Movie Review: Thor- The Dark World

Christmas came early folks. Thor: The Dark World is everything my inner seven year old wanted to see and more. If you didn't already know, Thor Odinson has been my favorite comic book character for the last two decades. Watching the first Thor movie on the big screen was surreal. Sure, he spent half the film trapped in mortal form on Earth, but the Asgard scenes and the finale on the rainbow bridge were exquisite. Also, the fight between Thor and Hulk in Avengers remains the greatest thing I've ever experienced in life. srs bro.

So Thor 2 has more of Thor being Thor. He's learned from his experiences in Marvel's phase one films and is no longer seeking his father's approval and trying to earn his stripes. No, from the first moments of The Dark World he's established as Asgard's #1 ass kicker extraordinaire. He controls the elements, flys with mjolnir at breakneck speeds, dukes it out with super strong baddies, woos the ladies and lays the smack down across the nine realms. It's glorious.

Speaking of glorious. Loki is back. Yes, the coolest villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Thor's pesky brother (albeit, adopted) returns and once again, almost steals the entire film with his nefarious grin and treacherous schemes. He's like Hannibal Lecter and Health Ledger's Joker combined, but with better hair. Lady Sif has a slightly larger role than in the first film which is good because Jamie Alexander is gorgeous and I'd love to see them explore the love triangle between her, Jane and ol' Goldilocks himself, but alas, she had to go and damn near break her break back while filming the movie. I'm sure that nasty accident put a damper on her screen time. The Dark Elves are worthy successors in terms of villains but are still a bit underwhelming.They're as menacing as the Frost Giants from the first film, but seem more like disposable enemies ala the Putty Patrol from Power Rangers.

I guess my only gripe with Thor 2 is that it's not all that original. Some of the Dark Elf tech looks straight out of Prometheus, even their leader Malekith looks like an Engineer with a ponytail. Also, many of the films gags (and there are tons of them) although hilarious, feel a bit recycled. I'm guessing the Marvel/Disney overlords decided to play it safe with this one and expand upon the safest elements of Thor's mythos. There's more special effects, more interplay between the realms, more action, more comedy, more (February 2012 Female Obsession honoree) Natalie Portman & Kat Dennings, more more more of everything.

Deep down, I was hoping Thor: The Dark World didn't suck, because the last thing I wanted to do was sacrifice my cinephile street cred for my knee jerk comic book fanboy love at first sight reaction to Thor wrecking shit with his hammer. I mean, I saw how pathetic those Man of Steel defenders looked trying to vouch for such a horrible film. I didn't want to be that guy. Thankfully, Thor 2 is a wickedly fun movie. No it's not perfect and suffers from pacing issues as well as something I like to call, CGI overload, but overall it's a good action/adventure/comic book movie. It's the type of summer blockbuster we should have got earlier in the year. I mean, how serious can a film about a caped god who swings a magic hammer really be? Thor: The Dark World knows exactly what it is and continues the awesome intergalactic soap opera that is the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe....duh) in fine fashion. For Asgard!