No lie, I was really looking forward to seeing the new Thor movie for one man, and one man only: Loki.
And boy he does not disappoint. All that sass, those one liners and that hair. Oh, and Thor is pretty good too.
“Thor: The Dark World” is one of the better superhero sequels to come out in Marvel’s superhero movie series.
Like the first one, this movie opens with ancient battles of the past. In a voice over, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) retells the story of how the Dark Elves led by Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) threatened to destroy the universe. Odin’s father, King Bor (Tony Curran), defeats the Dark Elves and hides the Malekith’s powerful weapon, the Aether (think Tesseract from “The Avengers” but more liquidy), somewhere where no one can find it.
Well, no one except Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Trying to get over her “breakup” with Thor (Chris Hemsworth), she’s all but given up on science — until her witty intern Darcy (the always hilarious Kat Dennings) shows her something crazy space, time thing. There she stumbles upon the Aether and back into Thor’s strong, muscular arms where he brings her to Asgard for help.
From there it’s a crazy space adventure with gods, elves and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
This movie is an improvement on past Marvel sequels. No offense to “Iron Man 2” and “Iron Man 3,” but this movie just seems more put together. Everything from the action scenes to the plot is stronger, as well as the jokes. Even when it starts to get a little cheesy between Thor and Loki, Hiddleston’s one liners and attitude bring it back to the situation at hand.
The costume design and makeup are also on par in this film. The Dark Elves are freaky looking dudes — like a cross between vampires and demonic-looking elves from The Lord of the Rings.
Christopher Eccleston as Malekith is merciless and makes Hiddleston’s Loki look like an angsty teenager grounded in his room.
It was cool to see more of Asgard in this movie and how badass it and its people are. Shout out to the Queen Frigga (Rene Russo) for her graceful fighting moves.
That being said, Portman’s Jane is kind of a disappointment. Sure, her science helps save the day and all, but I was hoping for more toughness from her. Even Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) had her moment at the end of “Iron Man 3.” But I guess female characters in Marvel movies can’t all be warrior maidens like Sif (Jaimie Alexander), who if you ask me did not get enough screen or battle time.
Still, Loki made it all worth it. He’s in the movie a lot more than I had expected, to which Loki fans will all be pleased. He’s got great character development which may or may not be based on lies — It’s hard to tell with the Trickster God.
There was plenty of humor, too. Marvel and all the directors of the various movies so far have done a marvelous job balancing the right amount of humor with action (and emotion if the situation calls for it).
This film is definitely a must see. Though it might be a bit weird seeing a typical “summer blockbuster” in the middle of fall, it’s a great treat if movies like “The Counselor” are getting too heavy for you.
I give “Thor: The Dark World” three out of four Mjölnir. No Oscar nods though. Sorry Thor, but hey, you’re still the God of Thunder. Oh, and stay till the very end — after all the credits. You will not be disappointed.
