It’s
been a while since I did my last review and we are fast approaching the end of
2013 and so far the list of action, adventure films has been mediocre to say
the least. Well be prepared to add another one to the list.
Thor
2 aka The Dark World directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) is the sequel to
Marvel Studios Fantasy, Adventure, Sci-fi, Thor and a follow up to the
aftermaths of Avengers and the second Phase 2 film, which finds Thor (Chris
Hemsworth) bringing peace to the Nine Realms and ending a two year war.
But
before everyone can go back to celebrating and drinking themselves stupid, love
interest and Astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) discovers
mysterious portals opening up in London and is sucked up into one of them
before finding and becoming infected by a dark and mysterious force of energy
called the Aether that in turn awakens the vanquished warriors, the Dark Elves
of Svartalfheim who have been in suspended animation for thousands of years.
Led
by their leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and his loyal Henchman Algrim
(Adewale Akinnuove-Agbaje), the Dark Elves seek to recapture the Aether in
order to bring eternal darkness to the universe. Thus an invasion attack is led
on Asgard that ends in unexpected tragedy for Thor and his father Odin (Anthony
Hopkins).
Seeking
vengeance and a means to stop Malekith before he can accomplish his goals and
also having to save Jane before the dark force inside her consumes her, Thor
and his allies put into motion a plan that will kill two birds with one stone,
but it requires having to team up with the one person who Thor cannot trust,
his imprisoned and war criminal step-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
With
the way the plot sounds one would assume it would be a complicated mess but
surprisingly the overall film is a tad bit too simple that tries too hard at
pretending its smart but for the most part it gets the job done. What makes
this film really tick is the way it manages to cram so much information and moments into its fast-paced
running time.
Clocking
just under two hours The Dark World is a fun, (and I use that term loosely)
rollercoaster ride that starts off somewhat slow before reaching the halfway
point and taking off at unexpected speed, making the film a entertaining
past-time to sit through. But with that said the introduction of new faces and
the return of old ones means that the majority of supporting characters don’t
get the character development that they deserve.
While
Director Alan Taylor manages to give everyone their moments to shine the lack
of screen-time for each of them makes one yearn for more than is offered. The
Warriors Three (Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano and Zachary Levi who replaces
Josh Dallas as the character of Fandral) especially appear here and there as
quick glimpses and each having one small part to play when it comes to the
plot. I
Lady
Sif (Jaimie Alexander) gets a bit more screen-time with hints of a possible
relationship forming between her and Thor but a love triangle never takes place
and her character feels like a pretty face passing by. Then there is Heimdall
(Idris Elba) who follows the same fate but has enough screen presence to still
play a vital role in aiding Thor and proving himself to be a badass when he
needs to be.
Nevertheless,
what character development could be spend on these more interesting characters
is wasted on more uninteresting returning ones, Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan
Skarsgard), Darcy (Kat Dennings) and her Intern and potential love Interest Ian
(Jonathan Howard) who are nothing more than the film’s three stooges, providing
the comic-relief and so-called humour that for the majority of the film really
feels overdone.
Surprisingly
Frigga (Rene Russo), Thor and Loki’s mother is given more to do here then its
predecessor and offers some of the more emotional moments that this film
provides, making it one of the more unique Marvel entries.
But overall,
while the Supporting Cast does their best with what they are given it is the
main performances and interactions between Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Portman and Hopkins that
provide the story with the emotional investment that push the plot along.
Chris
Hemsworth returns again as the mighty Thor, displaying his buff muscled arms
and mighty Hammer and showcasing to us that he truly is the God of Thunder. But
his character arc while understandable and an obvious progression of his
character never really shines out. Where in the first film he had to learn
about humility and managing to accomplish it in the most unrealistic time
possible here he just plays the typical hero, the role feeling cliché but it is
the small humour that Chris displays that makes his character shine.
