Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, Zachary Levi, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Chris O’Dowd
Directed By: Alan Taylor
In the world of Marvel sequels, almost every sequel has built on the first one. Spider-Man 2, X2, Blade 2, Captain America 2, The Wolverine, and some would argue about Iron Man 2, but I’d say it was maybe even? Thor: The Dark World takes a step backward, which I haven’t really seen since… well… honestly both Ghost Riders are terrible, so it’s hard to tell. I guess if you consider Elektra a sequel to Daredevil, then perhaps. I think the only real contender would be Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It felt like that.
I think the problem was shifting from director Kenneth Branaugh, who did a solid job with the first Thor, and giving the reigns to Alan Taylor, a TV director. Yes, he does have a few Game Of Thrones episodes behind him, but he also directed The Playboy Club pilot, which wasn’t good at all. He wasn’t ready for this. Also, the five people credited with writing the story/screenplay could have done a better job and given him a better plot.
Malekith wants to destroy the world! There’s this mystical element that no one talked about before, but we learn about through exposition, and Malekith wants it… so he can destroy every realm. I don’t know why… it’s not really explained. Wouldn’t he just want to RULE the realms? Why destroy them? Is he suicidal?
For those who thought Natalie Portman had too much to do in Thor, well… you’ll hate this movie because she has even MORE to do. Lots of walking around and whining. She has even less chemistry with Thor in this film. And they’ve given Kat Dennings a lot more to do as well! Yay! Because that’s why people came and saw Thor 2, was for more Kat Dennings.
Anthony Hopkins is really grouchy in this. Idris Elba gets more to do. Zachary Levi is almost unrecognizable, in an effort to make him look more like the guy he replaced. Stellan Skarsgard is looney. The only one who actually benefits from this movie is Tom Hiddleston as Loki, because it really fleshes his character out even more. He’s a conflicted bad guy, who might be capable of being an antihero. I hope we see more Loki in the future, because I’m intrigued with where his arc is headed, moreso than I care about either seeing Thor or Natalie Portman again.
Yes, the special effects were great, but the writing was slow and uneventful. It seems like plot elements are just made up, hoping that suspension of disbelief will carry over… instead it just seemed rather silly and pointless. And Kat Dennings, I love her, but she needs to not come back for Thor 3. The people who write Thor movies don’t know how to write for Kat Dennings, and she comes across as whiny and needy instead of sarcasticly hilarious.
FINAL GRADE: C
