- And the award for most-improved superhero sequel goes to Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World. Sure, it's still not a great movie and not even one of the top three Marvel films, but the first entry in the Thor series was so disappointing that this one feels like a masterpiece by comparison. The plot is the same as most Thor stories: some mystical badguys with a grudge against Asgard wreak havoc, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) tries to play the situation to his advantage, and the Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) steps in to save the day. In this case, the badguys are some long-lost dark elves, led by the fanatic Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and his stalwart warrior Kurse (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Admittedly, these two are relatively forgettable by supervillain standards, but that can happen when you completely bury perfectly good actors in makeup and costuming.
- On to the impressive parts of the film. First, Thor and Loki have never been better. I feel like I never quite warmed up to Loki as much as the rest of the internet, but I'll gladly admit that Hiddleston grants him a complexity that helps any film he's in. Thor, on the other hand, is never an especially deep character, but the movies are finally realizing that's just part of his charm. Along those lines, this film is to be commended for granting him a few moments of levity, my favorite of which features a confrontation with a rock giant. That said, the film's best moment involves the unexpectedly touching death of Thor's mother, Frigga (Rene Russo). After having too little to do in the first Thor, Frigga, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) all succeed in lending some much-needed character to these proceedings.
- It's at this point that you may notice I haven't mentioned Earth and its various human denizens. Indeed the action does intersect Midgard at times, and once again the terrestrial domain proves to be the least interesting. Obligatory love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) proves slightly more engaging than in the first film, but her increasingly annoying entourage (Kat Dennings, Stellan SkarsgÄrd) tends to cancel out any positive character growth. Still, the film's finale has a lot of fun mystically hopping amongst the various worlds, and isn't that part of what makes Thor great? I'm personally hoping that the next Thor movie, auspiciously subtitled Ragnarok, features those of the Nine Realms that have no business appearing in any other Marvel movies. Thor is in some ways the most escapist of the Marvel superheroes, and it's high time they utilized him creatively to escape the restrictive narratives of most of the Marvel universe.
- Also featured are fellow Asgardians Heimdall (Idris Elba), Fandral (Zachary Levi), and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson). And Captain America (Chris Evans), sortof. And your old pal, Stan Lee, as a mental patient.
- The post-credits scenes include the strangely off-putting Collector (Benicio Del Toro) and a love scene/frost beast stampede.