Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World is the latest film from director Alan Taylor who has directed a handful of Game of Thrones episodes and has recently been announced to helm Terminator film. Where the first Thor directed by Kenneth Branaugh worked, this one fails. The charm and humor of the first one is in short supply this time around. Because of that I  give Thor: The Dark World two buckets of Killer Korn.











Thor: The Dark World is in my opinion a mediocre movie, fueled by a plot that someone seemed to have pulled from out of their ass. With a story from Don Payne and Robert Rodat and a screenplay written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely, it seemed to me that these men just thought some nonsense up, in brainstorming sessions that must have included copious amounts of alcohol, and decided to run with it. If they took this story from the Thor comic book line, they could have picked a better storyline to work with. Thor: The Dark World in my opinion was a confusing mess. I enjoyed certain parts of the film but Alan relies far too heavily on the same character antics that made the first one so charming. No one has evolved or grown into themselves in the time the first movie ended and this Thor began.

Thor played solemnly by Chris Hemsworth has imprisoned his brother Loki played by Tom Hiddleston after he tried to take over the planet in The Avengers. Natalie Portman reprises her role of Jane Foster who is in England along with her crew of misfits, Erik Selvig played by Stellan Skarsgard, and Darcy Lewis played by Kat Dennings. They are investigating anomalies that seem to happen ever five thousand years. It's in one of these anomalies that swallows up Jane and transports her to a different realm where the "aether" has been buried. In the beginning of the movie the "aether" is supposed to be the harbinger of destruction, the one thing that could render the universe dark for all eternity and yet Jane pops up right next to the unguarded container that houses it, and then predictably gets infected by it.

This time we get to see more of Asgard and it's people going to and fro. It's a visual feast for the eyes but pretty visuals never thrill me unless backed up by a competent story. If the story is weak then you have a pretty car with no engine. That's what Thor: The Dark World is to me, a pretty car that never goes anywhere. The cinematography was well done, an impressive job by Kramer Morganthau. The movie deftly displays the different moods and feels from one realm to another. Scored by Brian Tyler, a composer who when he is on is incredible and when he's off is horrible, this score is a miss. It's tired, pedestrian, and predictable. The producers and director would have done better had they gotten someone else to score their product. Thor: The Dark World is a miss in my book and I would wait for the next Avengers film to see Thor, seeing him in this mess is a waste of tine. I'll see you at the theater.