Review of Thor: The Dark World (2013) by Wyrdmaven — 15 Nov 2013

It's clear by the high scores that a lot of folks wanted a Thor movie high on action and special effects and sweeping vistas and low on calories. I have seen "Better than the first movie" a lot but I can tell you this movie lost me pretty much from the opening prologue about "Dark Elves" that have laser guns and spaceships and hate light and think the universe belongs to them because apparently they were their first. Before the beginning there wasn't light. Yeah, got it, but the premise doesn't satisfy the viewer as to what the "Dark Elves" are and why they're flying in spacecraft that seem like rejected designs from a new Star Trek movie. Did you understand it, or how they derived their technology or why the gas that dentists used to give before they operated is somehow the most dangerous thing in the universe? Besides the Tesseract (or the Infinity Gauntlet, or the next thing that is the most dangerous thing) ?

No, I didn't like Thor 2 as much as the original because the original had some calories and had some restraint...and a real story and a point. It was a well crafted story, directed by someone who understands stories...and basically Thor's story is right from King Lear where Gloster (Odin) banishes the good son Edgar (Thor) because he was deceived by the bad son Edmund (Loki). Later, when Loki is found to be the villain Thor returns home to set things right best he can and Loki's bid to be king is foiled. Yes, Thor is a fairly pedestrian THOR story, with little action, but with good acting, drama and a logic to what is going on. We have pathos and we have an Odin we can believe in. Running through the thread of Thor is that Odin rescues Loki from death, all the time knowing that Thor will be king but also raising him as his son, knowing it is doomed and that Loki will find his real heritage and betray him and Thor...and that this challenge will mold Thor into being the leader of Asgard that Odin wants him to be. Odin is in control of the situation and see the story play out.

The original Thor movie was weighted by the need to set up the character and his universe to join in with the rest of the Marvels to lead to the pay-off in Avengers. So it tip-toes its way to being a Thor movie that yes, can be a real yawner at times.

And so Thor 2 shows no restraint when it comes to logic, characterization, the laws of physics or basically getting around to splaining itself. So yeah, the Dark Elves (Borgs?) seek to destroy the universe because they need SPF 1000 to survive or something. They were there first, in the dark, then light and life and warmth appeared and they fought to get it back and created a mega-weapon but were defeated because the Asgardians have the Rainbow Bridge (teleporters). So Malekith (Sauron) goes into hibernation until Jane Foster (Bilbo) finds the Laughing Gas which wakes him up and Jane is the carrier of the Ether (the One Ring) who must first be helped in Asgard (Rivendell) and then the answer to stopping Malekith (Sauron's) armies is to take the Ether to the very place it shouldn't go, in a bid to destroy it.

Now where this all falls apart is...a somewhat accurate portrayal of Odin from the comics (or anywhere else), but a fantastic departure from characterization, simply to create set pieces for an actioner. The relationship between Thor and Jane Foster is not one that Odin has approved of and, while his heart may be in the right place, his actions regarding Jane, the Ether, how to deal with Malekith, his behavior after Frigga is killed (which is pointless since razing Asgard would be reason for vengeance enow) creates...hmm...all you folks who hated Thor...look what you've got now:

Odin forbids Thor to do something.

Thor and his friends (and Loki) do the very thing they're not supposed to.

Betraying the orders of Odin results in solving the problem.

Loki seeks the throne by betrayal, only this time he wins, apparently.

Sound familiar? Yeah, no real story that we haven't seen before...except this time, Thor and his friends are absolutely right in betraying Odin's commands because clearly Odin sees only a red mist after Frigga's death and no longer has a reason for what he does. Odin could have clearly done the opposite and set Thor and Co on the same mission, but it wouldn't create enough tension, that this film clearly needed.

Because...if Odin simply tells Thor and Co to go to the Dark World, then...yes folks, Loki stays in his Friggin cell and the movie is completely diff. And it's contrived because of Odin's sudden lack of wisdom and self-control. He's simply an angry god making poor judgments, to merely serve a shoe-horned story whose aim is to blown stuff up reel good.

Thud. Yeah. So yes...it's a good action film if you don't care for story/plot/characterization or an original tale. It, like Iron Man III, dispenses with storytelling to get to the action.