Review: Thor: The Dark World

It sure has been awhile since my last post on this blog hasn't it? Well, I'm back and this time with a review for the newest film in the Marvel franchise, Thor 2: The Dark World. 

Director: Alan Taylor

Writer(s): Christopher L. Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccelston, Jaimie Alexander

Plot: Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

RATING: 8/10

Going into Thor I was excited but insanely scared at the same time. I was excited because we get to see another chapter in Marvel's phase 2 play out and we get to see what's going on with The Mighty Avenger, and everyone's favorite villain, Loki! I was also very scared/nervous going into it because of what Marvel had done with Iron Man 3. If you have read my Iron Man 3 review you know how much it made me want to punch a hole right through my bedroom wall. With all that put aside, I also didn't know what to expect which, I believe, was a good thing because I got one awesome, action packed, thrill ride. Overall I really really enjoyed Thor 2: The Dark World and only had minimal issues with it. Some of the highlights I'm going to get into more depth with, of what really stood out were the visual's, the writing, the directing and of course the acting. Some downfalls of the film in my opinion were the pacing, and some character development. I'm sure I will think of more after I watch the film again, but those were really the only two issues I had with the film.

Let's get into the things I really liked about this movie starting off with the writing. Being the huge comic book fan that I am and being the huge Christopher Yost fan that I am, I am completely shocked that I didn't know he was writing this film! When I saw his name pop up in the credits I freaked out in the middle of the theater(which was almost completely full) and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. But hey! I was excited! With that being said, I thought that for the most part the writing was very well done. The jokes were hilarious, which was a nice change because sometimes in Marvel films the jokes can get tedious, but this time they were consistently funny. I personally think that Loki was the best written character in the film simply because it explored more and more sides to the God of Mischief. The second best thing about this film is a tie between the directing and the visuals. I was really happy back when I heard about Alan Taylor directing this film because of the work he did on HBO's, Game of Thrones. I felt like the shot choices and decisions he made as a director were really on par with what fans would want out of a Thor film. Though, at times I felt like I was watching Star Wars and Lord of the Rings make sweet sweet love. Which is not a bad thing! It was the exact thing that I wanted from a Thor movie and that is, bad ass adventure, fantasy and sci-fi. The visuals in this film are also beautiful. I saw the movie in 2D and could tell that it was shot for 3D but even on a 2D screen the visuals looked amazing. Very crisp and very clean which is something we are seeing a lot more of from Marvel and I love it. The final part of the film I am going to talk about what I liked (without spoilers) was the acting. I mean, you can't really complain. Every actor in this film I believe was born to play the role they were cast in. Especially Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. Both actors blew me away in this film and made me really feel connected with their characters.

Now onto the two minor things I didn't like with the film. The first thing I found somewhat irritating goes back to the writing. I feel like we needed a little bit more of character development when it came to the villains in this film because other than the quick 5 minute explanation in the beginning I had no idea what they're motives were and felt like they were just being assholes who wanted extreme power (I know I know that's most comic villains). I think if there was just a tad bit more of development with Malekith, this movie would have been spot on. But honestly, it's not that big of a deal, I'm just nit picking it. The next and final issue I had with the film was the pacing. This movie was so fast paced and crazy that I honestly do not think it has a middle. While watching it I felt like it went Begging - End. No middle at all. I would have liked it if the film had a little bit of down time where we could hear a bit about what the characters are feeling or thinking about current situations. Most of the film was bad ass and amazing fight scenes and explosions and Marvelificness which I would much rather have in a movie than a fake Mandarin. That's right. I just called you out Iron Man 3!

That does it for the NON-SPOILER section of the review, so if you don't want anything ruined don't read onward! But if you don't care, or have already seen Thor 2: The Dark World, continue on!

*SPOILERS*

If you are still reading that means you don't care about the spoilers or you have already seen it! If you have already seen it I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! So to start off the spoilers I want to say how much I LOVED the Captain America cameo! It made me laugh really hard and the entire theater started cheering when Cap entered the screen! It was really well placed and was hilarious! A scene I felt needed to be elongated a bit was the death of Loki scene. Usually with movies I can tell if a character is actually dead by how long their death scene usually lasts. With this death scene, I knew that he was going to come back right when his face started getting all grey and weird. It's kind of funny, back when I saw the very first trailer for this movie and saw Loki say "When do we start?" I knew automatically that he was going to die in this film and I was right! ... Kind of. Either way, it was an awesome lead way into the next Thor movie!(if there is one.) 

The final bit of spoilers I want to talk about is the mid credits scene where we finally got a look into the world of Guardians of the Galaxy! I was excited for this film before this little scene but after seeing it... I CANNOT FREAKEN WAIT! I love how the makeup and alien effects are all practical and not computer generated! Plus the collector looked freaken cool! Also with this scene Marvel pretty much announced they will indeed be doing the Infinity Gauntlet arc with Thanos which is going to be CRAZY seeing on screen! 

All in all I really really enjoyed Thor 2: The Dark World and think that they did an amazing job with all aspects of this film and really delivered what the fans want from a Thor film!

Cons: The pacing is too fast, and lack of villain development 

Pros: It's a mavel film, the writing, the directing, beautiful visuals, great acting, decent but not amazing twist, overall fun experience.

RATING: 8/10

Article by Matt Skajem