Thor: The Dark World: A review

Thor, despite being my favorite Avenger, didn't have a great first movie. Don't misunderstand me, the first Thor movie was good just small. It had a very simple and straightforward story with some good performances. But for someone whose myths involve fighting a snake the size of Earth and lifting the paws of giant cats, the movie's scale felt very small. It didn't have the grandeur the story of a god needed. Too much of it was spent on Earth around humans. Now I get why they did that, The Marvel Cinematic Universe was in its infancy. Average audiences weren't ready for Thor's brand of cosmic Jack Kirby crazy weirdness in their superheroes yet.

Thankfully The Avengers seems to have broken the floodgates on comic book insanity, letting Thor: The Dark World go all out with our favorite space viking. But while the expanded scope benefits the film there are still parts that don't work. Nothing major, just some little annoyances that hold the film back.

More after the break,

Let's get the story out of the way. Since bringing Loki back at the end of The Avengers, Thor has been going around the nine realms quelling the panic and chaos Loki's antics in both previous movies caused. Having finally brought peace, Thor is ready to return to Earth and reunite with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster who's been looking for him as well. While investigating some weird science anomaly in London, Jane is accidentally possessed by an ancient Asgardian superweapon called "The Aether". This has the effect of waking up Malekith the Accursed and his army of Dark Elves, who want the Aether to plunge all nine realms into eternal darkness. We're not really given a reason why, just that the Dark Elves are evil. So to avoid all-out war and save his mortal girlfriend, Thor must team up with his now imprisoned brother to stop Malekith before he can kill Jane and steal the Aether.

Natalie Portman must be getting real bad deja vu right now.

First off, the acting remains on par with Marvel standards. Playing Thor is old hat for Chris Hemsworth by this point and he plays the noble thunder god with all the heart and strength we expect. His secret weapon though remains his comic delivery, as Thor gets some of the funniest lines in the movie and Hemsworth plays these moments bemused to contrast Thor's mythic pomp to great effect. Anthony Hopkins' Odin is still great as well, showing different layers to the All-father beyond the exaggerated parental disappointment that dominated his performance in the first Thor. The weak links in the main cast are Natalie Portman and Christopher Eccleston as Malekith. Both of their characters, while entertaining, are very slight with not many layers. Jane Foster really only has the two modes of "science" and "Love Thor", while Malekith is just one-note evil.

But the MVP is still Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Many of the plot's best turns and twists are built on the uncertainty of Loki's loyalty. While it's assumed pretty much from the beginning he'll betray the good guys, Hiddleston keeps us off guard and guessing as to what he's exactly up to and why. In particular, there are two scenes that will have Tumblr losing their shit for weeks. The supporting cast comport themselves well too, even if the plot sidelines them too much again. I was looking forward to expanded roles for Sif and the Warriors Three, only for the movie to again focus on Thor's Earthly buds. And while Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings are amusing, they are no substitute for Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. The best though is Rene Russo as Thor's mom Frigga. She only has a few scenes but in them she inserts herself into the Thor-Loki-Odin dynamic naturally in a way that deepens all the characters.

"We'll get those Power Rangers this time!"

On the negative side the presence of the Aether causes the film to fall into the common trap of Fantasy blockbusters, Macguffin storytelling. Too many genre movies fall into this and it's almost always annoying. Macguffin storytelling has the effect of deflating villains, turning them into obsessed flat characters with no motivation beyond "get the thing" and "do evil" and that's just what happens here. Christopher Eccleston tries but the story just doesn't give him anything to work with besides one moment where he symbolically destroys Odin's throne. This macguffin storytelling also has the effect of Damseling Jane Foster for most of the movie, making her not much more than a target until the climax. There's also some other issues with the Asgardian women in the film as again Sif has very little to do beside help Thor. And it's a spoiler but something happens to Frigga that smelled to me of a certain trope involving iceboxes.

More positively, the production design is great. More of Asgard is shown and its strange Vikings with lasers sensibility digs right into the rich tapestry of Jack Kirby's original Thor comics. Nordic design sensibilities mixed with Star Wars technology make for a distinct environment you won't soon forget. The Dark Elves too have a cool distinct design, even if they're just better-looking Power Rangers villains. And it's great to see some practical effects make-ups as well, with some wonderful background monsters that'll catch your eye. But the best is the make-up on Kurse, Malekith's main bruiser. It has a great wood/bark texture with elements of animal horn. What not too long ago would have been a generic glossy CG creature is instead a memorable-looking baddie who makes more impact than his boss.

Overall, The Dark World is an improvement over its predecessor. With a widened scope, Thor's world feels bigger and the look of the film reflects this. Buoyed by good performances and action scenes, it's the perfect hit of Marvel we've bee needing since the beginning of summer. It itself isn't perfect though, held back by lazy storytelling cliches and a slighted supporting cast. But if a movie that can roughly described as Elves in spaceships vs. space vikings in flying canoes with lasers sounds like something you'd enjoy, you'll probably walk away satisfied.

Final Score: 4/5

Oh, and about that mid-credits teaser. Well, I'll get into that tomorrow.