The God of Thunder along with his cunning brother return once again in “Thor: The Dark World” with loud pangs, explosions and just about every visual effect that the universe can gather to throw in their way.
In the aftermath of the enormous battle of New York which was the coda to “The Avengers,” we now find Thor (Chris Hemsworth, “Rush”) having to restore order to the nine realms since everything turned to chaos.
The Dark Elves, led by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston, “Unfinished Song”) have arisen as the newest threat to universal shadow and ruin. They need the Aether, a vicious gas that in the wrong hands will cause galactic ruin. Guess who has to stop Elves from unleashing their devious plans to use the Aether? You guessed it. The Hammer Man: Thor, himself.
All the familiar faces return, Loki (Tom Hiddleston, “War Horse”) grins and jibs at most turns becoming a constant nuisance with his trickery. “Thor: the Dark World” returns to the romance with the astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”) that has the reactive appeal of a children’s chemistry set.
Once again, Marvel Studios impresses with the amount of cleverness and showmanship that goes into these comic book films, which eventually turn into clueless punching battles between heroes and villains. Whereas D.C.’s “Man of Steel” accosted theaters with dreary, and not the least bit provocative portrayal of the man of tomorrow.
“Thor: The Dark World’ has a similar enlivened kineticism, continually darting through the storyline to the next big event. But Thor delivers a proper superhero film with none of the disappointing listlessness and bleak moral ambiguity.
However, questions remain such as how they even bothered to rebuild the crystallyn bridge after its destruction in “Thor?” Or how exactly does Thor put Jane Forster in peril by going to a planet unsure whether she’ll be able to breath air on the homeworld of the Dark Elves?
Unsure? No matter. “Thor: The Dark World” doesn’t demand much mental reserves and in return couriers an experience of overt masculinity and surges of cartoonish fantasy.
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
