I don’t usually expect to be surprised by movies—I’m one of those obnoxious people who guessed the ending of “The Sixth Sense” when I first watched it. That said, I never expect to be surprised by superhero movies.
But “Thor: The Dark World” actually led me to gasp audibly at one point. And grab at the arm of my nearest fellow moviegoer, who I luckily happened to have met before.
The plot had its gleaming moments, carried by good writing and good acting, but it wasn’t the absolute greatest. There’s this glowing-red power-goo called “the Aether” that a bad guy named Malekeith is trying to get a hold of so he can return the universe to the primordial darkness his people sprung forth from, thereby destroying life as we know it.
If that sounds similar to “The Avenger’s” glowing-blue power cube called “The Tesseract” which had to be kept from another bad guy, that’s probably because it is.
But as Loki himself points out in “Dark World,” he didn’t want to destroy everything, he just wanted to rule it. Subtle differences are still differences, people.
Besides, The Avengers and SHIELD fixed that little Tesseract problem. To overcome the Aether, however, our favorite god of thunder has to save the day along with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, the crew from Midgard (a.k.a. Earth), and Thor’s charmingly psychopathic brother Loki, who unabashedly steals the show.
This is partially due to the fact that Tom Hiddleson’s character is one of the most delightfully complex in the current Marvel movie franchise and was practically built for all the best one-liners. (Look out for his impression of one of the Avengers. I won’t say who it is, but it’s hilarious.)
But it’s also due to the fact that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is actually likeable and exhibits signs of both intelligence and abstract thinking. In “Thor,” he was a basically an oafish, warmongering princeling with a ridiculous musculature and great hair. In “Dark World” he keeps the chiseled abs and flowing blond locks but also reveals the product of his character arc in “Thor” that we only get a hint of in “The Avengers.”
As a result, the interactions between the two (and their father and mother) are far more entertaining and engaging.
Adorable scientist Jane Porter (Natalie Portman) is also improved—despite the fact that she and Thor only appear to be thrown together through her overly convenient run-in with the red goo of power. But she’s less googly eyes and sidelong glances when it comes to Thor, enabling them to have actual conversations and something resembling a relationship.
To top everything off, the glossy, candy-coated CGI effects are everything you could expect from a Marvel movie, in which the action pops back and forth among three planets as quickly as it pops back and forth among superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy genres.
Some critics have claimed that it was “overwhelming” and “too much.” But we don’t go to these movies for their exceedingly subtle artistry and commitment to realism.
So go. Embrace the fact that you’ve seen the plot a hundred times before and you’re probably going to witness more “traveling through space” visuals than are strictly necessary. You’ll have a blast.
tcooney@hillsdale.edu