Title: Thor: The Dark World
Release Date: November 8, 2013
Director: Alan Taylor
Production Company: Marvel Studios
Summary/Review:
This movie is an improvement on its predecessor. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, fresh off their key performances in The Avengers, have really settled into their characters and have a great chemistry playing off one of one another as Thor and Loki. Loki in particular does really well as the trickster in this movie and his shifting allegiances keep one on one’s toes, although they’re never written in a way that’s illogical to the plot. Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is back and has a more meaningful role as a character in her own right, as does her assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings). Thor’s mother Freya (Rene Russo) and the bridge sentry Heimdall (Idris Elba), who I didn’t even mention in my Thor review, are also fleshed out a lot more.
Unfortunately, the plot of this movie is meh. The villains this time are Dark Elves who seem interchangeable with the Frost Giants. Christopher Eccleston is a talented actor wasted in the role of Malekith, who is just another dude with heavy layers of prosthetic makeup who wants to destroy the universe. The film’s Earth setting replaces New Mexico with London, and the battle scenes feel derivative of a Doctor Who finale. The Dark Elves even look a little like Cybermen and Eccleston, a former Doctor, is there. The romance between Thor and Foster never really takes off as an interesting plot, so it’s not surprising that she seems to have been written out of the MCU.
Looks like third time will be the charm for making a really good Thor movie.
Rating: **1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 