Marvel Studios has already proven themselves king of the summer box office, and now “Thor: The Dark World” is setting it’s sites past the hottest months of the year and straight toward awards season. Of course “Thor” likely won’t be getting any Academy love outside of a visual effects nomination, however the Norse god’s sequel is serviceable superhero entertainment, and at worst something to satiate your blockbuster appetite while waiting for “The Hunger Games” and “Hobbit” sequels. “The Dark World” follows the titular god of thunder that must defend the kingdom of Asgard, and the entire universe itself from a seemingly unstoppable force (that is nearly indistinguishable from the Tesseract) known as the Aether, wielded by ancient group of dark elves led by Malekith the Acursed. After a chain of events Thor is forced to work with his brother Loki, who is imprisoned on Asgard after the events from “The Avengers”, on a quest to prevent the Aether from being used that is just as straightforward as it sounds. Any fans who weren’t pleased with the story and source material deviations “Iron Man 3” made will without a doubt find comfort in the simplicity of “Thor: The Dark World”. Bad guys show up, do bad things, and Thor hits them with his hammer. Director Alan Taylor, who previously cut his teeth on T.V. Shows “The Sopranos”, “Mad Men”, and “Game of Thrones”, does a fine job with the material. One could make the case that he’s a step down from Kenneth Branagh, director of the first Thor film, but the absence of Branagh’s trademark canted angles are a welcome omission. What is also absent however is the sense of excitement the first film had. The action is certainly better and more plentiful this time around, but none of the scenes reach the same intensity felt when the Destroyer attacks Thor at the end of the first film. This may be due in part to “The Dark World” having the least humor in it (it has the word dark in it’s title, after all). This is certainly welcome after the borderline parody of itself that “Iron Man 3” became, and while there is some levity to be had, it never becomes too overbearing, although it would still be nice to get a Marvel Studios film that actually takes itself seriously for once.
While the entire cast does a good job in their roles, it should come as no surprise that Tom Hiddleston steals the show as Loki. There’s a reason fans were upset when it was confirmed that his character would not be returning in the upcoming sequel “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. Hiddleston is just as gleefully mad as he was in “Thor” and “The Avengers”, but with an even more brutal edge than he had in the latter film. It may not be all that fair to say that Hiddleston does such a better job, considering the other lead actor isn’t given nearly as much to do. Chris Hemsworth is a good actor and he does just as good of job as Thor as he has in the past two films featuring the character, the problem is more with the character being dully written. He’s never given much of a personality outside of swinging a hammer around, which is all well and fine during the action sequences but it’s a problem when he needs his brother around to make any scenes that don’t feature intense action interesting. “Thor: The Dark World” still delivers though, with enough action and wit to outweigh what it lacks in charm or a strong villain. If you’re even vaguely a fan of cinematic superheroes then you’ll have a good time. And it goes without saying, but if you’re still leaving a Marvel Comics movie these days before waiting through the end credits, you’re a fool.