Thor: The Dark World

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Paul

Thor is great isn't he? He's got his hammer and his cape and his flowing golden mane. Naww. There is a completely gratuitous shirtless scene in this one. At least in the first film there was dialogue going on when he took his shirt off and the action was motivated in the scene and help set up Janes attraction to him. Here though, it's like they realised he never takes his shirt off in their final edit so they quickly shot this scene and added it in. But you know what, I really don't mind.

Marvel has a new logo guys!

Never expected to see Ichi the Killer in a marvel comic movie. And now he's been in 2! Wish he had more to do though. Quite a few characters get shafted but really the story is long enough without them. Getting Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor worked a treat. And as dark as the trailer makes it seem there's still plenty of hilarious moments throughout, many of which come from Kat Dennings who somehow manages to just stay this side of annoying. Stellan Skarsgård is rather funny to.

Our villain this time is pretty standard 80's sci-fi fantasy stuff. They weren't really focused on for much of the film and feel pretty underdeveloped. I think they could have been utilised more, their backstory is pretty intriguing. But the mechanics of their evil plan and the substance that's involved in it is all rather nebulous with no real rules established as to what the effects are or what damage it can do. Which makes everything feel sort of low stakes. They are still getting away with simply having Natalie Portman saying "SCIENCE!" and that all the explanation we need.

Instead of focusing the tension on the bad guys and the end of the universe the film is more concerned with the relationship between step-brothers Thor and Loki. And to be fair, the audience is probably more concerned with these fan favourites too.

I'm glad we got some glimpses of a few more realms but I wish they looked a little more fantastic, not just a forest or a desert. Perhaps they are saving all the crazy space fantasy for Guardians of the Galaxy next year, which they deftly set up with a glimpse of one of our main characters in the end credits here.

On the whole, a lot of fun but I think they missed many an opportunity to ratchet up the stakes. Still, always nice to spend some more time with my favourite Norse God.