanded their attention.
On cleaning, they all stood there, an unlikely congregation.

A new set of faces smiled and greeted the looking glass,
and raised their hands to say, "hello".
A new set of reflections smiled in return through the glass,
to welcome its new family with a happy "hello"

The text is in yellow because I feel like this would be something that a certain friend of mine would prefer, and her favourite colour is yellow.
So... Theres that. :)

Black Panther: a Review

Black Panther is the latest movie in the ongoing MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), which has already featured a number of incredible movies such as Iron Man, Thor and the Avengers. (There are more, you should go check it out)

The film is considered the best installment of the franchise, which is saying something considering its 18 movie long series, divided into three phases.

This movie is set a few days after the events of Captain America: Civil War, in terms of chronology, and overall takes place over the course of a few days since that.

The setting of this movie is primarily in Africa, in the fictional country of Wakanda, although there are scenes set in other parts of Africa, and other parts of the world as well.

You have returning characters, from Civil War, the Black Panther/T'Challa played by Chadwick Boseman, Everett Ross played by Martin Freeman, and from Age of Ultron we have returning Ulysses Klaue played by Andy Serkis. The rest of the cast are new and have succeeded in making their mark in the connected Marvel universe.

Since the movie is based in Africa, there are a lot of tribal elements that have been incorporated, successfully, I might add. They've done their homework and made it look authentic, and not some westerners idea of what African culture looks, especially in terms of clothing, rituals, location, and language.
Alongside this, in the comics, Wakanda is known for being a very scientifically advanced nation who's technology surpasses the rest of the world. The creators have managed to properly mix together traditional and modern together in a way that both hold together without friction.
There is none of the old trope of "Science Vs Tradition" in this one, and nor is that used as a plot device, leading or otherwise.

Speaking of location, the nation of Wakanda is spectacularly made, and the visuals make it seem like an entirely new world, even its own franchise in its own right. On certain occasions you feel as though you forget the rest of the MCU even exists, and that Black Panther is its own stand alone movie, so strong is the plot, and the ability to execute said plot without pandering, without need for any external agents.

It feels like the creators have done their homework with this movie, and made sure that it's come together naturally without looking or feeling forced in any way or form.

The characters in the movie were unique, and each had a well defined role to play. Now with the characters, the most important thing that has to be said is "representation".
It is done, but not in the way one would expect on hearing the word. Like with the incorporation of African society for the design of the movie, the representation has also been slotted in seamlessly to the point that you don't entirely realise it till it's pointed out by the characters on screen or due to plot.
Personally I prefer this method (as a viewer) as opposed to having something shoved violently in my face and forced to accept things as they are, as is the case with a lot of movies.

Now, coming to the characters themselves, we have the titular character, the Black Panther.
The Black Panther is said to be the protector of Wakanda and its people, and that's exactly how the king, T'Challa sees himself. He does what he thinks is right for his people, after being advised by the representatives and elders of the various tribes of Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman delivers some of the most brutal and important lines of the movie and does so with the authority of a king.
T'Challa's family and close friends are just as equally incredible in terms of utter badassery and ability.

The main antagonist, played by Michael B Jordan, Killmonger, is a uniquely polarised anti hero, than an outright villain. Killmonger, unlike the Black Panther, has lived outside Wakanda his entire life, and has been witness to the harsh realities of his people in the outside world, and this is what shapes his way of thinking and how he should help the people by arming them, and not empowering them.
His views on the situation are targeted in a single fashion: his way is the right way, and all others are weak and feeble attempts at absolutely nothing.

The really good thing about this villain is that he resembles some of the villains in the Legend of Korra series: they make the protagonist think, and understand the situation that drove them to become a villain, and this in turn helps the protagonist get a better idea (or a target) of how to fix a larger problem.

The rest of "Team Panther", are based off the characters introduced in the comics, and have an entirely different approach to their comic book counterparts.
The three main women in this team, Oyoke, Nakia and Shuri are all formidable in their own rights.

Martin Freeman's character, initially only a comic relief character in the comics has been reinvented for his role in the MCU as a capable agent who would be able to be diplomatic and combat ready as needed.
Martin brings a similar personality to his character from Sherlock, with a perfect blend of seriousness and humour.