Natalie
Portman’s romance between Thor which felt rushed and too quick to be taken
seriously in the first film is given more time to develop here this time around
and Portman herself manages to be more interesting and into character. That is
until she is taken to Asgard her where her dull personality comes flowing back
out and what should have been a story of her character learning and
understanding the ways of Asgard and Thor’s family gaining insight as to why
Thor loves her is never developed. Her time in Asgard itself is overly short
spend and done with before it can even begin.
With that said it is with no surprise that Tom Hiddleston’s performance as the fan-favourite Loki God of Mischief, manages to steal the show in every scene he appears in, giving us a look at his damaged and hurtful self. Add in the brotherly rivalry and trust issues between him and Thor and the film’s second act really stands out. The banter between them is not only funny but also natural giving their performances a more human quality and real-life feeling then the previous films have done. Loki’s character arc itself feels developed and full-filled and if it had ended here it would be on a powerful note but considering his popularity and multi-layered performance Hiddleston’s return is only inevitable.
Sadly
this is as good as the film gets because the rest of the performances and
overall quality and structure of the film are disappointingly bland, unoriginal
and quiet childish.
The
portrayals of the film’s two major villains performed by Dr. Who actor Christopher
Eccleston and Adewale Akinnuove-Agbaje is an underdeveloped mess. With their
appearances hidden in the excellent make-up, which gives them a unique look and
a frightening one for Akinnuove-Agbaje after his transformation into the
terrifying monstrous Kurse, the characterization of their characters is cliché
with no real motivation or character growth gone into them. The very fact that
they are unrecognizable because of the make-up design means that any actors
could have played their roles making it even more obvious that this was a
simple quick pay check for them.
One
could argue that the difference between the many other comic book movies is
that Marvel Studios focuses on its title characters instead of trying to up the
stakes by giving us better villains but as a saying goes, “A Hero is only as
good as his Villain” and in this case it would ring true.
Not
been able to connect with the Villain at all or having a somewhat psychological
connection been formed between them that would make their battle feel more epic
and emotional makes us want to not take them or the world they’re in seriously
enough. There is a subplot of revenge and tragedy thrown into the mix but it
all moves too fast like it is an afterthought and is never really made a big
issue out of thus making everything feel too rushed.
Again,
it’s not as if the plot is complicated or hard to understand but that the plot
and characters move too fast to really allow us to get a sense of who they are.
There is a glimpse, moments, where Alan Taylor is trying to show us that this
sequel can be much more than it is. But the difference between this project and
his more darker, intense and human emotional filled works is that The Dark
World never quiet reaches the so called layers of darkness that it promises. As
said before, it is too childish and bland and that is mostly because of the
god-awful humour and attempts at comedy.
The
Comedy overloads the entire film to the point where nothing can be taken
seriously. The Marvel films are indeed known for their humour but the problem
with Phase 2 so far is how Marvel seems to only be relying on that aspect of
genre to sell its film to audiences. There is a time and place to crack jokes
but when every scene and attempt is made at sprouting out a gag or joke it
becomes repetitive and annoying.
When
a dark or serious moment does take place the film doesn’t take the risks to
allow for those moments to develop naturally and instead throws in a joke scene
to quickly lighten the mood as a way to change the subject and make us feel
differently about what just occurred. It feels wrong, forced and just tacked on
to the point that the film insults one’s intelligence.
It
is at this point that Thor 2 starts to resemble more of a children’s Saturday
morning cartoon instead of the type of superhero movie we have come to know and
love. It loses its balance and in the end doesn’t know what it wants to be. It
feels like a jumbled puzzle board thrown about that never quiet manages to fit
together.
There
are the subtle moments by characters and Loki’s dark sense of humour and
uncaring nature which is part of his personality just comes off as natural
along with a very specific cameo that just works so well. But the rest of it,
namely anything to do with Darcy and Crew is vomit-inducing.
