After The Avengers, there just aren’t a lot of places left to go in the Marvel Universe. I mentioned this same point in my review of Iron Man 3 in the summer, but how does a writer or director ever possibly raise the stakes higher than a giant all-star team of superheroes fighting (in the middle of New York no less) to the save the world from otherwise certain devastation?
Iron Man 3’s answer to that question was to tell a small personal story about its hero. Well, I mean, relatively small. It was still a superhero movie. But it kept the focus on the characters and that seems to have paid off, both critically and at the box office.
So what did Thor: The Dark World do to address that same issue of scale? Well the next logical thing it could do – it had Thor save the universe. That ladies and gentleman, in case you were wondering, is called doubling down.
And so TTDW begins with the story of Dark Elf Malekith and his attempts to use a powerful energy source known as the Aether to destroy all the light in the universe. His plans, however, were foiled by Thor’s grandfather Bor, who defeated Malekith and hid the Aether away so that no one could ever possibly find it.
Then somebody found it.
Actually not just somebody, but Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the object of Thor’s continuing affection. This sends Thor (Chris Hemsworth) back to Earth and awakens Malekith for round two of light/no light.
All in all, the little history lesson and the chaos that follows is both beautifully shot and incredibly dumb. In some respects Thor is the one superhero that can get away with the added scale. Technically he’s immortal, so small, intimate stories are a lot harder to pull off for his character. For that reason, going big wasn’t necessarily the worst idea available.
And that ambition is benefitted by the fact that the Thor movies also have some of the best visuals out there. The Nine Realms provide some absolutely gorgeous locations for Thor and his merry band of followers to wreck and the scenery in TTDW is a nice change of pace from typical superhero big city locales.
But frankly, the rest of TTDW is spectacularly average, and I found myself having trouble just trying to care. The villain is incredibly generic, feeling almost like a carbon copy of the ice villain in the first film (don’t hate me for not knowing his name, comic book fans, I don’t know as much about this stuff as you do). The action sequences, while nicely choreographed, don’t particularly stand out amongst any of the loud, flashy action sequences of previous Marvel installments.
And the relationship between Thor and Foster falls almost as flat as it does in the first film (which frankly, was shoehorned in to begin with). Unfortunately for Portman fans (and count me among them), accidently becoming infected with an ancient super weapon is really Jane’s only contribution to the film. Even when it comes time for her to show off her science prowess, Stellan Skarsgard’s Dr. Selvig character ends up taking the lead.
I will give TTDW credit for one thing though, it never takes itself too seriously. Perhaps this is all in my head, but I can’t think of another Marvel movie that embraces its comedic side more than this film does. There are times when it can feel a little put on. The film can be very quippy. But without those elements I think TTDW would have been a far inferior product.
My advice—if you’re a comic book fan or even just a fan of big, dumb action Thor: The Dark World is likely going to keep you satisfied. If you’re looking for something new out of the Marvel Universe though, TTDW isn’t the place you’re going to find it.