Review of Thor: The Dark World (2013) by Gwathdring A — 24 Nov 2014

Enitrely watchable, but not very good. It's a shame, as it has a lot of excellent moments and excellent work in it. It's visually enticing and has the hints of a bolder story around it's edges. The key performances are spot on with some inconsistencies in the surrounding cast. The core story, ultimately, is too much bigger and too much simpler than the webs of relationships and the expansive cast of the film can really allow for without suffering in quality.

Thor and Loki in particular simply need more time doing smaller things besides saving the world for this film to really shine.

The villain was a disappointment and the Boss Battle finale just didn't work; it was the wrong kind of resolution for the film that was building up to that point. I wanted to love this film for it's silliness and it's central performances, but it suffered from a consistent inability to complete it's better ideas. And it has absolutely no idea what to do with Jane Foster, leaving me as an audience member torn between how little sense the character (and the relationship) makes and how much the actors want us to believe in it.

P.S. Also Hopkins really phones it in in a couple of places.