A
lot of viewers have complained over the too serious nature and dark elements of
such films like The Dark Knight Trilogy for example but Thor The Dark World
makes me want to commit Seppuku because it doesn’t take itself seriously enough
and tries too hard to be funny and never learns that less is more.
The
Special Effects and action sequences are impressive enough but do have a
television like quality to them at times gives them a cheap look and feel along with
the fact that some parts are a obvious rip-off of other films that have done
such set pieces better but there are some exceptions.
The
Attack on Asgard is a major highlight mostly because of the epic entrance Kurse
has that kick-stars the action. And everything with Loki is pretty much gold.
And while the final battle is unique in the way its presented and shot because
of the portals, which make it an edge of the seat worthy final-fight, it is
unfortunately let down by the forced tacked in jokes, gags and underdeveloped
villains but overall it is the forced gags that let it down.
But
as said before the film is fun confusingly enough. Yes it is annoying,
underdeveloped, rushed with horrible Slap-stick humour, but something about the
way some scenes are done and the way the action flows so well together almost
makes it give off a epic like feeling of fantasy plus Loki and his interactions
with his family make this a sequel worth watching.
In
Conclusion it’s not bad and does entertain in a good way. While the forced
humour lets it down and stops it from being the epic masterpiece it could have
been and the short running time means a lot of characters don’t get their worth
of time, Thor The Dark World is a decent entry into the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. But it isn’t as good as the first one in my humble opinion but is
more fun to watch but it is still a slightly disappointing sequel that does
however end on a unexpected and shocking cliff-hanger. Give it a go but don’t
expect anything much from it. And stay after the full Credits for Two
End-Credit Scenes.
Overall
I give this a score of…6.5/10
LIKES:
· Tom Hiddleston as Loki. “Nuff
Said”
· Kurse. This guy is just plain
badass and terrifying. This is a Henchman done right.
· The Special Cameo involving
Loki and Thor.
· End Credits Scene One. This
End Credit Sequence that appears mid-way through the Credits at the end sets up
Guardians of the Galaxy and Phase 3’s MacGuffin. Really gets you pumped up for
what is to come in the future. Then again they spend six years hyping up the
Mandarin and look how that turned out. Fingers crossed it turns out well.
HATES:
· The Humour, the Gags…God I
hate it all.
· Darcy. The best way to
describe her is that Darcy is the Jar Jar Binks of Thor. The big difference
between this and the next two Star Wars Prequels is that George Lucas was smart enough to
give Jar Jar as little and unfunny of a role as possible. But clearly Marvel really don't give a toss and want to torture us as much as possible.
· Ian. This guy contributed
nothing to the overall story and was like Darcy just a comic relief with no
real purpose. Having one Darcy Binks was bad enough. But two is over stepping the mark.
· Erik. What the hell happened
here? This guy should’ve been suffering from Loki’s mind control in a silent
and angry mood kind of way while regretting his actions and coming to terms
with them. Not getting butt naked and running around like Woody Woodpecker. Way
to ruin what could’ve been emotional character development for him. Instead
he’s also reduced to a stupid ass comic relief.
· The Warriors Three. These
guys deserve so much more.
· Lady Sif. She’s Thor’s love
interest in the Comics and at one point even becomes processed and turns evil.
Sadly with the way things are going now we’ll never see any such type of plot
develop and its even more sad because Jamie Alexander is perfect and has
potential.
· Anthony Hopkins. The guy
actually doesn’t look like he cares about doing this role and he just comes off
as very bland. That and his characters an ass and douche compared to how he was
in the original. Hopkins himself has said in a Interview that he's done with the role so good riddance I say if they want to get rid of him.
· Malekith. Not a big fan of
this villain so I wasn’t very excited to see him in this film in
the first place. And rightfully so. The guy hardly has any scenes and doesn’t
have a huge presence and feels like a waste. That mostly has to do with the fact that all his backstory and development scenes were deleted from the final cut. A shame really.
