Review: Thor: The Dark World

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By hammer of Thor!*
 
I have a really weird relationship with the first Thor film. The first time I saw it, I was so under-whelmed. Then I re-watched it after seeing the Avengers and fell in love with it. That rarely happens.
 
Admittedly Thor 2's plot is a little weird. Thousands of years ago a race of Dark Elves (complete with home invasion masks) tried to release an evil substance called "The Aether" to control the nine realms. Asgard's soldiers stopped them, but they couldn't destroy the Aether. Instead, they buried it and hoped it would never come back. Too bad poor Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) still bent out of shape by Thor (Chris Hemsworth) not returning that she ends up finding it and subsequently has it absorbed into her body. Thor returns to Earth to get her, and brings her back to Asgard. A war is starting, and Thor must reluctantly turn to his prisoner brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to help.
 
I fucking loved this movie. I think the visual effects were awesome, and even though Gravity is going to sweep that category at the Oscars, Thor: The Dark World will give them a run for their money. Loki stole the show for me, I thought he might. You can tell Hiddleston really loves that character and it shows in his performance. Stellan Skarsgard is the man as well. Even though he and poor Kat Dennings are basically only used as comic relief, they were pretty fucking hilarious. If there was a weak spot in this film, it was Portman. I still feel like she doesn't want to be there, and she and Hemsworth have zero chemistry, but she's by no means bad. Hell, her character practically goes all Black Swan on us a few times.
 
Basically, this was just another great time at the movies for me. Sure this film had some obvious problems, but sometimes the fun just overtakes the technical aspect of it. Plus this film had the best Avengers cross-over cameo of all the Marvel films.
 
Recommended: Yes
 
Grade: A-
 
Memorable Quote: "Trust my rage." - Loki (Tom Hiddleston)
 
*I couldn't help myself, there was an Anchorman 2 trailer attached to this film. I loved it.

Comments

  1. Dan O.November 11, 2013 at 12:01 PM

    Good review Brittani. A very fun movie, especially since most stand-alone movies usually do terrible without the whole gang together. But somehow, the characters that inhabit this story was enough.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 11, 2013 at 8:40 PM

      Thanks! Yeah, Thor's got enough colorful characters to make it on it's own. I'd probably watch an entire movie based on Eric Selvig at this point. lol

      Delete
  2. Candice FrederickNovember 11, 2013 at 2:42 PM

    darn. i was really hoping they'd do something more with natalie portman's character in this one. glad to hear the film was good otherwise though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 11, 2013 at 8:39 PM

      They gave her plenty of material, I just felt like SHE didn't want to be there.

      Delete
  3. BernardNovember 11, 2013 at 4:13 PM

    I'm planning to go watch it this weekend. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 11, 2013 at 8:38 PM

      You're welcome! I hope you enjoy it! I'm off to check out your blog now.

      Delete
  4. DouglasNovember 11, 2013 at 7:15 PM

    Been trying to write something about the movie. Unable to put the thoughts together. I totally agree about the lack of chemistry between Thor and Jane. It's worse than Neo and Trinity.

    I benefited from a friend telling me this was the worst Marvel movie to date (Marvel Studios, not Marvel property), thereby dropping my expectations, and letting the movie greatly exceed that. That was a horrible run-on sentence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 11, 2013 at 8:36 PM

      I'm guilty of run-on sentences, so no judging here. I'm glad they exceeded your expectations. Compared to the first film, they exceeded mine as well.

      Delete
  5. ruthNovember 11, 2013 at 7:26 PM

    Glad you enjoyed this as much as I did Brittani! Yeah Loki's definitely having a lot of fun as Loki and he really uses his theatrical talent in the role. I LOVE Stellan, he's such a hoot, I think he's the leader of the comedic troupe of Jane's research group, ahah, he was even funnier than Kat Dennings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 11, 2013 at 8:34 PM

      He was, and Tom Hiddleston is so good as Loki that you used his name twice. lol. He deserves it.

      Delete
    2. ruthNovember 13, 2013 at 4:49 PM

      Ahahahaha, I can't even separate Hiddleston from Loki, that's when the actor BECOMES the character :D But of course he's actually a nice guy in real life though.

      Delete
  6. s.November 12, 2013 at 12:47 PM

    Really loved the film. So much fun! Aww, shame you didn't think Portman and Hemsworth had chemistry - Jane and Thor are actually my favorite Marvel couple and Natalie is so adorable, especially in the first movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 13, 2013 at 7:28 AM

      I usually really like Natalie, but I just haven't been able to in the Thor movies.

      Delete
  7. JoshNovember 20, 2013 at 6:52 PM

    Great review. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it will get any Oscar nominations. Still, it had great visuals, plenty of laughs, Loki, and that genius cameo. I dig it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 20, 2013 at 8:30 PM

      I want to see the raw footage of Hiddleston wearing the suit and doing that impression.

      Delete

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