And here we have the second of Marvel's "Phase 2", or post-New York superhero flicks. The first, Iron Man 3, in my opinion, was a huge disappointment. It advertised itself to be something entirely different from what it was. That is not the case with Thor: The Dark World, which is exactly what we have come to expect from Marvel: action packed, visually stunning, and very funny.
The story this movie tells takes place shortly after the events of The Avengers. Thor and the Warriors Three are traveling between the 9 realms attempting restore peace in the wake of the destruction of the rainbow bridge. However, an ancient artifact of great power has been accidentally rediscovered by Jane Foster back on earth, alerting the lord of the dark elves, Malekith. Malekith has been awaiting the return of this artifact, called the Aether, and seizes the opportunity to control its power and return the universe to darkness. Thor is forced to return to earth to save the universe....with the help of his brother Loki, who has been rotting in prison since the events in New York. In all, this is a fairly typical storyline for a superhero flick, but it features enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing and engaged.
The main thing that held my attention throughout the film was Tom Hiddleston as Loki. As in Thor and The Avengers, the second he comes on screen he demands your full attention. In this film, he has exchanged the emotional outbursts he was prone to in previous movies for an icy, brutally sarcastic demeanour. It suits him well, and provides some of the funniest moments I've seen in a Marvel movie to date. He's one of those villains who you almost want to succeed, because you almost like him more than the hero. That isn't to say that Chris Hemsworth does a bad job at portraying Thor, however. His character hasn't changed much since The Avengers, and I do hope that in the future they develop him further, but he still feels just as powerful and righteous as ever. However, one major disappointment, and perhaps my biggest complaint with the movie, was Christopher Eccleston's Malekith. I'm a huge fan of Eccleston, and I don't think it was the actor's fault, but Malekith is a dud. There is absolutely no depth to his character. By the end of the movie, you feel like you've only seen him for a total of 5 minutes. He is completely and utterly forgettable, almost literally at times. I found myself forgetting that he was in the movie. It truly is a shame to waste such a good actor.
Like in the first film, the design in Thor 2 is very nice. We get to see more of the meticulous work that went into designing Asgard in this movie, all of which looks superb. The design and effects on the dark elves is also very interesting, with the eerie masks and pillar-like ships. The CGI rarely falters and is consistently good throughout the film, as we have come to expect from Marvel. There is also much more action in this film than in the first one, which I think is a good thing. I've heard it said that the first Thor was a chick flick.....I'm inclined to agree with that. This is by no means a chick flick, and contains the amount of action that we want from a super hero movie.
In all, this is a very acceptable, entertaining addition to the Marvel canon. It doesn't push any boundaries, but sometimes we just need to sit down and enjoy a popcorn flick rather than a groundbreaking drama. SCORE: 7.5/10
CONTENT: This movie is very mild on content. Violence is at a minimum, with nothing noteworthy. There is a small amount of language. No sexual content.
