Thor: The Dark World – A Review

I liked Thor 1, but I didn’t love it. My main concerns were:

1.    Jane Foster had nothing to do. She was a cypher. No reason for Thor to have any interest in her beyond the physical.
2.    Loki’s motivations were not well communicated. Somewhere between script and final cut his story arc got confused, undercutting a great performance with some odd in-plot actions.
3.    The Asgardian cast, especially Sif and the Warriors Three, were woefully underused and played no part in the final resolution on Asgard – they were forgotten.
4.    Thor’s “boss level” fights with both the Destroyer and Loki were too easy.

Clearly, someone on the scripting team of Thor 2 had the same worries. The Dark World learns from the first movie, building on its successes, avoiding most of its mistakes. The end result is a very strong, engaging film that can properly be described as a spectacular. Recommended.

SPOILERS AHOY…
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    One of the nicest things about this movie was the grace-note reintroductions of pretty much all of the cast. Each was defined in just a few seconds, be it of action, comedy, drama or whatever. Then almost everybody got another, different moment that offered their characters slightly more depth. Special commendation goes to Dr Eric Selvig’s live-TV Stonehenge streak and his subsequent lecture on the Nine Worlds with shoes.
    My three Thor 1 problems didn’t recur here. The Jane Foster issue was neatly solved by having her stumble across the main plot, then absorb the maguffin-of-doom so she became the football that everyone was fighting to hold. Jane got to do heroic stuff, she was able to interact with pretty much the entire cast this time due to an extended Asgard trip, and she played a key role in beating the baddie at the end. Job done. Still prefer Sif, though.
    Tom Hiddleston did a marvellous job again of stealing every scene Loki was in, and even a couple he wasn’t. I was particularly struck with how well he was able to dominate a scene where unstoppable Kurse was smashing down Asgardians left and right in the background while Loki sat quietly and read a book. Loki’s arc in this story was far clearer, more emotive, and nuanced, and it set up Thor 3 very well indeed.
    Interestingly, the second-most-fun cameo performance was from Chris Evans – also as Loki, playing Cap.
    I’d still have liked more time for Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. At least Fandral and Volstagg each got a solo scene in which to shine, plus the odd character bit. Hogan got sent home early, and apart from a three-second cutaway near the end is absent from the rest of the movie. Sif had a little more to do, but she’s screaming out for one of those “Marvel One-Shot” shorts that appear as extras on the DVDs. Frigga, Odin, and Heimdall all had reasonable parts which helped the story along in different ways. Jane’s friend Darcy was able to develop her role a little through interaction with her sidekick/intern/romance interest Ian Boothby, who might as well have been named Shaggy.
    The battles were all well handled, with clear choreography and good effects. Each was given a very different style and rhythm, which helped define separate conflicts with different stakes and perils. Special mention goes to the spaceship assault on Asgard and Thor’s final multidimensional showdown with Maleketh. The build-up of Mjolnir making its way back to Thor across worlds was a very effective way of amping up to the climax.
    Actually the Dark Elves and the Dark World were perhaps the weakest part of the film. The Dark World was the most visually uninteresting setting in the movie, a dim grey quarry. Dark elf ships are black CGI knobbles with blue holograms; I’d say Geiger meets Tron but that would make it sound much more interesting than it was.
    Christopher Eccleston was given nothing to do as Malekith. He didn’t get to banter, to seduce, to enchant, to trick, or to do anything than play heavy fanatic baddie #1. His motives, choices, and background remain opaque except for another info-dump pre-credits voiceover. It’s tell not show. Waste of a great actor.
    Fortunately, despite its title, The Dark World wasn’t about Svartalfheim, its inhabitants, or the maguffin of doom they coveted. It was more about responsibility, choice and consequence, and family. That’s why the Thor/Loki scenes worked so well; but who doesn’t enjoy an archenemies-team-up-against-a-common-foe plotline?
    Some lovely post-credit teases too (two of them), although one seemed to go completely over the heads of the non-comics-literate audience; even more obscure than “To fight them is to court death.”
    I’m very happy with this movie, which leaves the Asgardian portion of the Marvel movie franchise in fine shape, corrects the problems of the previous outing, and leaves a huge, huge hook for more to follow.
    And boy, that Mjolnir is persistent, isn’t it?

IW