The last time we saw Thor he got stabbed by Loki, punched by Hulk and ended up eating shawarma. And now, the God of Thunder returns in the second movie of the second phase of all things Marvel.
Thor: The Dark World sees Chris Hemsworth pick up his hammer once more and start swinging it at everything and anything as Asgard, Earth and a bunch of other planets and universes are under threat from a once thought extinct force, the Dark Elves. Combine this with some brotherly love from Loki and of course the generic love interest of Jane Foster and you get Thor: The Dark World. A movie that, much like Mjölnir (Thor’s hammer, but you geeks knew that anyway) takes a bit of time spinning around before it takes flight.
Its not until the second half of the movie that things start becoming genuinely enjoyable as Loki and Thor team up to kick some elven ass. It’s not that the first half of Thor: The Dark World is particularly bad or anything, its just a bit all over the place. Amidst its large battles and beautiful depictions of Asgard, it just meanders around the place trying to find its feet, and feels a little bit dragged out in places. Its like the writers never got their heads around the first few acts and ended up just winging it, especially when it revolves around the love interest, played by Natalie Portman. Even in the original movie, Portman never really convinced as a genuine true love for Thor and here, she’s even worse. Never convincing and while the majority of the plot revolves around her, she never really is believable in any capacity and, while a fine actress, is the weakest link in the Marvel Universe.
Chris Hemsworth delivers as one would expect, and its quite difficult to imagine anybody else swinging that hammer, but this movie belongs to Tom Hiddleston as Loki. And while he’s sadly underused in places, he is still a joy to behold. Thankfully Alan Taylor and co. shot extra scenes with him otherwise, we could have had a very different movie. It fair to say we can never have enough Loki! The Dark Elves themselves are particularly bad ass, and Malekith is cold, brutal and very scary thanks to a wonderful performance by Christopher Eccleston. Anthony Hopkins is quite watchable as Odin, which there is quite a bit more of this time round, but its unlikely he broke much of a sweat.
To Alan Taylor’s credit he has delivered a far more epic movie than what Branagh delivered. Branagh did a great job getting the character off the ground, but Taylor has certainly raised the bar a bit here, which is the way things should be. Expect to see alot more action and alot more of Asgard. There is a great sense of scale throughout and Taylor seems to be only left down by the story ultimately. His cast, excluding Portman are great and while the 3D adds nothing to the movie, it still is visually stunning in places. And be warned, Taylor is no stranger to a few death scenes from The Sopranos to Game Of Thrones, and Thor: The Dark World is no exception. You’ll have to pick your jaw up at least once, maybe twice even.
Overall, Thor The Dark World is left down by a first half that meanders around the place trying to find its feet, but once it gets going, its a damn fine piece of Asgardian entertainment!
Thor: The Dark World sees Chris Hemsworth pick up his hammer once more and start swinging it at everything and anything as Asgard, Earth and a bunch of other planets and universes are under threat from a once thought extinct force, the Dark Elves. Combine this with some brotherly love from Loki and of course the generic love interest of Jane Foster and you get Thor: The Dark World. A movie that, much like Mjölnir (Thor’s hammer, but you geeks knew that anyway) takes a bit of time spinning around before it takes flight.
Its not until the second half of the movie that things start becoming genuinely enjoyable as Loki and Thor team up to kick some elven ass. It’s not that the first half of Thor: The Dark World is particularly bad or anything, its just a bit all over the place. Amidst its large battles and beautiful depictions of Asgard, it just meanders around the place trying to find its feet, and feels a little bit dragged out in places. Its like the writers never got their heads around the first few acts and ended up just winging it, especially when it revolves around the love interest, played by Natalie Portman. Even in the original movie, Portman never really convinced as a genuine true love for Thor and here, she’s even worse. Never convincing and while the majority of the plot revolves around her, she never really is believable in any capacity and, while a fine actress, is the weakest link in the Marvel Universe.
Chris Hemsworth delivers as one would expect, and its quite difficult to imagine anybody else swinging that hammer, but this movie belongs to Tom Hiddleston as Loki. And while he’s sadly underused in places, he is still a joy to behold. Thankfully Alan Taylor and co. shot extra scenes with him otherwise, we could have had a very different movie. It fair to say we can never have enough Loki! The Dark Elves themselves are particularly bad ass, and Malekith is cold, brutal and very scary thanks to a wonderful performance by Christopher Eccleston. Anthony Hopkins is quite watchable as Odin, which there is quite a bit more of this time round, but its unlikely he broke much of a sweat.
To Alan Taylor’s credit he has delivered a far more epic movie than what Branagh delivered. Branagh did a great job getting the character off the ground, but Taylor has certainly raised the bar a bit here, which is the way things should be. Expect to see alot more action and alot more of Asgard. There is a great sense of scale throughout and Taylor seems to be only left down by the story ultimately. His cast, excluding Portman are great and while the 3D adds nothing to the movie, it still is visually stunning in places. And be warned, Taylor is no stranger to a few death scenes from The Sopranos to Game Of Thrones, and Thor: The Dark World is no exception. You’ll have to pick your jaw up at least once, maybe twice even.
Overall, Thor The Dark World is left down by a first half that meanders around the place trying to find its feet, but once it gets going, its a damn fine piece of Asgardian entertainment!
