Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World
SPOILER ALERT. I’M NOT HOLDING BACK.
I enjoyed the first movie and I enjoyed the sequel even more! Thor: The Dark World was loads of action-filled fun!
A lot of that fun came from the humour in this movie. There were plenty of simple but effective bits. Darcy’s witty one liners (similar to Kat Denning’s brand of humour in 2 Broke Girls), and Thor’s fish out of water gags made the cinema chuckle. And the one bit that inspired both laughter and awe was the cameo of….wait for it….CAPTAIN AMERICA himself! I literally didn’t stop my girlish “WOOOOAAAAHHH” the whole minute or so ha was on screen!
That’s not to say it was all fun and gags, there was heart as well, especially when delivered by Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Trust my rage, as he so aptly put it. Tom Hiddleston portrays a mischievous anti-hero with a lot of hurt and anger in his heart. I say anti-hero because he never felt like a full on villain. Neither was he ever a full-on hero. You never really quite knew which side he was on. But as he said, Trust his rage. The only thing you knew for sure was that he was angry at both the Dark Elves and the Asgardian royalty. The only side Loki was on was the Loki side. The Loki scenes, personally, made the movie much more intriguing. (Especially loved the moment after Loki found out about his mother. Strong.)
Trust my rage.
I’m pretty satisfied to see that Jane Foster and her gang had more to do this time around. I mean, I’m glad the writers actually had them join the final battle instead of just being your stereo-typical damsel/s in distress. I even dare to say that they were fighting just as much as Thor was in that final confrontation. Same with Frigga (Rene Russo), who da thunk she was a complete bad ass with a sword??
And CHUCK! Seeing Zachary Levi as Fandral was delightful! But this is just the Chuck fan in me talking. I do wish he had more screen time though. And speaking of underutilized actors, Anthony Hopkin/s Odin and Ray Stevenson’s Volstagg, felt a little absent. Sure Odin was in most of the movie, I just didn’t feel like he had any great material. And lastly, Sif (Jaimie Alexander). I sensed a build-up of some sort of love triangle between Thor, Sif and Jane, but it never really materialized. Shame. There could’ve been a lot to explore in that dynamic.
Two of the Warriors Three. Barely saw the other one.
Chuck cosplaying (You will always be Chuck to me.)
Lady Sir, otherwise known as the Éponine of Thor
As with the first Thor movie, the fight scenes were great and heavy hitting. Some people say the action here was so much better, as it was Alan Taylor on the director’s helm. His experience in directing war scenes in Game of Thrones reflected well on this movie. But honestly, I wasn’t able to see the influence. Maybe because I was so caught up in character moments. Maybe when I re-watch it, I’ll think differently. (But kudos to the trippy “world to world” fist fight at the end.)
The artistry in the set design and CGI was a visual spectacle. Asgard was majestic (almost divine) and the Yggdrasil/World Tree was just beautiful. The other realms visited in the final battle were also amazingly constructed. So much detail was put into each world and even though some of them were just given a few seconds of screen time, there’s still a unique character to them.
Thor: The Dark World had a lot of fun moments. Especially when Loki was on screen. It wasn’t perfect, but the quibbles I have on some of the characters were trivial. All in all, this was a great instalment in the Thor franchise. The quality of the first 2 movies and that set up in the end with Loki is getting me excited for the 3rd one!
PS. There are 2 end credits scenes. Although it’s a lead in to another Marvel franchise, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed by it. Unlike the Mjolnir end credit scene on Iron Man, and the Tony Stark meets General Ross on Incredible Hulk, this end credit scene didn’t excite me much. But oh well.:) Here’s hoping the actual Guardians movie is better.:)
PPS. The scene after Loki is released by Thor and they’re walking a long hallway was, for me, one of the best scenes in the movie. It showed a playful brotherly dynamic that reminded me of the past these two shared. And like true brothers, fights are never permanent, but more like temporary bickering. So I’m hoping (even though it may be inconsistent with the comic book history) that these two really do reconcile eventually. (Affected much?)
Asgardian Bromance
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