It’s not as bad as Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” but it’s no “Avengers” either. Of all comic book movies, “Thor: The Dark World” is one of them. A follow up to “Thor” and “The Avengers,” it meets somewhere in the middle of their appeal and quality.
If you loved “Thor,” then this is more of the same. There are plenty of hammer swings and one liners by Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Oscar winner Natalie Portman charms as Jane Foster, Thor’s sweetheart scientist now based in London. The characters ease back into their roles. The action’s constant. It’s comfortable. Which isn’t always good.
"DARK WORLD" IS SURPRISINGLY LIGHT
Thor’s back to his old antics: bumbling through Earth and saving the universe. The latest brand of cosmic threat is Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), leader of the near-extinct dark elves, who is trying to bring darkness to the nine realms of the universe. Unfortunately, the organic weapon Malekith hopes to use, the Aether, ends up inside Jane, starting an intergalactic hide-and-go-seek game.
The movie explores tucked-away crevices of the Marvel ocean. But this strange and massive water is stagnant. Jokes zip between tossed cars and falling buildings. It’s an exciting ride, but we’ve sat through it before. The ties to past films — and a superhero cameo — add some freshness, but advances to the Marvel and Thor worlds are not proportional to the runtime. It plays out like a made-for-TV movie that was adapted for the big screen with an embellished budget. There’s a missing depth, and it shows.
Director Alan Taylor is a television hotshot. He’s directed episodes for “Game of Thrones,” “Mad Men,” “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.” But here, he mixes underwhelming stakes with overwhelming circumstances. For a subtitle like “The Dark World,” it’s light. Asgard is blitzed, but not wasted. Deaths feel insincere. London is threatened, but we know Thor always wins. And the Aether could kill Jane, but she’s played by Natalie Portman.
Then there’s Tom Hiddleston. This movie needs more Loki. In fact, all of the Marvel movies need more characters like Loki. Though greatly underused, Loki’s lines and demeanor commands every shot he’s in, even if it’s just him standing in a prison cell. His questionable intentions and sinister mischief cuts more sharply than almost every other Marvel character. He’s in rank with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner as Marvel’s best. They’re interesting because they’re challenged and developed. They have unpredictable arcs and human depth. And they’re fun to watch because of it.
It will be interesting to see what Marvel Studios does with their characters. They plan to roll out less household names soon — Guardians of the Galaxy, Ultron, Ant-man, Scarlet Witch — which hopefully means more risk towards complex and honest characters like Loki, Iron Man and Hulk. But their name might be risk enough, forcing the new characters into a predictable pattern.
"FAILS TO REACH THE HYPE"
But half of the Marvel movie experience is watching their universe unwind. They’re individual comic books. You wait for each installment where it expands and connects the Marvel world into a unifying trade issue. Film series are common, but with a television show tie-in, this will be the first time a studio has attempted a project with this scope. It’s exciting to witness it unfold.
“Thor: The Dark World” is another installment in the Marvel story. By itself, it fails to reach the hype it set itself up for. But as a piece in the project, it details and enriches the Marvel movie universe. This is a movie for fans. But if you’re anyone else, you’ll be counting the minutes and yawns between Hiddleston.
