Title: Marvel Cinematic Universe | We robbed you. Do you remember? That's us
Red Text: Thor: The Dark World
I rewatched right after Thor, which is probably my third time seeing it. It’s not a bad movie. It’s just impeccably bland and uninteresting. For one, many scenes are set on Earth and while nothing happens here (besides the portals in the third act), they don’t even have the humor that worked in the first Thor. While Erik Selvig is dealing with the aftermath of his brain wash, the way it goes about this doesn’t really work, and for me seems out of character, even if he is clearly mentally ill. Darcy is good levity, and I think she works, but her intern doesn’t. Jane is the last Earth-based character, and I like how her arc bring her to outer space and sees her infected with the aether. It is interesting and it builds a little tension, but then the movie drops the ball entirely with the main plot. The Convergeance is fine, and it’s a very nice set up, but Malekith the villain has no compelling motivation. It’s just not there, and all it comes down to is revenge on the Asgardians and to see the universe wiped with darkness. It’s a good stick for the character, and the connection between him, the aether and Jane is a solid one, but the execution is lackluster, and Malekith is given no time whatsoever. Time is instead wasted on Earth scenes, when they could have expanded Malekith. What works, is Loki as the anti-villain. He was great in Thor, and is the greatest part about The Dark World, with his mischievousness, ultimately dealing with his own plan of overtaking the throne. The Dark World continues building on top of the beautiful world created by its predecessor, adding wonderful flying Viking ships, some very nicely looking dark elves ships that we get to see close up, and expanding the world with a look at Vanaheim and putting Thor up to clean up the realms. They actually give Frigga a worthy end by showing her capable at fighting, and ending it nicely with an Asgardian ceremony that could have been more emotional with a more hitting score and visuals, but still sets out to do what it planned on doing decently. See, Thor: The Dark World is definitely not a bad movie, it’s just incredibly bland and uninteresting, and that’s a shame when it succeeds in expanding the world and giving us striking scenery. But that more than anything is a testament to the strength of Marvel Cinematic Universe, that a bottom three movie isn’t bad per se, and still an easy watch.
Link: https://www.resetera.com/posts/4487565/
Archive.is (legacy): https://archive.is/hVqu5