Review: Thor: The Dark World

Review: Thor:The Dark World

*Spoilers Alert

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Official 'Thor: The Dark World'.

        After the tremendous success of both 'Marvel's The Avengers' and 'Iron Man 3', comes the sequel of 'Thor'. It may not be the finest Marvel movie, but it sure offers humor and enough high stake action to please its fans.

"Chris Hemsworth" and
"Natalie Portman".

"Tom Hiddleston" and
 "Chris Hemsworth".

        After the events of 'Thor', 'Thor'(Chris Hemsworth) is fighting battles all around the Nine Realms in order to restore order and peace, alongside his companions 'Lady Sif'(Jaime Alexander), 'Volstagg'(Ray Stevenson), 'Fandral'(Zachary Levi), and 'Hogun'(Tadanobu Asano). In London, 'Jane Foster'(Natalie Portman) and her intern 'Darcy Lewis'(Kat Dennings) head toward an abandoned factory, where objects start to defy the law of physics. Accidentally, 'Jane' gets teleported to another world, where she gets infected by an ancient and powerful weapon called Aether, which subsequently awakens one of Asgard's most dangerous foes 'Malekith'(Christopher Eccleston) and his Dark Elf army. Informed of the trouble, 'Thor' returns to Earth in order to find and protect his true love. But will 'Thor' be able to save 'Jane' as well as Asgard and Earth from this deadly weapon and enemy? Other characters include 'Loki'(Tom Hiddleston) 'Thor''s adoptive brother, 'Odin'(Anthony Hopkins) 'Thor''s father and king of Asgard, 'Frigga'(Rene Russo) wife of Odin and queen of Asgard, 'Hemidall'(Idris Elba) defender of the Bifröst Bridge, 'Dr. Erik Selvig'(Stellan Skarsgård) 'Jane''s fellow scientist and mentor, 'Algrim/Kurse'(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) 'Malekith''s trusted lieutenant, and 'Ian'(Jonathan Howard) 'Darcy''s intern. 

"Christopher Eccleston" and
"Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje".

"Anthony Hopkins".

        'Thor: The Dark World' represent the second movie of 'Phase 2' before the release of the second Avengers movie. It was the first movie not to include the infamous 'Iron Man' and it was a testament to whether Marvel Studios was able to build a successful shared cinematic universe. And the result was a successful one. 'The Dark World' is great Phase 2 standalone movie that was able to capitulate on 'Loki-Thor''s dynamic in 'Marvel's The Avengers' and build on the stories that were left in 'Thor'. It was able to provide numerous entertaining and humorous moments, along with great action pieces. There were a few underdeveloped ideas that did to a certain extent hurt the movie. However, 'Thor: The Dark World' accomplished exactly what a sequel in a shared cinematic universe should have: increasing the excitement while going deeper into its characters.

"Stellan Skarsgård", "Jonatha
Howard", and "Kat Dennings".

"Natalie Portman" and "Rene Russo".

        Director "Alan Taylor", best known for directing 'Game of Thrones' episodes, had this movie as his first big budget movie ever. And for the most part "Alan Taylor" does an exceptional job. What I liked about his work was the great world that he took from 'Thor' and the way he influenced it with the Vikings culture, which showed in the weapons used, as well as the costumes, Asgard ,and the Nine Realms. His direction style, which focuses on the story development whilst taking advantage of the breathtaking surroundings, was great for this particular movie. The special effect were much better than 'Thor' and perfect for the overall movie theme, which was a bit darker at the same time managing to up the humor in it than the previous. The 3-D was good but unfortunately it did not help improve the overall experience. And I had to say that the multiple comedic moments were the highlight of the movie. Writers "Don Payne"('The Simpsons') and "Robert Rodat"('Falling Skies') did a good job making the story feel interesting and further developing stories left in previous Marvel movies. While there were many plot holes and underdeveloped stories, still they were made up for in other plot points. The score was beautifully composed by "Brian Tyler"('Iron Man 3'). He was able to elevate the overall quality of the movie.

"Chris Hemsworth" and
 "Anthony Hopkins".

