Thor: The Dark World Review

        It was only a matter of time before I talked about this one. Just odd how the second entry within the first two phases where the second entry is the weakest. Now, it’s not downright bad by any means, more so that it was a hard pivot for the character to be more action packed than the Shakespeare inspired first entry. And it would be a recurring thing for the character to have more pivots as we’ll talk about later.

1. Worst of Both Worlds

        As I said earlier, the studio wanted to have the sequel be more action packed. So Kenneth Branagh didn’t come back and they brought in director Alan Taylor to helm the movie. He’s not too well known, only for directing episodes of Mad Men and Game of Thrones. The latter is basically what the whole movie is seemingly going for. It comes at a cost where there’s a lack of wonder and jubilation that we saw with Branagh’s take. 

        Even with how the movie looks, it has that very glum look to it with a brownish tint when we’re in Asgard and a gray look whenever we’re in Earth. Then again London does have a drab look to it. With that, we follow Thor as he tries to restore order within the realms due to Loki destroying the Bifrost Bridge in the prior film. Meanwhile, we get a look at the new villain named Malekith who looks to plunder the universe in darkness with something called The Aether. 

        Also, Jane Foster comes back and becomes tangled with the action. And we have yet another thread involving Loki who’s been punished for his crime invading Earth, inevitably helping Thor as the film continues. So, yeah, we have a lot of things to juggle with in terms of plot. The whole film has a lot going on where Thor is wrestling with the idea of being a King and still having the hots for Jane. 

        But what weighs it down is the other stuff that’s going on that’s world ending. What made the first one so successful is that the whole film is about Thor and him becoming worthy. While also focusing on Loki and his want to become King. All of it worked within the grand scale of both these characters. With the new one, it’s more that Jane is the central figure since she becomes entangled with The Aether.

        I’ll elaborate more on the missed opportunity of Thor and Jane’s relationship, but it’s completely bonkers on why exactly we split time from Asgard to Earth again. Specifically on the new-fangled reason as to why to have them involved. Additionally, every scene on Earth is mostly used for comedic purposes that are hard tone shifts. Like, we see an elaborate funeral for Thor’s mother and how it’s kind of moving, only to smash cut with scene to explain what we already know. 

        But I think it’s worth bringing up on how the movie doesn’t do a good job villain wise. Malekith is basically a by the numbers villain. It’s a massive downgrade from Loki, so much so that Loki is the only saving grace in the film. He continues to be duplicitous that he still wants the throne. Only to help Thor as he wants to take the fight to Malekith. The banter between them is good since it’s continuing from The Avengers, and it can get comedic sometimes. I wished that we would have a moment with them prior to the second half of the movie to basically talk and then lead up to when they reunite. 

2. Love and Blunder

        I feel that the romance part is part of the reason why the movie doesn’t work. It ties itself to the movie when we shift from Asgard to London. But before I get into that, I feel that the missed opportunity was to have a love triangle between Thor, Jane and with Sif. Sif is one of Thor’s friends aside from The Warriors Three. We see her trying to console Thor after a battle but knowing that something is bothering him. 

        I think we only see both Jane and Sif just make eye contact once when Malekith and his army invade Asgard. Aside from that, there’s literally not another moment when they talk. I think the main thing that I have trouble with is that the story basically dictated how Jane reunites with Thor. We see weird gravity stuff where Jane investigates and gets entangled with The Aether. But only when her assistant Darcy tells her something is happening. 

        It would’ve worked I think where Jane takes the initiative and then becomes part of the action that kicks off everything. Setting up a situation with Thor that comes against Asgard and the villain himself. Aside from that, I love how one line basically sums up Jane’s role in the whole film. She’s having a lunch date with a new man, and she says quote: “Why does there have to be a story? There’s no story.

        Perfectly and briefly explain just her forced entry into the film. And I kind of find it ironic where they break up in the sequel. With everything that I’ve mentioned, I want to at least keep it brief where this isn’t one of the strongest sequels in the MCU. But the mid credits scene basically sets the hype for the new entry of heroes. Which we’ll talk about within a week. 

3. Overall

        Thor: The Dark World is the weakest in all of first three phases. It’s supplemental to seeing the third infinity stone, but it can be skipped.