Last night, after 36 hours of celebrating my friend’s 23rd
birthday, we headed down to the nearest cineworld to see Thor: The Dark World. This
is the sequel to the 2011 film which precluded The Avengers and set up the
backstory for antagonist: Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
The Dark World picks up directly after The Avengers, with
Odin, king of Asgard sentencing Loki to life in the city’s prison, before
cutting to the eponymous hero (Chris Hemsworth) who is enforcing brutal law and
order across the nine mythological worlds. Loki’s attack on New York led to the
outbreak of chaos and it is now up to Thor to restore faith in Odin.
Thor eventually discovers that one of Asgard’s sworn enemies:
Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston), is returning from a 5,000 year sleep to retrieve
the ultimate weapon: The Aether, capable of possessing mortal and god-like
beings. This leads him to London, where he meets up with love interest Jane
Foster (Natalie Portman) and comic relief Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), whose
expertise he must use to stop Malekith and his Dark Elves from obtaining The
Aether.
Through a confusing sequence of discovering a rift between
the mortal world and Asgard, Foster is accidentally infected with The Aether
and is left in need of protection. Thor steps in and takes her back to Asgard
to protect her with Odin’s might. Eventually, the hammer wielding guardian
works out he has to tackle Malekith on earth before the nine worlds align and must return by betraying his
father and enlisting Loki’s help.
Soon, the heroes end up back in London for the final
showdown, leading to a battle of epic proportions and a very witty use of
the London Underground.
Above all the epic
fantasy battle scenes, this film was much funnier than the last. An
excellent cameo from comedy actor Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd) and Kat Dennings’
crazy observations made me laugh out loud more times than any other Marvel
film. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t atrocious either. I went into the
cinema expecting to see fantasy battles and a growing love story between the
protagonists and that is what I got. Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith put up a
courageous fight knowing he meant business. Natalie Portman also offered a
stellar performance with plenty of intelligence oozing from her character and
not falling into the ‘damsel in distress’ trope.
But I must say, I felt sorry most for Chris O’Dowd being
cast as the lovable human loser who’s attempts at finding a girlfriend got him
caught up in a battle that would have destroyed nine worlds if lost.
Here’s to one very funny and entertaining Marvel film. Proper
‘park-your-brain-at-the-door’ entertainment.
Rating: 3/5
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