Thor : The Dark World

THOR : THE DARK WORLD



Director : Alan Taylor

Year : 2013

Genre : Superhero

Rating : ***1/2



Continuing the seemingly never ending 'Avengers' series, 'Thor : The Dark World' serves as both a sequel to 2010's 'Thor' directed by Kenneth Branagh and Joss Whedon's 2012 superhero epic 'The Avengers'. Once again starring Chris Hemsworth as the God Of Thunder, 'Thor : The Dark World' expands the characters from the previous movie and builds upon the worlds and the universe in which the lore is set. Helming this picture is Alan Taylor, a director whose work may not be so well known as Branaghs and it is clear that he uses this ambiguous and somewhat art house nature to his advantage. Oh, 'Thor : The Dark World' is as CGI filled and as visually stunning as the next mega budget blockbuster, but the screenplay is a lot wittier and more involving than one may expect from a film about a character who goes around hitting things with a magical mallet.
 

Following on from one year after the events of 'The Avengers Assemble', the entire universe is in a state of collapse. Loki (the main antagonist of both 'Thor' and 'The Avengers Assemble') is thrown into prison and Thor is sent to travel the galaxy cleaning up the mess left behind. However, a new danger is on the horizon in the form of Malekith played by Christopher Eccleston; an ancient elf leader who is determined to plunge the universe into eternal darkness with the help of a mystical fluid - like substance known as the Aether. Seeking help from the love of his life Jane played by Natalie Portman as well as his villainous brother Loki played brilliantly by Tom Hiddlestone, Thor must put his own existence at risk in an endeavour to save the entire cosmos.

In the first movie, Kenneth Branagh did a brilliant job of setting up the various characters as well as the worlds in which they live. Making each separate character recognisable and easily identifiable, the director would successfully manage to put to screen a comic book that many fans said was unfilmable. Now in 2013, Alan Taylor has used Branaghs designs and visual style as a fantastic springboard to expand on this universe and turns 'Thor : The Dark World' into a high voltage, adrenaline fuelled adventure. While I have never read the Stan Lee comics myself, I found myself involved, intrigued and very in tune with the ideas and the scenarios that were being laid out before my eyes and thanks to great performances from all of the cast, I never found myself losing interest or becoming bored by the ridiculously ludicrous material. There may be one too many fight scenes and the sight of Thor hitting people with his hammer does become somewhat rather repetitive at times, but Chris Hemsworth does a very good job of making his character much more than just a conventional hero who reacts before he thinks with snappy dialogue and a very likable personality.

Chris Hemsworth is brilliant as the eponymous hero and his charisma and love for the material shines through the elaborate special effects and costumes. Recently, he has gained universal praise playing James Hunt in the brilliant biopic 'Rush' and I do hope that he will be offered more serious parts in the future. The very great Anthony Hopkins is as reliable as ever as the one eyed Odin and Tom Hiddlestone is relishing every minute playing the deceptive and conniving Loki. At the centre of both of the 'Thor' movies is the relationship between the thunder God and his mischievous brother and arch nemesis. Forced to hate each other but still at heart brothers, both Hemsworth and Hiddlestone do a brilliant job of showing both the hatred and the underlying forgiveness and empathy that one has towards a sibling. Of course the difference between us humans and  Thor and Loki is that an argument could cause the utter destruction of Earth, so the stakes certainly feel higher but both films successfully portrayed the unconditional love that someone has for family members; echoed in the banter - like dialogue which provides many good laughs. Now, some fans may argue that the romance between Thor and Jane is the main focal point of these films, but to me this device only serves as the necessary romantic attraction that is needed to make the supernatural protagonist seem more human and therefore, more relatable. At it's heart, the 'Thor' movies are about learning to forgive and to forget for the greater good.

While Loki was central villain in the previous movies, the main antagonist this time is the dark elf Malekith played with quiet menace by Christopher Eccleston and he successfully creates a palpable air of threat and danger in his demeanour and body language. I'm not sure that Malekith is as captivating an enemy as Loki was, but Eccleston does a good job of generating fear and dread through a mostly wordless performance. The supporting cast is also very good too; Idris Elba is a personal highlight as the all knowing all seeing gatekeeper Heimdall, Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings provide good comic relief as the inquisitive and passionate scientists on Earth and while not given really much to do but be the typical damsel in distress archetype, Natalie Portman does a perfectly good job playing the brilliantly intelligent Jane Porter.

I don't really have many complaints about 'Thor : The Dark World'. It is designed beautifully, directed with attention and love for the source material and the acting is way above par for your average Autumn blockbuster. I'm not so sure it warrants a two hour long running time and I could have done with less fight scenes and more emotionally driven face to face conflict. I am personally now bored of this particular Marvel franchise and I do hope that Disney will soon stop leeching millions upon millions of dollars out of the general public's wallets and purses. There is only so far that filmmakers can go with these characters before we see everything that they could possibly do and I certainly feel that that is the case with Thor. However having said that, 'Thor : The Dark World' is up there as one of the better episodes in this series. It is not as wordy and as contrived as 'Thor' or 'The Incredible Hulk', it is certainly more enjoyable than the yawn inducing 'Captain America' and the action scenes and special effects rival that of any of the 'Iron Man' movies or 'The Avengers Assemble'. As I say,  I'm not sure how many more 'Avengers' movies I can take but if they are as purely entertaining as 'Thor : The Dark World', then I'm sure I can grit my teeth through a couple more yet.