Upon Further Review: Thor: The Dark World

Upon Further Review

Hello CBMers!!!
After watching a film in multiple viewings, my opinions on them become more defined and clear. These reviews entail three parts: the good, the bad, and the questionable. After the compilation will come the final grade for the film.

"If we do nothing, they will destroy us."
-Thor

Thor: The Dark World

What's it about?

Thor: The Dark World continues the saga of Thor, picking up after the events of Thor and The Avengers. We learn of an evil realm populated by Dark Elves, who once tried to destroy the universe with an ultimate power known as the Aether. They were lead by Malekith, who fled into hiding after suffering defeat the first time, he now awaits for the Aether's rediscovery. Thor has been restoring order throughout the separate realms. Loki is imprisoned on Asgard. Things are set into motion when Thor's love, Jane Foster, stumbles upon the Aether becoming infused with it. This awakens Malekith who reassembles his forces in order to regain the Aether and destroy the universe. Now Thor must make unlikely alliances as he attempts to save Jane and prevent the universe from being plunged into darkness.

The Good

• Hammer. Never before has Thor's hammer been put to such good use. He displays a wide range of his powers from using the hammer for flight to lightning.

• Acting. Solid acting in this film. I enjoyed Hopkins' Odin more so in this film. Dennings and Portman were fine as well as Hemsworth in the titular role. Russo was delightfully good as Frigga.

• Effects. The effects and action were incredibly rendered. Some thrilling spaceship-like scenes.

• Comedy. There are some genuine good laughs. Despite hearing much criticism of the humor in this film, I found no problem with it.

The Bad

• Villains. Malekith feels like such a wasted opportunity. Despite a strong actor in the role, he's hardly defined and has little motivation. The Dark Elves were simply uninteresting, and seemed to pose little threat.

• Pace. Everything moves so fast and things begin to become overly convenient. It creates an odd sense of confusion, you may question a bunch of elements from spaceships to sword and sandal warriors with guns. Dramatic elements feel rushed and shoehorned in.

• Boring. I found myself far to bored during this film, despite its relatively short runtime. The settings were dreary and monochromatically boring. The characters are far to plain, especially the Asgardians. That includes Loki, whose shtick feels absolutely tiresome in this. Even the plot is boring.

The Questionable

• What's up with that after credits scene?

• Are we missing something, film?

• Why do you use swords and axes to fight when you got laser-like gun turrets?

• What is Loki really up to?

• Why do they ride horses when they have hover boats?


In the end

The greatest offense of this film was how boring it seemed to me. I'd forgotten large chunks of the movie after the initial viewing. Thor was great, but he's put into this generic uninspired routine. Loki felt tired and the villains were incredibly plain. The action is wonderful and the acting is good. There are a few interesting aspects from Thor's hammer to his teaming up with Loki. This feels like a lazy effort and will rank amongst the bottom tier of Marvel's films for me. I liked the first Thor film alot and found this to be a bland return to the world. Disappointing.

Grade

C


Thanks for reading and take care.