"Jaime Alexander".

        The best thing of the movie had to be the moments that highlighted the relationship between 'Thor' and 'Loki', which for many are the favorite thing of  'Thor' and 'Marvel's The Avengers' movies. I was pleased also with the development of story points of 'Jane'-'Thor', 'Odin-Thor-Loki', 'Frigga-Loki', and 'Jane-Darcy'. One of the main underdeveloped story points was that of 'Malekith' and the Dark Elves. The problem was that there motive wasn't clear enough. If further development was made they would have made more sense to why they were such a great threat. I had also a problem to why 'S.H.I.E.L.D' was absent, but according to reports this will be explained later on in future movies. The beginning of the movie was good since it was the only time where the Dark Elves had any real development. The increase in action scenes and battles was a huge plus for me, as well as the increase in comedic moments, which were intelligently placed. The best scenes to me had to be 'Jane' and 'Darcy''s visit to the abandoned factory, 'Frigga' and 'Loki''s talk, the attack on Asgard, the funeral scene, and 'Thor' and 'Loki''s confrontation about their mother. The ending was extremely great and will set up for a great third 'Thor' movie.

"Kat Dennings" and
"Jonathan Howard".

"Idris Elba".

        This movie may have one of the best movie ensembles in all the Marvel movies. "Chris Hemsworth" again proved that he is a great actor who can handle the pressure of holding a movie. What impresses me the most is his chemistry with basically every character in the movie. "Tom Hiddleston", the star of Marvel Cinematic Universe, again did an amazing job with 'Loki' especially during his vulnerable moments, and what comes to mind is his the talk he had with his mother. "Natalie Portman" did an amazing job and actually improved her portrayal of 'Jane Foster' in my opinion, since her role had more importance this time around. And her chemistry with "Chris Hemsworth" is electrifying. This may be the last time we see 'Loki' until at least the third 'Thor' movie. "Anthony Hopkins" is an amazing actor, and no need to say that his portrayal of 'Odin' is always majestic and exceptional. And the chemistry with "Rene Russo" is really great , though it was brief. "Rene Russo"'s character involvement was pivotal to the development of 'Loki' and 'Thor', and loved the importance of her character in this movie. 

"Tom Hiddleston", "Jaime
Alexander", "Natalie Portman", and
"Chris Hemsworth".

Asgard.

       "Christopher Eccleston" for me did not do a great job, which was mainly because of the poor development of his character. Same could be said about "Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje", though it was nice to see them both trying to do the best they can with their characters. "Kat Dennings" hands down killed it with her timing and had the best lines in the whole movie. Same goes for "Stellan Skarsgård" and "Jonathan Howard", who were at the center of the scenes on Earth. I was disappointed with the lack of development of the characters of "Jaime Alexander", "Ray Stevenson", "Zachary Levi" and "Tadanobu Asano". While "Idris Elba"'s increased involvement was great to watch. And finally many loved the cameo appearance of "Chris Evans" as 'Captain America', which was Marvel Studio's way to advertise for 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. And for those who didn't know, there is a mid-credit scene, that introduces a character in the upcoming movie 'Guardians of the Galaxy', and a post-credit scene. Both help cement the shared cinematic universe of Marvel.

       In the end, Marvel Studios successfully brought us a better sequel and a great Phase 2 movie that will definitely help keep up the buzz for the upcoming sequel of the Avengers named 'Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron'.

Official "Thor: The Dark World" Poster.

-'Thor: The Dark World' Info:

-Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jonathan Howard, and Rene Russo.

-Based on: -'Thor' by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.

-Studio(s): Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture.

-Directed by: Alan Taylor.

-Written by: Don Payne and Robert Rodat.

-Music by: Brian Tyler.

-Running Time: 111 minutes.

-Budget: $ 170,000,000.

-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 206,147,943.

                       -Foreign: $ 435,295,000.

-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.5/10.

                 -Rotten Tomatoes: 65%.

                 -Metacritic: 54%.

                 -PERSONAL RATING: 8.4/10.

-'Thor: The Dark World' Trailer: