"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help"....since when has an Avengers villain been asked for help?
Its' been a couple years since the events of Thor and The Avengers, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Asgardian army keeping peace in the Nine Realms. However, new trouble is brewing. Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and the Dark Elves are planning to use a mysterious powerful substance called Aether to take over the universe. Meanwhile, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) accidentally came across a secret hiding place for the substance, and infected her body. With her life in danger, Thor takes Jane to Asgard, hoping to keep her safe. But will peace be restored or will Malekith's strong force cause the curtain to come down on our hero?
Visually, Thor: The Dark World is quite brilliant and does amp up the visual feast factor more than The Avengers ever did. From stunningly-created worlds to beautiful costumes and 3D-like effects, this movie clearly is amazing to look at. The action and disaster scenes glimmer even more with these impressive visuals. The use of London and the climax scene there I found to be very well-done, with just enough pizzazz and kick-butt action.
The acting is solid too, with Hemsworth providing solid emotion and charisma to Thor. Portman is great as Foster, with enough heart and smarts to make a solid female lead. Tom Hiddleston returns as mischievous and wonderfully cunning as ever as Loki, while Stellan Skarsgard brings a goofy and somewhat nutty personality to Eric Selvig. Other solid actors include Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, and Zachary Levi. Bryan Tyler does a great job with the music score.
One very clever moment in the movie had Loki using illusions to create a very clever cameo for Captain America. I just found that to be my favorite moment in the movie (the friends I saw it with would agree). Solid messages on self-sacrifice and bravery without hesitation, as well as minor moments on family and perseverance.
Perhaps the only very light technical flaw I found with this sequel is that the themes and story are just way too familiar. But that's what we get from superhero movies, the same good VS. evil and predictable storyline. And while Dark World's version does offer a bit more pizzazz than the usual superhero formula, its basically the same formula. Also (spoiler alert!), Thor's mom dies (which is predictable considering its' rare parents ever survive Disney movies). Now that's not a huge problem though. I didn't think the lone s-word towards the beginning was necessary, as it just added a slight bit of crassness to already some content issues.
I didn't see the first Thor until a couple of days after seeing the sequel. I have been into superhero films lately, and so, I ended up making the trip to the theater to see this.
In the end, I had a great time. The action was quite exciting, the acting was spot-on and the visuals were well-done. Plus, unlike the innuendo and profanity-infused Iron Man movies (FYI, I missed the third movie due to overt content problem reports), this movie feels more family-friendly and closer to the classic Star Wars movies than the more edgy Star Trek movies. Heck, even the poster seems to homage the classic George Lucas movies. Now a brief strong word and a couple of disturbing moments don't help things along, but at least they are sparingly used and the violence and fast-paced action aren't over-glamorized like they were in Man of Steel.
In the end, I enjoyed Thor: The Dark World just as much as Man of Steel and The Avengers. A fun, exciting, and cool popcorn-muncher that carries enough visual splendor and impressive action to keep me at the edge of my seat the whole way through.
Grade: A-
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of
Language: Darcy utters the s-word once. One other time it's partially-obscured. Three uses of "h---", and two of "d---". "Oh my g--" is thoughtlessly used three times.
Adult Content: A couple of scenes show a character running around naked on the news (with his unmentionables pixelated). One quick innuendo has someone pointing out his ex-girlfriend kept "sleeping with other dudes". One of the Warriors Three is shown to be a ladies' man. A few kisses.
Violence: As relentless as ever, but again, with very little blood or gore. There are a few potentially disturbing moments, mainly with Jane and her struggles with the aether. One other moment that may disturb young ones is when a main character and a villain are both impaled by the same sword. Someone else is killed. A few bad guys disappear in a puff of smoke. Some destruction of both Asgard and London. Loki seemingly chops Thor's hand off (its revealed to be a hologram later, though).
Drugs/Alcohol: One scene shows some drinking. Dr. Selvig is shown to have quite a few...um, medications.
Other: Some deception and lying. Thor disobeys his father.
