REVIEW – THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Ecclestone, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddlestone, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgard

Apparently it was inevitable. At some point Marvel would produce a stinker to thwart the progress made by their excellent work so far. So if it really was inevitable then why was Thor: The Dark World so enjoyable.

The film picks up where The Avengers left off. Loki (Tom Hiddlestone) is imprisoned on Asgard and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is roaming The Nine Realms, keeping the peace. But that peace is disturbed when Thor’s human  sweetheart Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) awakens an ancient force, The Aether, and consequently the villainous Malekith (Former Doctor Who star Christopher Ecclestone) who wishes to harness its power. With the universe under threat Thor is forced to free Loki in a desperate attempt to save everything he loves.

The problem with Thor has always been the believability of his character within the Marvel Universe and once again the studio succeed in drawing attention away from these sorts of plot holes to focus on an enjoyable story.

The storyline is dynamic and far superior to the original Thor (2011), revelling in the glorious contrast between Thor and his twisted brother Loki, a relationship which dominates the whole film. Tom Hiddlestone is delightfully greasy as Loki and in my not so humble opinion the best on-screen super-villain (the Joker doesn’t count). The character really makes a case for not just killing off villains between films, Loki is brilliant as a constant worry to Thor, whether as more of an entertaining side-plot as he is in this film, or as the main event as he was in The Avengers.

Loki: After all this time, now you come to visit me, brother? Why? To mock?

Thor: I need your help. And I wish I could trust you…

Loki: If you did, you’d be the fool I always took you for

The film starts slowly but quickly picks up the pace with some neat action and special effects sequences. Bringing on the creative team from The Game of Thrones was a masterstroke as they know what the fan boys (and fan girls for equalities sake). Minus the XXX content of Thrones, the all out action and traditional combat make for an entertaining sci-fi.

Kudos to Marvel for showing that they can bring the superhero action into space ahead of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy next year. Asgard is beautifully done and ‘The Dark World’ appropriately desolate. The battle scenes on Asgard, hell the whole movie,  should be a example to JJ Abrams and the Star Wars Episode VII team, it blending sci-fi with fun, not taking itself to seriously.

Thor himself is well played by Chris Hemsworth who has done well to portray the increasing maturity of the prince. I do have a few gripes about Natalie Portman’s character Jane…she’s annoying. In the style of Margot Kidder as Lois Lane she is genuinely frustrating and her character lacks depth. I for one am on Team Sif (Jaimie Alexander), who seems positively badass, although I seemed to get a hint of a Sif-Loki thing. But hell, I even liked Kat Dennings as the super dumb science prodigy better than Portman’s  empty eye candy.

Malekith does his job and goes about his universe-destroying duties without really being memorable but is used to introduce many plot points for future films.

I’ll write another article discussing the direction Marvel has used Thor to steer its universe into to avoid spoilers. Lets just say there are plenty of Easter Eggs in there for those eagle-eyed enough to spot them.

So now the onus on poor old Captain America to keep up the Marvel magic. Bring It!!!!!!

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