Bringing the Hammer Down on “Thor 2”

Written by Tyler Lamb. Media by Austin Stephens.

Thor: The Dark World is the second movie in the Thor series and the eighth movie taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It stars Chris Hemsworth (Cabin in the Woods, Rush), Natalie Portman (Black Swan, V for Vendetta), Christopher Eccleston (28 Days Later, G.I. Joe) and is directed by Alan Taylor (The Emperor’s New Clothes, Palookaville).

This film brings in a new villain in the dark elves and their leader Malekith (Eccleston). With the power of something they call the Aether, Malekith intends to bring down the universe as the realms all align. Thor (Hemsworth) has to recruit the help of his imprisoned brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in order to bring this threat down for good.

Here is where the first problem seems to appear. There is not enough time spent to develop this new villain. Instead we are given more screen time with Loki and his character is developed more. Now, I do not dislike the character of Loki and I think Hiddleston does an amazing job, but it’s about time we take a break from him. There have been two movies now that have focused on him as a main character, and now they should work on developing other villains. This is a prime example of why they should do that, because not much is really told about the Dark Elves’ past or Malekith himself. It seems they just want to destroy the universe because they were beaten by Odin’s dad once. Eccleston is an amazing actor and it would have been nice for him to have had more screen time and a villain with better, more clear motives.

One of the great things about this movie was the time spent away from Earth. There were plenty more scenes taking place either on Asgard and the other realms, and it was awesome to see. Having Sif and the Warriors Three be more developed was great as well, but still you are left wanting more of them in the film. They help make the movie great at its highest points and it seems as though the low points all take place on Earth with Portman and Dennings. Some things just happen for no reason and are obvious plot devices, and others just happen simply to set up a joke for later. The weak points of this film are clearly the scenes in London, and that includes the final battle.

Overall there were a lot of things to like about this movie. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of little things that were bad that added up over the course of the 112 minute runtime. Things like Kurse altering Mjölnir’s path, the convenient structural integrity of the B-Wing knock offs, and Thor not ever summoning lightning but it just appearing on Mjölnir sometimes. A lot of other things can’t really be mentioned without spoiling the movie, but they are there. The current “consensus” that rottentomatoes.com has conjured up as of right now states “It may not be the finest film to come from the Marvel Universe, but Thor: The Dark World still offers plenty of the humor and high-stakes action that fans have come to expect.” I agree with this statement completely, but not in a good way. It seems, as of late, they have been focusing a bit too much on the humor of their movies and not the actual character development or overall advancement of the universe they’ve created. The mid credits scene in this movie goes back to the formula of giving an extra scene afterwards to connect and advance the overall plot to upcoming and upcoming movie, this time being Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, there is another scene after the full credits roll that is worse than the one offered in Iron Man 3.

After viewing the movie and having sometime to think about it, it is better than Iron Man 3, but not as good as the first Thor. A lot of people are throwing out titles such as “best comic book movie of the year” or “best Marvel movie next to Avengers.” The only one I would offer as an accolade would be “best Marvel movie SINCE Avengers,” but that isn’t a very prestigious award in my mind. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the movie, with complete spoilers, check out this week’s podcast featuring Austin Stephens and me, in which we discuss the movie in full.

2 hulking ice monsters Thor seems to have no problem with leaving on Earth out of 4

Runtime: 112min

Director: Alan Taylor

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Christopher Eccelston, Tom Hiddelston, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman