Thor:
The Dark World. Rated M (action violence). 112 minutes.
Directed by Alan Taylor. Screenplay by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and
Stephen McFeely.
Verdict: A severe case of thunder-less sequelitis.
If there is a constant dilemma in our wonderful world
of cinema, it’s the catalogue of problems associated with ‘making the sequel’.
In the case of this follow-up to the terrific Thor (2011), those problems are
many and obvious – resulting in an unsatisfying outing in the company of Chris
Hemsworth’s love-struck God of Thunder.
Equal parts romantic comedy and Star Wars/Lord of the
Rings wannabe, The Dark World begins with Thor’s bitter nemesis Loki (Tom Hiddleston) disinherited and locked away for
the rest of his life by the stroppy Odin (Anthony
Hopkins). Meanwhile, on Earth, Thor’s clever girlfriend Jane (Natalie Portman) stumbles upon a mysterious portal where
she becomes consumed by the powerful substance ‘Aether’, which the evil Dark
Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) wants so that he and his Dark Elf warriors
can destroy everyone and everything.
Markus (Captain America: The
First Avenger, The Chronicles of Narnia films) and his collaborators have
fashioned a superhero-by-the-numbers screenplay that, while boasting some
welcome comedic banter, remains steadfastly ordinary.
Taylor (episodes of Sex and the
City, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones) follows suit, and with the
exception of a brilliant slap-down sequence involving Thor, Malkeith and some
inter-planetary trickery, The Dark World never manages to feel as though it’s
holding together. It is helped by some flashy visual effects (particularly a
powerful funeral sequence), and Thor’s home planet of Asgard is superbly
realised by production designer Charles Wood (Wrath of the Titans).
Hemsworth, once again, looks
every inch the part but suffers as a result of the script’s many inane moments
and sloppy pacing, while Hiddleston clearly relishes his return as the
entertaining Loki. The sequences on Earth play out with an almost moribund sense
of familiarity that it becomes impossible to take any of it seriously.
This review was commissioned by
the West Australian Newspaper Group
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