Thor: The Dark World Review
The sight of Mjölnir has again grazed the big screens. The Norse god of thunder is back with a
vengeance. Fans will be expecting
action-packed scenes with its background set in either Asgard or Midgard
(Earth).
But what’s this? There’ll be
alien-like intruders? Resembling LOTR’s
immaculate elves, these ones are called Dark Elves. These new set of villains bring with them an
interesting addition to the previous two worlds/realms – the ‘Dark World.’
Replacing the prequel’s Tesseract is the Aether – another Infinity
Stone. If heroes and villains were to
play tug-of-war, the winning prize will always be these stones. However, it doesn’t necessarily make you get
interested, even when the scenes show how destructive it can be, like reducing
matter into nothing.
Aether got its real hype when it got Thor’s love interest, Dr. Jane
Foster, infected. In fact, when Jane
released a bit of its purple-red streak against the police, turning a plain
human into something god-like, the audience gets to give the new red substance
some respect.
Thor’s many issues
Thor is obviously having a handful of foes. There’s his stubborn father, Odin. The old king isn’t amused of Thor’s affection
to a Midgardian or Earthling (ie, Jane).
In fact, the pattern of a son-and-father row is consistent, from the
first film up to this one. This
particular conflict is conventional and predictable – it hardly incites
anything but indifference.
And then there’s this romance that don’t seem to take a break from
circumstance, worlds, and time.
Interestingly, the reunion was easy, not much but a slap from the woman
of science. The only saving grace,
particularly for those love-smitten folks, is Thor’s repeated ‘missing Jane’
scenes.
Thor’s biggest issue is, of course, the Dark Elf Malekith. He is after the Aether, after Jane, and after
destroying the universe right at Greenwich. Visual-wise, Malekith looked like he meant business. He lacked the laugh we often hear among
villains; in fact, he’s quite expressionless!
The Verdict
Several movie critics
have hinted at the prequel’s blasé plot.
For a hero and Marvel movie, the plot revolving around humility was just
too light. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World, attempted to undo
the slight by putting on much external complexities.
In effect, the film
achieved quite a heavy theme, which is apparent in the sequence of scenes. If you fail to focus on one, you’re guaranteed
to proceed head-scratching with the next scenes.
And while this won a
higher Audience rating, 83% courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, it failed critic’s
expectations, with 65% against Thor’s
77% (2011). Indubitably, this sequel was saved by its
effects. Who didn’t get bewitched with
the portal-out, portal-in scenes? It was
dizzying and cool! Perhaps, there is
really more to those caves than prehistoric scribbles.
How about the charming
change of costumes, particularly Jane’s?
Least but not the least is the combination of god-powers with that of
the human’s humble science. Close your
eyes against the plot or the way these folks handled the plot and you’d be fine
with everything else.
About
Manuella
Theissen is a comic and film buff. She considers herself expert in delineating
the difference from colors to shades, and therefore, works as a graphic artist.
She is also an advocate of informationtechnology for college students, as well as for primary and secondary
school pupils.
photo credit: bangdoll@flickr via photopin cc
Thoughtful analysis.
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