Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
Moving onto the next film on the road to Infinity War, we take a look at Thor: The Dark World. This is the continuation of the first Thor film and that’s about it!
Look, I’m going to be honest: I’m not the biggest fan of this movie. The first one was decent and I actually liked it a lot when it first came out. It wasn’t Iron Man and it wasn’t the best film in Phase One of the MCU, but it was serviceable. Meanwhile, The Dark World was a disappointment. I was hoping they would take a new turn with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and that we would see more of Asgard and all of the other worlds in the Nine Realms, and we did get them- just not the way I would’ve liked.
The story starts with a backstory about the war between the Asgardians and the Dark Elves, with Malekith being the villain (a not-so-memorable one at that). His motivation is the Aether, one of the soon to be Infinity Stones later on in the MCU. Other than that, there’s not REAL motivation beyond conquering worlds.
Then, we see a Thor that’s missing Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) when suddenly he has to look for her because she disappears. She finds the Aether and absorbs it, so Thor has to look for her and rescue her. But when Malekith comes to Asgard in search for the Aether, it’s up to Thor, Jane, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to save the world.
The movie did have some great moments in it. The action was great, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston still hold that chemistry on screen, and that is later seen in Ragnarok. There were some funny moments as well, like when Thor hung the Mjolnir to a wall when entering an apartment and when Loki and Thor were talking in Asgard and then Loki shifted to Captain America. Moments like that were great because those are two characters we cared about. But other than that, I don’t really care about the rest of the film.
It’s not the worst movie in the world, but it was such an obvious filler film so people could have something to see as we waited for Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s a film I can put on to pass time, but nothing else.
The whole film looks bland. Asgard looked amazing in the first film and as I re-watched this movie I couldn’t stop thinking, “Where is the magic of Asgard that I saw in Thor?” Sure, this is an issue that the MCU has in general, even my favorite one (Winter Soldier) has it, but coming off of Iron Man 3, this looked bad. Even the Dark World itself is bland! For a movie that is called “The Dark World” you had to make it look sinister or even interesting. But nope! It’s just a wasteland.
Other problems this movie had was that Malekith was boring. Honestly, I only remembered his name because it sounds badass, but I wish I could say the same for the character. I think this is when the MCU started with the lack of villains because Loki was so awesome in The Avengers they couldn’t top it.
Also, problems I had with the film are too many expositions, too much Jane Foster, less Thor and Loki, less action, less Asgard and WAY TOO MUCH DARSEY.
Let’s talk about Darsey for a moment. I don’t mind comic relief characters in films when they’re done right. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work here. Darsey has to be the most annoying character in all of the MCU films by far. Never have I cringed so much at a character in this franchise than hers. She’s always cracking a joke and failing so hard and getting WAY more screen time than even Thor’s friends! I don’t get the purpose of her character or even her “assistant.” If the film had less of her and more work on the story then MAYBE I could like it, but I can’t help myself and be mad at just thinking about this character.
I will admit, this shot of Thor grabbing Mjolnir was BADASS! One of the few saving graces of this film.
Thor: The Dark World is a serviceable film that failed to push the character of Thor and its worlds. The action is great, there’s some great moments, but the lacking story, Darsey and the bland look of this movie makes it a forgettable movie for me. You might like it and that’s fine! These films are for everyone’s enjoyment and there’s going to be a film that is liked by others, but it didn’t work for me back in 2013 and it mostly certainly didn’t work for me now. Luckily, Ragnarok came around last year and helped me get over this movie.
6/10
For more MCU Movie reviews, stay tuned at Twitter! @GEEKMOTIVATION
