Friday, November 8, 2013

Thor The Dark World Review: Lightning Strikes Twice...Sorta!


The Avengers have taken the movie world by storm; but aside from Iron Man, if there has been any character that has made big impression on silver screen, it would be The God of Thunder: Thor. Whether you enjoy the interpretation, or just like Tom Hiddleston's Loki, the fact is that Thor has become a must see hero on screen. The character's journey began in the summer of 2011 and now the Thunderer's adventures continues in Thor: The Dark World. Directed by Alan Taylor, The Dark World brings Marvel's Phase 2 to the Holiday Season;which is a new step for the studio. Business standpoints aside, is the next chapter of Thor worthy of not just the The Mighty Avenger, but Marvel Studios?

The Dark World continues the tale of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Since the destruction of Bifrost, The God of Thunder has been restoring order to the nine realms while missing his mortal love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). However when Jane discovers a power called the Aether, Thor takes her to Asgard. Just as things get more puzzling, the ancient Dark Elves awaken and attack the Asgardians. To stop the Dark Elves' leader Malekith (Christopher Eccelstein) and protect Jane, Thor must do the unthinkable and make an unlikely ally: his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston)

I found The Dark World's story to be straightforward. This is cased example of what you see is what you get. Unfortunately, that was a problem. I wanted to see more from this story. There was bigger then life adventure just waiting to be explored in this film, but it never took off. Yet just because story wasn't perfect, doesn't mean it's a bad plot. The story is easy to get into and it does build itself up. The Dark World indeed has a cinematic tale; but a subplot or two would not have hurt anything.

If there was one thing I could count on, it was the character. The 2011 film gave us two strong characters out of Thor and Loki, so I could only hope for the best in this new film. It is safe to say that both Thor and Loki are established characters; which made it difficult for two to develop any further. Despite that, Hemsworth and Hiddleston continue to impress as the Asgardian pair. Unfortunately I can't say the same for everyone else. At the very least, every character had something to do in this sequel; but I was really hoping for some development. For example, Lady Sif (Jaime Alexander) look as if she was going to receive a prominent importance in this film; but her time never came. This also goes for the film's villain: Malekith. Marvel has been good with their villains, but as a character, Malekith did not go anywhere. He was threatening and nothing more. Then again, if you know his source material, there was not much to work with. The character development could have been better, but the overall performances were good; which saves this element.

Thor: The Dark World continues a trend of Marvel films by being technically flawless. The visuals are a sight to be hold. I was impressed seeing how Alan Taylor's direction in the likes of Asgard differ from Kenneth Branagh. I felt that Alan Taylor explored the ideas created in Thor by furthering the blend of mysticism and science fiction. Along with great visuals came the stunning action. The sequences were another great edition to the Marvel Universe by combining practicality and special effects. 


The Dark World had a number of good scenes. To no surprise, one of these moments deals with Thor and Loki together. However, the scene that really stood out was the final battle between Thor and Malekith. Marvel is getting good at making their fights stand out, and this fight was no different. It captures the idea of how these godly characters wood duel, and it did it in a unique fashion. 


As the storm begins to settle, it appears that Thor:The Dark World is not as strong as the other Marvel films. There was so much potential in this film to be great; but instead what we got was just a good film. I find that The Dark World is a bridging sequel. This is a kind a film that will help us get from Thor to Thor 3. So there is a point to this movie. Aside from that, the movie was solid enough.  The Dark World may not have been a great sequel, but it was still a good continuation to Thor's Cinematic Adventures. 




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