The thing that stands out the most in this movie is the ground breaking technology and the fight sequences. I unfortunately cannot go into much detail regarding this since it is deep within spoiler territory, but what has been done is just well executed with proper blend of cinematography, music and CGI.

Overall, this movie is incredible. It does its homework and makes an African society that looks African, and not some idiots notion of what culture in Africa is.
The technology is impressive, and even puts parts of Ant Man's and Tony Stark's tech to shame, in parts.
The characters are spectacular, and well developed. Most everything is shown in morally grey terms, without it going into propaganda and political agenda.
This includes the representation of the characters and what they represent.

Well worth watching, even as a standalone film, in case you have yet to see major parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thor Ragnarok: A Review

Thor Ragnarok is currently the latest movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the third installment in the Thor franchise.

Now, before we get into the major details of the film and the review, there are a couple of things that I MUST mention:

1) The MCU only uses the Norse Mythology as a reference to the creation of the characters, Thor, Loki, and so on and so forth. This is very important for later.

2) This movie, at the time I believe, was supposed to be the last movie before Avengers: Infinity wars. The Avengers' 4th film is supposed to be massively large, and extremely serious. So, instead of a buildup to that in terms of tone and... texture? This movie takes on a more comedic approach to things. 

If these points have turned you away from the movie, I advise you to stop reading further, since they did the exact opposite to me. 

Anyhow. 

This movie is set two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. We start off the movie with Thor giving an opening monologue, and you notice it isnt in the "ye olde english speake" that you get in Thor 1 and 2. His language seems a lot more informal now. Maybe spending more time on Earth helped? 

The film was first sort of introduced to us as a post credit scene in Doctor Strange, where we see the Sorcerer Supreme talking to Thor about his brother and father being on Earth. This was a scene that most movie viewers were looking forward to, especially seeing how Strange would be helping Thor with his situation. Months later, when news was released that Hulk was also going to be in it, excitement grew once more.

The film is actually based off a few events from the comics, and not just one story arc like what they attempted (see: failed) to do with Iron Man 3 (The Extremis Saga) and Captain America: Civil War (The Civil War storyline). Now, those titles were very much misleading in terms of what they were promising us, but Thor became an exception to that.

The title, Ragnarok, talks about the Norse mythology's End of Days, where the world is engulfed in flames, a lot of the gods are killed and the world begins once more. In the original mythos, Midgard (or Earth) was the one that would die. In the movie, they deviate from that a fair bit. And I am thankful for this actually. I mean... they did do a lot of things mentioned in the recipe... just not all of it.

The movie begins with a monologue from Thor about the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we already start to see the comedic side of Thor that we had begun to see in the aforementioned movie. Then we meet Surtur, and his introductory scene are quite important for two reasons.
One, look at him! Tall fire giant with a flaming sword, looking every bit as amazing as he did in the multiple trailers we saw him in! But the actual thing is that Surtr talks about how Ragnarok is already begun, and that Thor cant stop it.
Two, in the dialogue between Thor and Surtr, we get some key important details. Thor thinks of himself more as a hero now, not a god or a king; Surtr is now officially one of the many... things, for lack of a better word, in the MCU who died and came back; and lastly, The Step By Step Instructions On How To Start Ragnarok; That Odin is no longer on the throne (seems odd, considering the end of Thor 2) and that Thor is also one of the larger causes of Ragnarok (The Poetic and Prose Edda have a different plan for Thor at Ragnarok) (The original "sources" of the Norse Mythology)

After that short exchange, we come to one of the first fight sequences of the movie. Its quite well done, and the song being played in the background is Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It follows the recent trend that we see in movies that have more than one enemy attacking the protagonist, rather than one at a time. (Thank god) The choreography was excellent and well executed.

Now, why I mention the song that is being played in the background is this: Immigrant song by Led Zeplin was specifically chosen since its lyrics mention Norse religion. Beyond that, Led Zeppelin is notorious for rarely licensing out their music in films, television or even games, so the fact that they allowed the song for this film is quite remarkable. 

