Thor: The Dark World

Plot

When the Dark Elves attempt to plunge the universe into darkness, Thor must embark on a perilous and personal journey that will reunite him with doctor Jane Foster.

Cast

The same bunch as before but now we have a disappointing Eccleston and Fandral has been recast with Zachary Levi.

Verdict

I didn't hate the first Thor but I didn't deem it a great film, our titular character bounced between distinctly unlikable and oddly hilarious and didn't seem to manage as a leading man. The supporting cast, a combination of bland and oddly quaint! Dennings character walking a fine line between being quaint and deeply annoying.

The humor is on point, the visuals are interesting, Thor is the same mix of unlikable and funny (But less so than the first film) but the plot is really unengaging, Malkeith makes for a terrible villain and the ending is really quite poor.

The film also distances itself from the MC quite a bit, there aren't as many nods as we're used to though the Captain America cameo was kind of neat.

I consider Dark World one of the weak links in the MCU, thankfully Thors next solo outing made up for it.

Rants

I don't know what it is with Portman but she's so remarkably unlikable. Is it her face? Is it her acting ability? Is it her real life personality? I honestly don't know what my issue is. She just looks like someone who would kick me between the legs, put a cigarette out in my eye and expect me to say thank you.

Breakdown

Some funny moments A few solid cast members Malkeith is a terrible villain Inconsistent tones Plenty of bland moments.

Well I was so looking forward to seeing this movie when I went last night, and although it was reasonably good it was not at all what I expected.

Watch the official movie trailer and you see what looks like quite a dark fantasy, so you can imagine my surprise when throughout the movie the audience was laughing out loud at the stupid one liners. Yes I know this is entertainment, and this movie was moderately entertaining, but once again the makers have tried to please everyone by adding a bit of everything; action, special effects, romance and humour, just far too much of the latter for my taste in a genre that does not require hilarity to succeed.

Although it has a lower IMDb score I much preferred the 2011 Thor, a stronger storyline, darker and no laughing matter!

The acting was solid. The production value was superb. Everything else was really poor.

The back story and character motivations are laughably sparse. Most of the characters are completely one-dimensional, with the possible exception of Loki. The plot is the most boring and typical of all action plots - some "bad dudes who happen to be really ugly" decide to "destroy the world for no reason other than being evil" and "only our hero can save us all", etc. Moreover, it was lazy writing - whenever an absolute miracle needed to happen, it conveniently did, every time.

Of course this is a mindless blockbuster Marvel movie so we shouldn't expect much. But the thing is that these kinds of films CAN be made with a reasonable plot, pacing, and character development. The writers were obviously just going through the motions to cash in on the surefire moneymaker sequel, and from a business perspective it is hard to fault them. But it says a lot about the sad state of Hollywood in 2013 that this film currently has a 7.7 on IMDb.

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. This sequel is one such moment. I do need to see it again. In terms of pure enjoy-ability, I put it top 3 of all sequels that I have enjoyed.

What I really liked...

-Every single character gets a moment to shine and every single actor cast in these parts are perfect.

-The comedy is perfect. It's such a fine balance overall and everything works because it's very subtle and fits in with certain circumstances.

-Some very tender emotional scenes. I won't spoil anything with specifics.

-Some superb action and what could very well be award winning special effects.

-All characters interactions are great and handled very well. This is a fantasy story that really cares about character first and it shows all the way through. Even Natalie Portman's Jane feel more fleshed out than she did in the original film.

-The set pieces and other realms talked about in the first are seen here and are beautiful and well done. Asgard was even better believe it or not.

-The mid-credit and end credit scenes, both cool. Make sure you stay for both.

Marvel hit a pure home run with this endeavor. This film works because of the great cast and the fact that they took this subject matter seriously but remember to have fun. Chris Hemsworth was again perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

I know this film has been ragged on by many people, but I really enjoyed it. Was great seeing Asgard, and how Mjolnir followed Thor around was wonderful. Hey, Thos has always been one of my favorite characters, and Hemsworth plays him so well.