I’ve had my gripes with the whole Marvel Avengers timeline, like the scores of mediocre movies (looking at you “Captain America”) as well as a fairly disappointing follow up in “Iron Man 3.” And while “Thor: The Dark World” is by no means perfect, it is a worthy successor to the original Thor, and is very entertaining, though I don’t think it can really stack up to the likes of “Man of Steel.” The movie once again tries to take a stab at having a good plot and is met with partial success, and “Dark World” sees Thor doing battle with the likes of a ton of dark elves, led by Malekith the Accursed, who wants to destroy Earth or something, I actually wasn’t paying attention because watching Thor smash people with his hammer is way cooler than any form of plot.
Besides having great action scenes, “Dark World” also managed to make me actually care about Thor, as he is truly risking everything in this movie. He could lose his family, his home, and most importantly, Natalie Portman. And to pile even more stuff on to the oh-geez-that-must-really-suck band wagon, he has to resort to Loki for help, who could betray him at any second, because you know, he tried to destroy the world that one time. Thor has also changed a bit as a character. He has gonefrom an arrogant, angry meathead with a hammer to a more cool, collected and caring person who is willing to lay down everything he has to save those who he loves, and smash some elves in the process, making him much more likeable, and easier to relate to, or at least as relatable as a god can be.
The acting is pretty good as well, and by that I mean Tom Hiddleston was awesome as Loki. Loki is rapidly becoming my favorite villain of all time, based entirely on how he’s been portrayed in the Marvel movies. The big thing about how Loki is portrayed is that he always has a scheme. While he may look like he’s trying to save the universe, he’s actually plotting how to take over the world or something. He is essentially Marvel’s answer to the Joker, if the Joker was a god and could control people’s minds.
That being said, I have a fair share of gripes with this movie. The most noticable problem is that it tries too hard to be funny. And while I laughed when I was in the theater, after I thought about it for a bit, all the jokes seemed out of place, like if the entire cast of Seinfeld just walked onto a battlefield. “Iron Man 3″ suffered similar problems, unlike other Marvel movies, like “The Avengers,” which had a couple funny moments, but when things got serious, playtime was over, except for Tony Stark dropping an occansional joke in the midst of combat, while in Dark World, the characters are practically telling knock knock jokes in the middle of combat. Okay, it’s not that bad, but I wanted a gritty-ish remake of Thor doing battle with one of my favorite villains ever, not… this.
That being said, if you liked the last few Marvel movies, you will… like… “Dark World”? Maybe? It’s not bad, especially when compared to the previous Thor movie and “Iron Man 3,” but it’s by no means perfect, and it’s flaws are apparent when compared to something like the original “Iron Man” and “Man of Steel.” But I say give it a watch, because who knows, you might like it.
