THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the first sequel to the God of Thunder’s
own franchise, is a film which has a lot in common with its predecessor. Both
films serve several purposes; to tell Thor’s story, to expand the ever-growing
Marvel Movie Universe, and to serve as a small piece in the slowly building
overall story of superheroes and supervillians. The difference between the two
is that the sequel seeks to strike a better balance of small and large-scale
storytelling. Enter THE DARK WORLD.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) re-unites with his true love Jane
(Natalie Portman) and his estranged brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to combat the
dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston)…who seeks to unleash a terrible power
which was taken from him by Odin’s (Sir Anthony Hopkins) father thousands of
years before.
THE DARK WORLD is a film with a lot going on. Director Alan
Taylor (TV’s GAME OF THRONES) really shows his TV background as he spends a lot
of time weaving many storylines around the backdrop of a potential
universe-shattering threat. THE DARK WORLD is a story about sons and fathers
and their fathers before them; a story about family and betrayal with a few
love triangles and several battles which are the culmination of every
large-scale science-fiction and fantasy film ever made. It seems like a lot,
and it is, but this where Taylor’s TV chops come through. It works because
every scene is very well written and constructed. Each character in the fairly
large cast gets his or her moment and gets just enough of development. As the
story evolves and the universe the characters inhabit keeps getting bigger
(literally), Thor himself gets a little lost in it all and he loses a lot of
his own arc, but it’s a minor gripe as the film is just too enjoyable. On top
of it all, THE DARK WORLD is loaded with many twists and turns; perhaps the
most unpredictable superhero film ever made.
The film seems to be specially tailored for those who have
been along for the Marvel ride since 2008; it literally is built upon the
foundation laid down by the many films before it. Actions from characters in
previous Marvel adventures play heavily in THE DARK WORLD, but they are never a
distraction and serve a purpose in motivating and developing characters. Hoever,
the main villain is very underdeveloped and is more of a plot point than a
character.
Alan Taylor has put together a fine looking film, with brisk
pacing and eye-popping battle and action scenes. CGI is obvious and at times a
little cartoony, but for every bad render there are 20 or so better ones. Humor
is aplenty and well-timed, including a gut-busting cameo which will bring down
any theatre house.
There may not be two actors who enjoy playing their
characters more than Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. Both seem to have a
blast in their roles, and together have perfect chemistry; the banter between
them by way of bickering and fighting is tremendous and always lights up the
screen. Natalie Portman, despite her beauty, still seems out of place in all
the goings on, but her acting never suffers and her character actually has
things to do this time. Christopher Eccleston is wasted by way of a weak villain,
and his acting is buried underneath too much makeup. The rest of the large cast
is excellent; Sir Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings and
Stellan Skarsgard…whose character is still suffering from his experiences with
Loki. Thor’s best buddy-warrior pals are all in their prime form, played beautifully
by Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano.
There are two post-credit scenes; one of which draws the
curtain back on an even larger universe and is a peek into just how insanely huge of a plan Marvel still has in store
for us. THE DARK WORLD finishes on a spectacular note, opening up a great many
things to come while sending the theatre home with a galaxy-sized grin. This is
the movie the God of Thunder deserves.
BOTTOM LINE: See it
No comments:
Post a Comment
A few rules:
1. Personal attacks not tolerated.
2. Haters welcome, if you can justify it.
3. Swearing is goddamn OK.