Thor: The Dark World

Positives:

• Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston
• Some of the humor

Negatives:

• Story
• Weak and boring villain
• Most of the humor
• One-note side characters (Again)

Is this a huge stepup from the original "Thor" movie. No, unfortunately not. Is it another watchable, fun superhero movie; yes, definitely. It's a really good movie and if we look at the way Alan Taylor directs this movie, it's actually not that much different from what Branagh did back in 2011. Chris Hemsworth is good as usual and Tom Hiddleston is more wonderful than ever as Loki, but the villain Malekith, played by Christopher Eccleston, unfortunately, is a bit of a disappointment, mostly because of the lack of motivation.

Thor The Dark World is brilliant and completely tops the first film. There are a lot of extremely funny bits in it as well as some dark and moving moments. Probably a much funnier movie than it had any right to be given the subject matter. Loki is done perfectly and the dialogue between him and Thor is superb.

If you're a fan of the first, this certainly won't disappoint at all. Without spoiling anything, the scale of this film is very Avengers-like in that the action pieces are amazing. During a sequence halfway through, I literally turned to my friend and said, "this is freakin' awesome".

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Each frame is packed with action, heartfelt emotion, humor, drama or intensity. I was expecting to simply see crazy mythology with monsters destroying the landscape of the nine realms for two hours. Instead, I was shocked at the depth and complexity of this film. You definitely need your brain and your heart turned on for this one, unlike other CGI mishmashes. If you want a movie with just dumb action and no plot then stay away from this exceptional film. The performances are top tier and the visual effects may be the best I've seen this year. I have to join the majority of people and even critics that are praising this film. It's a true joy and such a pleasant experience.

Well I was so looking forward to seeing this movie when I went last night, and although it was reasonably good it was not at all what I expected.

Watch the official movie trailer and you see what looks like quite a dark fantasy, so you can imagine my surprise when throughout the movie the audience was laughing out loud at the stupid one liners. Yes I know this is entertainment, and this movie was moderately entertaining, but once again the makers have tried to please everyone by adding a bit of everything; action, special effects, romance and humour, just far too much of the latter for my taste in a genre that does not require hilarity to succeed.

Although it has a lower IMDb score I much preferred the 2011 Thor, a stronger storyline, darker and no laughing matter!

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. This sequel is one such moment. I do need to see it again. In terms of pure enjoy-ability, I put it top 3 of all sequels that I have enjoyed.

What I really liked...

-Every single character gets a moment to shine and every single actor cast in these parts are perfect.

-The comedy is perfect. It's such a fine balance overall and everything works because it's very subtle and fits in with certain circumstances.

-Some very tender emotional scenes. I won't spoil anything with specifics.

-Some superb action and what could very well be award winning special effects.

-All characters interactions are great and handled very well. This is a fantasy story that really cares about character first and it shows all the way through. Even Natalie Portman's Jane feel more fleshed out than she did in the original film.

-The set pieces and other realms talked about in the first are seen here and are beautiful and well done. Asgard was even better believe it or not.

-The mid-credit and end credit scenes, both cool. Make sure you stay for both.

Marvel hit a pure home run with this endeavor. This film works because of the great cast and the fact that they took this subject matter seriously but remember to have fun. Chris Hemsworth was again perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.