Going along the sequence of the movie, the next major point is the play titled "The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard", which is a play about the events at the end of Thor: The Dark World. This... This is one of four reasons that this film is a must watch. They got Chris Hemsworth's (Thor) older brother, Luke to play Thor in the play, Matt Damon (you cant make this up if you tried) to play Loki, and Sam Neil as Odin. This segment alone had people rolling with laughter in the theatres.
A key feature in this is that the title is "Loki of Asgard", not Jotunhiem, like it was said by Loki in The Dark World. A key difference in the mindset of Loki compared to his previous appearances.

The next major event is the one that most moviegoers were looking forward to since Doctor Strange, and that was the involvement of Doctor Strange. This part was a bit of a disappointment personally. While the entire segment was humourous, it felt more like an over glorified cameo more than anything else. It wasnt what most viewers were expecting. The scene moves really fast, and this trend seems to follow through in the remaining part of the film as well.

From here on, mostly spoiler events come up, so I wont be discussing it scene by scene, but I MUST bring up the other 3 things that I feel make this movie a must watch. 

1) When Thor is entering the Contest of Champions in Sakarr, the music that is played in the background is "Pure Imagination" from the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie with Gene Wilder. That movie was released in 1971 and its music is used in the middle of space, in 2017,  not to show a sense of wonder like it did with the original movie, but to make things incredibly uncomfortable and strange.
For anyone interested, the original music is here:

2) The fight between Thor and Hulk:
Now we've all seen this in the trailers that have come out, and theres not really not a lot to say about it, except that you need to see it since its the first time we see Thor as the God of Thunder. We dont see ANY indication of his powers besides his use of Mjolnr in the first two films, and all the Avengers movies, till now.

3) Loki and the Grand-Master.
I will talk about both characters soon, but the performances of both of them just outshine everyone else in the scene they're with.


The movie is quite well made, directed and produced, if with a few glaring flaws. It serves two purposes, visibly. One to set up the events of Infinity Wars, and the second to work as a soft revamping of the Thor franchise. This movie takes and breaks apart the golden world of Asgard and now its forced to build anew for the future. It spoke about the infinity stones at the beginning, but then thankfully went off into its main plot. The movie is a comedy action film, that deals with the End of Days. Thats the main summary of the movie.

Pros:

• The direction and casting of this movie was brilliant. It was near flawless. According to the director, a lot of the scenes were ad-libbed or improvised (saying that about 80% of it was), and this just made the entire thing more enjoyable to watch. The humour was a nice touch, as it did downplay the more serious moments when needed, to avoid getting too heavy.
  
• The setting. With the Thor franchise, you get beautiful scenery and location shots that you dont in any of the other MCU movies, that lend it a sort of ethereal quality, and drives home that this isnt a movie about Earth as such, or about Humans. Every scene with the Bifrost bridge, every location shot of Asgard and the other nine realms that we see.
  
  However with this one, we get a similar treatment, but with a different tone to it altogether, as seen with the entire setting of the planet Sakaar. We also see new regions of Asgard itself in this film.
  
• Thor: God of Thunder. Till now, I have always liked Thor, but he always seemed... lacking in the appearances of a god, especially one who is so important in Norse Mythology. This one time, we see him as the god of lightning and thunder.
  
  
  Here. The thing is that considering that Thor was created in the comics to combat the Hulk, and as the strongest Avenger, we never really saw much of his fighting in any of the films. In the first film, it was minor skirmishes, and the scene with the Destroyer felt... meh. Similar thing with the second movie, and in Avengers. (Age of Ultron's Tripple Ka-me-ha-me-ha blast doesnt count at all).
  
  But here, we see the power  that is the God of Thunder. THIS is someone I can believe will be the cause of Ragnarok!
  
  We saw Thor going god-mode in the trailers a few times, and it is worth watching those scenes in full. Where you see Thor no longer holding his punches and fighting back and matching the Hulk for his immeasurable strength.
  
• The Grandmaster
  This guy is played by Jeff Goldblum, and he does an incredible job of just bringing out the creepiness inherent in this character. Just the way you have an immortal who has a total disregard for life, and still makes the moments funny.
  
