FRED Watch Quickie Film Review: Thor: The Dark World (2013)
THOR LEAVES US IN THE DARK…
I’m a Wayne Stellini and welcome to FRED Watch, where we review everything from the mainstream to the obscure. Today’s film is Thor: The Dark World…
Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) teams up with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves, led by the vengeful Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) who intends to plunge the universe into darkness.
Despite having much going for it, it becomes evident, at least by the halfway point, that Thor: The Dark World, the eighth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a missed opportunity. With the momentum of its predecessors, particularly the original Thor adventure, and a cast that is both confident and capable behind it, Alan Taylor‘s film falls flat in a number of places.
This is primarily because the combined efforts of writers Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely (who have some experience in bringing comic book stories to the screen) fail to weave a clear, engaging, and fun story. The plot comes across far more convoluted than necessary and the exposition doesn’t feel as smooth this time around. What’s more, there is nothing about Malekith, the central threat within the narrative, that is appealing. He is both dull and two-dimensional; a result of overzealous editing, as a quick web search has led me to believe.
There are, however, a number of things in Thor: The Dark World to truely enjoy. The visuals are pretty good (even though the colour pallet is a little glum) and most of the performances are top-rate. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, and Jonathan Howard do not disappoint, and you can’t help but wish that they were given more screen time together, since the scenes on Earth tend to work better than those elsewhere. Needless to say, Tom Hiddleston steals the show as Loki (THIS is how you write and perform a villain), oozing a cheeky charm that keeps the audience on side even though we should know better by now.
More enjoyable in parts than as a whole experience, Thor: The Dark World is not a complete write-off and is a passable experience for fans of the franchise. But despite a gallant effort from most of the team, the film doesn’t really achieve what it sets out to do. 2½ / 5
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, Alice Krige, Chris O’Dowd, Benicio del Toro, Ophelia Lovibond, Jonathan Howard, Tony Curran, Clive Russell, Richard Brake, Chris Evans [uncredited cameo], Stan Lee [cameo].
Director: Alan Taylor | Producer: Kevin Feige | Writers: Christopher Yost, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus; Story: Don Payne, Robert Rodat (based on Thor by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby) | Music: Brian Tyler | Cinematographer: Kramer Morgenthau | Editors: Dan Lebental, Wyatt Smith
Let us know what you thought of this film in the comments!
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