Previous Post 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… . . . . . . . . . . . .     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

I enjoyed the first Thor film; it was not perfect but I never in my lifetime ever expected to see a Thor film, especially not a good one. And while I agree with your criticisms of the first film, I still really enjoyed it.

I liked the sequel even more.

The first Thor film wasted having Rene Russo cast as Frigga, she really had nothing to do. She still wasn't in this movie a ton, but in life and death she was shown to really be the glue in the house of Odin. I liked that she was shown as powerful enough to take out Malekith as well; I don't get hung up on power levels of characters, but I like when female characters can hold their own.

I also liked the subtle way they showed that Loki must have learned his illusion casting from Frigga, as she has the same energy signature to her illusions. And on that front, I absolutely loved the scene where Loki looks all-together in the prison, when Thor tells him to lift the illusion (a nice tip of the helm to "Will you ever stop falling for that?" in Avengers) and we see that Loki has destroyed his cell and is distraught at the loss of Frigga, a death he inadvertently holds responsibility for.

On the strong women front, I was hoping to see a little more Sif than we did, even though we saw her more than in the first film. I'm a big fan of her character, defying her society's norms to be a fierce warrior rather than embracing the traditional roles Asgardian women do.

I had read an interview where Hemsworth and Hiddleston talked about really making clear Thor and Loki are brothers, and I think they really nailed that. In the first film, even Avengers, they seemed to be siblings in title only, but after doing a couple of films together these guys have great chemistry and it really shone through.

As mentioned, the Chris Evans cameo was hilarious.

As Eccleston remains my favourite Doctor, I was looking forward to his portrayal of Malekith. He did well with what he was given, which wasn't much; I expected a little more personality from Malekith. If you want a no-nonsense villain who wants to destroy the universe then bring out Surtur, Malekith should have a little more personality.

I still could do without the character of Darcy, I find her really annoying. And I do hate the tendency of some of these superhero films to throw in a random swear word; it takes me right out of the story and it also makes me think I have to delay showing the film to my son when he's older now.

I loved, LOVED, that Jane was essential in stopping Malekith in the end. Pepper's save of Iron Man felt a little forced in Iron Man 3, this felt a lot more natural. It would be nice to have the Warriors Three and Sif be essential in the final battle one of these movies though.

I knew Loki hadn't been killed in Svartalfheim, but I didn't expect the reveal he was masquerading as Odin either, hope this means we are getting a Thor 3 (as it has been confirmed Loki is not in Avengers 2).

Finally, I admitted to geeking out during the first credits scene when I realized they are setting up the Infinity Gauntlet. The group I was with is not as comics savvy as me, if at all, so I had to explain the significance of the scene to them. I can't imagine something of that magnitude will be done in a Guardians film, so I suspect that is the end game of Avengers 3 or a Guardians/Avengers film(?).

I really enjoyed this film, and at the moment it is definitely one of my favourite Marvel films. It does get hard to rate and rank them because really, Marvel Studios has yet to put out a BAD film.

~Hat~