  Just...  
  
  
  That face. I dont think anyone would have been able to pull it off like he did. It even creeped out Loki.
  
  The Grandmaster is an immortal who is one of the strongest beings in the known universe (at least his race is known to be).
  From his introduction itself, you have a sensation that something is wrong, when you see him. The acting and the character in itself is incredible.
  
• Loki!  
  
  
  He's come a long way since the ending of the second Thor movie's ending.
  
  Here, we see Loki as being acknowledged by his family finally. Odin says that he was proud of him (whatever be the circumstances), and Thor himself tells Loki that he thought the world of him. Hes also had a time to be Asgard's ruler, and has had to spend weeks with the Grandmaster, which couldnt have been a pleasant experience for him to acknowledge someone with more power than him.
  
  Hes gone from embodying "Chaotic Evil" to "True Chaos" and parts of "Chaotic good" in this one. He fights Hela, and stands for Asgard, and even takes on a more traditional approach to Ragnarok (but him and Hiemdal dont die).
  
  There is a LOT of character development for him since the beginning. I mentioned earlier about how he said that he was from Asgard, and not from Jotunhiem, in the play? Further proof of that.
  
  Unfortunately, he didnt get to go "god-mode" like Thor and Hela do, but theres always next time.
  
• The accurate portrayal of a sibling relationship.
  Now. I am an only child, but I've seen enough sibling behaviour to see the way Thor and Loki, and even Hela interacting with each other is essentially spot on.
  I dont wanna list out all of it, cos someone on Tumblr already did, and for your viewing benefit,
  
  TA-DA! :
  
   Do give this a read. Its worth it.
  
  
  
  

  Cons:

  
  
• The pacing of the movie. The scenes in this moved too fast personally, and it felt like it was kinda rushing through a lot. This is seen especially in the scenes with Odin, with Strange, and even in the background scenes of Hela on Asgard.
  
• Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The God of Lightning and Thunder himself. Somehow, somehow, he has managed to get taken out by electricity a grand total of seven, so far, since his introduction in Thor 1. In this movie alone, he has been electrocuted a good 6 times.
  
  In fact, lets do a small count down.
  
  
  1: When Darcy tasered him (but that was when he was depowered and exiled)
  2: A net fired at him when he landed on Sakaar
  3: Stopped by Valkyrie upon his capture
  4: Again, by Valkyrie, in the space craft to the prison
  5: Third time with Valkyrie, in front of the Grandmaster
  6: Valkyrie. Again… For Thor calling her a traitor/coward
  7: Grandmaster. WHEN Worldbreaker Thor. Goddamnnit… I give up... I honestly do...
  
  
  
• The Doctor Strange appearance and disappearance. He showed up in the movie about a total of Three Minutes and Thirty Five Seconds. The entire scene was rushed, and it just... it was sloppy, and it really felt like a glorified cameo more than anything else. It was a nice idea to do a post credit scene at the end of Doctor Strange, but then at least give the guy some more screen time.
  
• The Humour! A lot of people have mentioned that the humour, while great, was too much and too often, stating, "sometimes you'd end up not having enough time to prime yourself for the next joke, so that would fall flat". I agree with this. Coupled with the pacing issue that we see, this actually makes the movie feel less like its telling a joke, and more like it has its family at gunpoint and the only way to save them is to finish their standup gig.
  
• The trailers being a deliberate misdirect. All I'm gonna say here is that we never properly saw the conclusion to the fight between the Hulk and the massive fire giant that we saw in the trailers. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT! 

Overall, I loved the movie, and feel like it is a good way to wind up before the events of Infinity Wars. Of course, Black Panther starts in a few days, so lets see. 

It is and always will be fun to see Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. It IS disappointing that we wont be seeing many actors come for the later movies, for fairly obvious reasons. 

This movie has a massive tonne of easter eggs in it, including things like why Valkyrie is called SR-142, why Thor needed to get his hair cut, and who the blonde lady who pushed Valkyrie out of the way was intended to be. If you're interested, take a look at this and/or this.

Hope you enjoy watching it. :)