Thor: The Dark World
I like how Marvel Studios feels liberated after the success of Phase One of their grand cinematic franchise to play around with the films a bit. Granted, this summer’s “Iron Man 3” and now, “Thor: The Dark World,” are hardly out-and-out experiments in terms of sequels– and certainly, neither are quite on par with great comic book movie follow ups such as “Spider-Man 2” and “The Dark Knight” –but they definitely aren’t afraid to try new things, all the while laying groundwork for future Marvel efforts, be it the studio’s TV series, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” or next summer’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Of course, with all that exposition comes great responsibility, and while comic nerds may be able to see the dots being connected, the average moviegoer is less in the know, meaning there are two types of audiences to serve with each film. The ultimate question is, “Is there any middle ground that can be achieved to satisfy both?”
That question remains to be seen, but I think it’s clear that this year’s sequels, and “Thor: The Dark World” in particular, show that there’s very much an audience willing to follow Marvel down this rabbit hole, regardless of how things turn out in the end. We’re on our third official Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel, and while the studio, and their filmmakers, seem to have learned a lot about staying true to a self-contained story instead of just overloading with busy work and exposition that bogs a narrative down since “Iron Man 2,” they’re still ironing out the kinks a bit, so it might be later (like, say, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”) rather than sooner (next year’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”) before we see a flawlessly-executed sequel from the studio. That being said, Marvel’s doing well enough to where I want to see resolutions to the two, big moments at the end of this film, even if it means waiting for a little bit.
Last we saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth, who has gotten better and more assured in the role), he had just returned to Asgard after what has become known as the Battle of New York at the end of “The Avengers,” and he has taken the Tesseract (that blue cube thing) and Loki (his mischievous half-brother, played by Tom Hiddleston) back with him. Loki’s stunt has thrown the Nine Realms into chaos, and since his return, and with the Bifrost repaired, he is trying to restore peace, as any good future king would. However, the galaxy is about to get more complicated, as Jane Foster, Thor’s Earthly girlfriend (and still played by Natalie Portman, who has genuine chemistry with Hemsworth, and it shows), inadvertently finds an otherworldly substance, hidden within the Earth, that causes strange anomalies, and could be her downfall. This might be the mysterious Aether, which, in the hands of the Dark Elves (long thought extinct after the heroics of Odin’s father, Bor) and their leader, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), could lead to universal destruction during the Convergence of the Nine Realms, which, as it happens, is about to occur. To stop this, Thor not only must return to Earth and keep Jane, who has been infected with the Aether (which acts as a virus in her body), safe, but also trust Loki, who may hold a key to stopping the Dark Elves.
If your eyes just glazed over in reading that summery of the story (by Robert Rodat and the late Don Payne, written in screenplay form by Christopher Yost and “Captain America: The First Avenger” writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely), I don’t blame you; it’s convoluted, complicated stuff. But trust me, the film (directed by “Game of Thrones” veteran Alan Taylor) does a much better, far more exciting job of telling it. And Taylor was a smart choice as director for this film; even though I’ve only seen the first season of “Thrones,” the familial rivalries and “who will lead” politicking in that show is a perfect match for what has been going on in the first two “Thor” films, and it’s ramped up in “The Dark World” in ways that point to at least one more “Thor” film by the end of Phase Three of Marvel’s great universe, at which point the bond of brotherhood that has made Thor and Loki’s relationship the most complicated one in the MCU may be broken forever. And Hemsworth and Hiddleston (outdoing even his superlative work in “The Avengers” here) are relishing every second of screentime together, as they flourish under Taylor’s direction, where even during action scenes such as their escape (with the Aether-infected Jane) out of Asgard they find moments to exploit pressure points to challenge one another’s mistrust of the other. I think as a film as a whole, I still prefer Shane Black’s “Iron Man 3” as the best (to date) Marvel sequel, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit the Thor-Loki material in “The Dark World,” especially when it comes to their shared mother figure, Frigga (Rene Russo), was some of the best we’ve seen in any of the Marvel movies thus far.
At this point, it seems almost unnecessary to point out the technical craftsmanship in a Marvel movie; as with Pixar and certain filmmakers, you can be certain of the highest level of behind-the-scenes craft from the cinematographer and visual effects artists to the production designers and composer (the latter of whom, Brian Tyler, is working on his second straight Marvel film after “Iron Man 3,” and it seems as though he’s looking to build a cohesive, memorable musical universe for what we’re seeing on-screen), and “Thor: The Dark World” is no different. (Although I’d skip the 3D, which doesn’t really add anything.) The most important thing for these films is whether the story works, and on that level, I have to say it does. Yes, the Dark Elves en mass become like the Chitauri were in “The Avengers”– faceless targets in a video game the heroes are playing –but their introduction is important for the MCU because it expands the universe further, and Malekith is a strong central villain, even though, like so many Marvel bad guys thus far, his prospects as a long-term nemesis aren’t very promising. The film moves at a brisk, lively pace, with well-earned humor (a lot of it courtesy of Kat Dennings’s Darcy) keeping things from being overly serious, and some of the most dynamic action scenes (especially at the end) we’ve seen to date from a Marvel movie. In the end, though, this movie (like every other Marvel film) is about serving the larger picture of what Marvel Studios is trying to do, as well as entertaining people on its own merits, and I’ll admit: Marvel has me hooked for the long haul, and what seems like it’ll be a Hell of an endgame.
