****
Thor: The Dark World (aka Thor 2, aka why bother with these long ass titles no one will recall years later) is a nice installment in the Avengers superhero series. The flick was directed by Alan Taylor, who is slated to direct a new Terminator and has worked in TV up until this point. His credits include Game of Thrones and Sex and the City. I’m actually pretty impressed by that as the film looks amazing.
To 3D or not to 3D, that is the question? Thor 2 was converted to 3D, not filmed in it. Some scenes looked nicely dimensional but I don’t think that seeing it in 3D is a must.
The cast, which includes all of the main characters from the first Thor, is fantastic. I’ve read that some thought that Kat Dennings was used too much. I’m confused as to how there can be too much Kat Dennings.
The plot involves random portals that just pop up bridging worlds, which is pretty eye catching. The baddie is a freakin evil elf (Malekith, played by Christopher Eccleston but you can’t really spot him under the makeup/prosthetics). An elf might not sound scary but these elves look as though they’ve escaped from hell. Good job!
So there’s a feud between these elves and Thor’s dad, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), as well as that whole fabric of reality ripping apart to displace folks from other worlds thing going on. This makes for a lot of great action sequences.
While watching the first Thor I think that many of us thought, hey, what’s Asgard (Thor’s home planet) like? Now we know, it’s like the middle ages. There’s fighting and feasting and existentialism?
Well Thor is a bit broody in the beginning of this flick as he misses that hot scientist Jane (Natalie Portman), whom he met two years ago. WTF man? Yes, this movie does take place two years after the first. Apparently Thor totally never contacted her at all. That’s bullshit, okay. I write a dude off FOREVER after 3-4 weeks of not hearing from him. Don’t give me that viking crap, I’m pretty sure that even in the dark ages warriors tried to see their women every few months.
Okay, I must calm down. No wait, Loki’s in jail and his dad is still a prick. But at least his hair still looks fab, even when he can’t gel it down.
No, I don’t want to give too much away. There are a couple of twists. Hey, Loki’s a trickster man, we know this. There are also a couple of funny and interesting cameos plus the prerequisite one by Stan Lee.
Even without being able to tell you much without ruining it, if you enjoyed the first Thor then go see this sequel. You’ll most likely enjoy it. I know I did.
You want reasons? Cool special effects, check. Tom Hiddleston in handcuffs, check.
You may also enjoy:
2012 Wizard World Philly Comic Con: Thor Panel with Chris Hemsworth
Movie Review: The Avengers
Movie Rundown: May 2011-includes a mini review of Thor
photos via the official Thor 2 Facebook
