Marvel Studios’ “Thor: The Dark World” is the sort of sequel that you wish Hollywood would serve up more often

Jim Hill

11 years ago

You'd think that — given that this Walt Disney Pictures
release is built around a beefy Marvel superhero who wields an enormous hammer
— that "Thor: The Dark World" would be muscle-bound and plodding. But
looks can be deceiving sometimes. For this sequel to 2011's "Thor
" &
2012's "Marvel's The Avengers
" is surprisingly light on its feet.

Director Alan Taylor (who's probably best known these days
for having helmed the first six episodes of that must-watch HBO series,
"Games of Thrones") gets things off to a fast start. He quickly
sketches in the necessary backstory (i.e. Eons ago, Malekith [Christopher
Eccleston] and his dark elves almost plunged the universe into unending
darkness by unleashing Aether. But Bor, father of Odin, defeated Malekith &
his Kursed warriors by spiriting their super-weapon away at the last possible
second. Bor then stashed the Aether away under a stone column in an impossibly
deep & dark mine. Meanwhile Malekith and a handful of his surviving
supporters then placed themselves in suspended animation, waiting for that fateful
day when the Aether finally reveals itself again) before plunging us straight
into a storyline which pretty much picks up where "Thor" & "Marvel's
The Avengers" left off.

"The Dark World" starts off in present-day Asgard with
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in chains, standing before his father, Odin (Anthony
Hopkins). For the crime of attempting to set himself up as the supreme ruler of
Earth by using the Tesseract to open a portal directly over New
York City and then allowing the Chitauri to attack Manhattan,
Odin sentences his adopted son to an eternity in the Asgardian dungeons.

Meanwhile Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is at the very end of a two
year-long campaign, during which the Norse God of Thunder and his warriors have
fought their way across the known universe in an effort to restore order to the
Nine Realms. After one final battle on Vanaheim, Thor, Fandral (Zachary Levi),
Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) return to Asgard and are
hailed as heroes. Which should be a time for celebration. But Thor doesn't much
feel much like celebrating because his heart still belongs to Jane Foster (Natalie
Portman), the attractive astrophysicist that he left back on Earth after the
original "Thor" movie.

Mind you, Jane has been actively searching for a way to
reunite with her Norse hunk. Which is why — when her intern Darcy Lewis (Kat
Dennings) — tells Foster about this abandoned factory in London
where the laws of physics no longer seem to apply, Jane just has to
investigate.

And what exactly is causing all of the weird phenomena that
Foster & Lewis encounter in that factory (where objects tossed into a
seemingly empty stairwell either reappear directly above these two scientists
or disappear entirely)? Well, every 5000 years, there's this celestial
convergence where the Nine Realms align which then forms passages between all
of these worlds. Unfortunately, as Jane is gathering data at this factory, she
suddenly finds herself being sucked into one of these portals. And the next
thing Ms. Foster knows, she's in that deep dark mine where Bor had the Aether
hid. And then …

Nah. To reveal much more of the storyline of this Marvel Studios
production would take away much of the film's fun. But don't let this movie's
subtitle throw you. Though "Thor" may promise a "Dark
World," what this Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release actually
delivers is a skillful mix of fantasy, action-adventure, comedy and romance.

In short, this is the sort of sequel that you wish Hollywood
could serve up more often. Where everything that you enjoyed about
"Thor" & "Marvel's The Avengers" (i.e. Loki's bitchy banter
with his brother, over-the-top battles filled with elaborate special effects,
quirky dialogue, great little character-driven moments of comedy) are
replicated for this film but in a slightly different form.

And then there are those moments where "Thor: The Dark
World" genuinely surprises you. And — no — I'm not talking about that
last-minute twist to this movie's storyline. I'm talking about things like that
beautifully designed Viking funeral sequence in the middle of this movie. Or —
for that matter — the startlingly number of big laughs this Marvel Studios
production delivers in its final battle sequence. As Thor & Malekith first face
off in Greenwich in the UK
(which is where the center of this once-every-5000-years celestial convergence winds up happening) and then wind
up fighting their way across all Nine Realms as portals begin popping up all
over the place.

And if you're already a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
… Well, then I don't need to tell you that you really need to hang around
after "Thor: The Dark World" wraps to catch the post-credit scene.
This time around, there are actually two scenes. One occurs mid-way through the
credits (which — if I understand correctly — is actually introducing story
elements that won't then officially pay off 'til the Summer of 2018. Which is
when "Marvel's The Avengers 3" is supposed to bow in theaters) and
the other comes at the very end of this Alan Taylor movie.

So — just to sum up here — look for "Thor: The Dark World" to
extend Marvel Studios' on-going hit streak. Not to mention helping to set the
stage for that eagerly anticipated "Marvel's The Avengers" follow-up,
"Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron." Which starts flying in London
next Spring and is then supposed to released to theaters on May 1, 2015.

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