Thor: The Dark World

THOR 2 is ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT SUPERHERO MOVIE
by Reymundo Salao

In THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the Dark Elf Malekith sought to return the universe to a state of pure darkness. To do this, Malekith has to wield the power of the force called the Aether, which has embedded itself within the body of Jane Foster. Thor has to do everything to protect Jane Foster, preserve the peace of Asgard, and ensure that the universe does not fall into sheer darkness, and to do this, he must seek the help of his brother Loki. [hit the jump to continue]

On the outset, we can clearly see that Thor 2 has all the epic action and the visually attractive thrills. Thor 2’s action is adamantly and deliciously satisfying. There are more than enough monsters and creatures this time. There are battle sequences that are close to fantasy sci-fi that reminds us of Star Wars.  There are so many things happening in Thor 2 that it feels jampacked with enough content.

But apart from all the visual richness, the movie is surprisingly rich with character development. That is not surprising, considering that they have hired one of the main directors of the TV hit series “Game of Thrones” Alan Taylor to helm this sequel. Taylor’s history in that series managed to have somehow made its way into the more plot-based aspects of this movie. In context, this movie is actually pretty dark in tone, but Taylor somehow knew how to balance it in such a manner that it does not feel depressing. His icebreakers are daring, the way it would insert some light-hearted humor right after a really dramatically dark and heavy scene, it's risky, but Taylor has somehow managed to make it work. And as an improvement from his history in Game of Thrones, Taylor surprisingly gets to prove that he knows how to use some high adrenaline action to make his rich story-based movie delightful to all kinds of audiences.

The movie never fell short of telling the dramatic aspects of the story. In comparison to the first movie, Dark World does not have to go through the introductory phase of storytelling, and focus more on building up the deeper aspects of character drama, and balance it with all the action and obligatory spectacle.  Not to say that the first movie was weaker; part 1 had its own theme, which was in itself, had strong dramatic aspects. But Dark World explores further twists and character growth.

We get to see more the dynamic relationship between Thor and Loki, and how it is defined by a distinct sort of mixture of brotherly love and hate. We get to see Thor’s stubborn love for Jane Foster. And we see a more complex focus on Loki’s psyche. Thor: The Dark World boasts the strength of an absolutely well-written script.

To sum up the movie in simpler, but geekier terms, Thor: The Dark World is a mixture of Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and your standard fun superhero movie. It is a must-see, and is surely one of those movies that challenge the title of being one of the ten best superhero movies of all time.

[by the way, there are two extra post-credits scenes in the movie. One is right after the animated credits scene. The other is right after the full credits itself.]