THOR: The Dark World

Ah now, here's a familiar sight - another Marvel movie. This week, Thor: The Dark World was released on DVD, another which I did not get to see upon general release in the cinemas, yet I was happy to buy it as I am quite the Marvel fan, and I enjoyed the first Thor film. However, as all Marvelites will of course know, this film is not just a direct sequel from Thor, but it is also a tentative follow up from the epic and greatly received Avengers Assemble (which, among others featured Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki). Robert Downey Jnr already made his difficult third album and post-Avengers film a success with Iron Man 3 last year (for my review of this, see the PAST BLOG APPEARANCES section) and make no mistake we are due several more outings from various Avengers to say the least very soon. Here however, it was the turn of the Thor franchise to return.

Though there was all the right amounts of mythical and fast-paced action, stunning CGI sequences and scenery, and even healthy helpings of humour that fans have come to expect, most of the plot and character developments fell slightly flat in my opinion, I'm afraid. By far and away, and perhaps predictably, the stand out performances were seen in the interplay between Thor and Loki, played by Hemsworth and Hiddleston respectively. Indeed, their love/hate relationship was easily the most watchable and most enjoyable, even compared to the main love story which apparently came in the form of Thor and Jane, played by Natalie Portman. Now I have no shortage of respect and admiration for Natalie Portman and her work; I think she is a truly great actress. Yet in this film, when offered the opportunity to clearly evolve and add new elements to her character and her relationship, I'm not sure she has succeeded. Yes, she is now (SPOILER ALERT etc) aware of Thor and gets to see into his world, but the core essence of Jane is still I feel Thor's love interest who gets a tiny slice of the action, but is in essence just a modern damsel in distress. 

We also get to see some more welcome  and familiar faces. From Earth, we have Dr. Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard who has also featured in Thor and the Avengers, and was a humorous and human touch, along with the endearing Darcy, played by Kat Dennings. We even get a nice cameo from Chris Evans as Captain America. From Asgard we see the return of various characters, including legendary actor Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Rene Russo as Frigga, and Jaimie Alexander as Sif. 

Yet with almost all of these characters, it feels as if they were just looking for an excuse to stick them in for the sake of familiarity, and not to develop them, as we were promised during the run up to the film. OK, maybe Selvig, Darcy, and possibly Odin escape this, but you feel this is only because they generally stick to what their characters are known and loved for, with added embellishment and reaction to the new plot goings on. But broadly speaking, nearly all of the characters in Thor 2, whilst being a welcome sight, seemed to disappoint quite badly in terms of the direction, or lack of, in which they were heading in my view.

Even the one severe influx of new, i.e new villain Malekith played by renowned actor (and 9th Doctor) Christopher Eccleston, was almost drowned out by all the plot bombardment and lame character inputs. In essence, I did get the impression that character/actor wise, it was all more of the same trying to dress up as exciting and new, a disguise that was extremely fragile to say the least.

I mentioned the Thor/Loki element of The Dark World, which I maintain was the best bit of the film (despite being heavily featured in two films prior already). I do wonder, despite Chris Hemsworth obviously being very much Thor and Tom Hiddleston portraying Loki brilliantly, if this might continue to be enough if we are due to see the characters again. At least one more sequel was heavily hinted at, and if that is to happen Thor and Loki, whilst being incredibly and enjoyably integral to the story, will have to be two jewels in a well stocked crown I think.

So yes, I feel that quite a few mixed messages stopped this film from being a true belter, and perhaps Thor: The Dark World fell slightly short of Iron Man 3, in terms of post-Avengers glory. Yet in terms of  a Marvel blockbuster, it certainly did not fail to deliver and was and is a commercial success. It did not kill off the Thor franchise, and rightly so I think, because I do believe it's one that has a bit more to give yet.