Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. 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.
REVIEW:
Yesterday, I attended a cast & crew screening of Thor: The Dark World at the famous Westwood Village Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Most of the crew in attendance worked for visual effects studios like Blur and Method, for MARVEL themselves, or for Stereo D, who was responsible for the amazing stereoscopic 3D post-conversion. No cast was there from what I could see, as most of the cast was in attendance at the Hollywood premier this past Monday. You know, the one where Jaimie Alexander wore that dress from every guy’s fantasy of her. Below is my review, which will not include spoilers, so don’t worry.
Before the film, an elevator fight sequence from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and a new trailer, was shown. That fight sequence was choreographed by fellow Thousand Pounds Action Company member James Young, and served as the sequence that landed him the role of fight choreographer for the movie. He also stunt doubled for The Winter Soldier, and another Thousand Pounds’ member, Amy Johnston, did some doubling for Black Widow, along with Heidi Moneymaker. Fans of Film Combat Syndicate may also recognize Gui DaSilva as one of the elevator passengers, who has some brief dialogue. I’m very excited to see so many friends in action on that film in 2014, and I’ll be conducting a fun on-screen interview with James Young and Aaron Toney, stunt double for Falcon, at some point soon, which will be posted on this blog.
Thor: The Dark World is the second film in Phase Two of MARVEL’s superhero franchise, the first being Iron Man 3. Kenneth Branagh’s Thor was approached like a Shakespearean adaptation, his specialty, in that Loki and Thor’s brotherhood was in question, as was their need to please their father and his kingdom. Alan Taylor‘s sequel had hints of that, but focused more on Asgard and Earth under attack from the Dark Elves, specifically their leader, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). The film opens thousands of years ago on Svartalfheim, with a history lesson of Malekith’s universe-destroying obsession and his need to harness and control the Aether, a reddish energy weapon which looks like the symbiotic Carnage in the Spider-Man comics. This intro is reminiscent of the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, only less engaging. Malekith is thought to be destroyed by Bor (an uncredited Tony Curran), father of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who hides the Aether in some stone column.
In present time Asgard, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is imprisoned for his traitorous and violent acts on Earth, while Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) are battling unskilled warriors and cute rock monsters on Vanaheim. In present time Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) goes on a date with Richard (Chris O’Dowd), that lovable goof from Bridesmaids and The IT Crowd, Darcy (Kat Dennings) has an intern named Ian (Jonathan Howard) for some reason, and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) is running around Stonehenge naked before news crews make national news of him and put him in a mental home.
Eventually, Jane visits an abandoned warehouse where kids are playing with floating trucks, and wormholes are eating up people’s shoes and car keys. She enters one of these wormholes and it taken to a place where she comes in contact with the Aether in the stone column. This wakes Malekith from his suspended animation, who again seeks out the Aether. Thor comes back to Earth when it seems to be under attack, reconnects with Jane, and brings along Loki to assist him, a move no one on Earth or Asgard are fans of. The rest of the movie contains lots of cool action sequences, a little too much comedy in weird places (though not as dismal as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and the constant struggle of Thor to trust Loki.
Overall, this was a fun popcorn film, but not necessarily one I feel I have to own. It had very good pacing, some beautiful scenes in Asgard, and a few exceptional performances. While I appreciate good comedy, I don’t think writing characters just to be a comic relief, without serving the story, is a smart idea. I saw no reason to have Richard or Ian in this movie, and Darcy never truly believes the world around her is going to shit, only that it’s funny to say it is. There were moments that made me laugh, including a couple great cameos, which I won’t ruin. I was especially drawn to Heimdall, specifically for Idris Elba‘s performance. He can do no wrong, and demands your attention.
Tom Hiddleston also continues to impress me. We love to hate Loki, and hope there’s good in him, the same way Thor does. Thor and Loki’s scenes are the glue of this film. Without them, the rest is just ridiculous fantasy. Christopher Eccleston is an amazing actor, known for playing psychologically disturbed characters (watch him in 28 Days Later and The Others), but the film enjoyed showing off his incredible makeup job more than really letting him perform under it all.
I’d give this movie a 7 out of 10. The things I disliked weren’t enough to keep me from enjoying myself, and it did move along very well. The 3D was great, specifically during scenes where the Aether is front and center, and it’s always great to see Thor wreck face. I wish I believed he and Jane really loved each other. For me, their on-screen chemistry is only slightly better than Portman had with Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. As with any MARVEL film, stay after the credits to see two buttons, one which is pivotal to another upcoming film.
“We’re up all night to get Loki… We’re up all night to get Loki…”
Written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Thor: The Dark World stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins. The film is produced by Kevin Feige and is directed by Alan Taylor. Now playing nationwide in 2D, 3D and IMAX.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier will release in theaters on April 4, 2014.
This review was written Darren Bailey, actor, writer, stunt coordinator and co-founder of Thousand Pounds Action Company. Follow @Darren_Bailey on Twitter.
