Reviews Film / Thor The Dark World

Good but a little lacking

I've been mulling over Thor: The Dark World since we saw it. I would certainly say it's worth seeing if you were a fan of any of the previous Avengers-verse Marvel movies...it ties together both The Avengers and the first Thor, and takes things in directions both predictable and anything but. The effects are good; there are some subtlly neat character interactions and actions; the humor is well-used, especially any time Loki's on-screen; and the climax is another of the satisfyingly good romps that these movies have provided so far. The 3D is good but not necessary.

That, however, brings me to my three biggest gripes. The first is that Malekith, for all his starey menace (and once I realized that the guy who played the Ninth Doctor played him, that made that aspect even better), just isn't that interesting of a villain, especially in comparison to Loki in the aforementioned films. The best moments of the film are when he's not on-screen and the focus is on the drama between Thor, Loki, their parents, and Jane. The second is that the Thor/Sif/Jane tension that was hinted at in the trailers is barely explored, although I suppose if/when there's a third film it could factor in more. The last is more of a whine than anything. I really missed the quasi-Shakespearean feel that Kenneth Branagh's direction brought to the first Thor...not that this director is bad (he does Game of Thrones, after all) but it's just not the same.

The first stinger felt clumsy but made me even more interested in future plot developments in this verse, especially in light of what was revealed in the first stinger in The Avengers. The second was just amusing.