Thor: The Dark World - Review

The Mighty Thor

Thor: The Dark World improves in every way compared to its predecessor Thor released in 2011. This is what every Marvel movie should strive for. The laughs are plentiful, the action superb and the movie itself does not take itself too seriously which is a staple of Marvel movies. Whereas DC movies tend to be more grounded in reality, Marvel always has the attitude to embrace it's comic roots and venture into make-belief. This was one of the reasons Iron Man 3 was so boring for me trying to achieve something that never really clicked with someone whose always loved Iron Man's comical nature.

The writers decided to take advantage of pre-established characters and skip any origin story. Also deciding not to recap the story from the first Thor, Alan Taylor the director, makes a smart call by making his target audience, those who have been following along in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor's back story was well established in the first movie and the second movie builds off of the events of the Avengers which play central to Thor's family. This is continuation is rewarding to see if someone has followed all the movies but may come across confusing for a new comer. Nonetheless Alan Taylor makes a smart decision in this by understanding the mass success of the Avengers and realizing the vast majority of the audience will be up to date with the events. With this said it is advisable to have viewed the first Thor as well as the Avengers to understand all the plot points and character relationships within this film.

By skipping the whole origin story or recapping it is rewarding to see this movie take charge so fast. The action starts right away and we see Thor in action plenty of times. While Chris Hemsworth play's Thor rather boldly he also captures the gravity of being in a superhero world post Avengers. His romance with Jane is always rewarding and provides a much needed emotional drive to the movie. The main antagonist Malekith the Accursed doesn't carry as much presence as previous Marvel antagonists but this lack of presence is entirely made up by the presence of Tom Hiddleston as Loki. In fact it is the scenes and dynamic between Loki and his brother, Thor that are the most rewarding scenes on the screen. These scenes are full of humour, tension and above all great acting by Tom Hiddleston. In fact, Loki develops more so in this movie than any of the other characters. Without giving away any spoilers we get to see the emotional side of Loki and how he is still battling to find his identity within this world. 

Thor: The Dark World is not without it's flaws. Perhaps the biggest one is that there are signs that the story may, at one point, have been a love triangle between Thor, Jane and Sif but this goes no where in the movie. Early on we see Sif interesting in Thor and unhappy with the presence of Jane. Yet later Sif is inclined to help Jane with no explanation of her change in motive. Furthermore the universal nature of Thor begs the question of science (or, as Thor would have it, magic). This opens up a lot of plot holes and a lot of nonsense about gravitons and wibblyflibs. But the whole movie moves so fast that at just over 100 minutes it wraps up when most blockbusters are grinding their gears and is so entertaining that it doesn’t seem to matter. 

Thor: The Dark World is an entirely entertaining movie. This what every Marvel movie should aim to. Having a terrible experience with Iron Man 3 post avengers Thor: The Dark World reaffirms the excitement left within this universe. Fans of post-credits stings rest assured Thor: The Dark World has two! One coming right at the end, so be sure to stick around until all the credits have rolled away. These post-credit scenes you wouldn't want to miss and is especially rewarding considering the disappointing post-credit scene at the end of Iron Man 3.  


Overall Thor: The Dark World rating

7/10