Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Here we are ladies and gentlemen, this is the weakest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! “Thor: The Dark World” is not bad (I maintain that Marvel has never produced a flat-out bad movie) it’s just agonisingly average. There are moments that really shine, some members of the cast give some great performances and the production design, cinematography, score and visual effects are stellar, but the overall picture sinks into mediocrity.

Everything I liked about the first “Thor” is intensified here, there is an epic sense of grandeur during the Asgard sequences and the relationship between Thor and Loki carries the entire movie.

Chris Hemsworth gives his best performance as Thor yet (his finest hour wouldn’t come until “Avengers: Infinity War”), he balances the Shakespearean royalty and human jokey-ness extremely well.

Tom Hiddleston is excellent (as expected) in the role of Loki, I love his banter with Hemsworth, their interplay is hilarious (“Well done, you just decapitated your grandfather!”) Even though this is the weakest film featuring the duo, “Thor: The Dark World” features some of my favourite Thor and Loki moments!

Idris Elba is fantastic as Heimdall, it’s a shame that he couldn’t have done more in the MCU because he is very good here!

The worst performance in the Asgard sequences is surprisingly Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Hopkins gives a ridiculously hammy and drama-queen-like performance as Odin, screaming his way through most of the scenes (“AS MANY AS ARE NEEDED!!!”)

On the flip side of this, everything I disliked about the previous movie is increased in “Thor: The Dark World”, the main issue being that the Earth-set scenes drag the narrative to a screeching halt.

Admittedly, it’s nice that a blockbuster comic book movie is set in London rather than New York or Washington DC for a change (which makes the action sequences feel closer to reality for me.)

The major problems with the Earth sequences are the characters. The Jane Foster/ Thor romance is completely pointless as this is the final time that the two characters would appear on screen together. It’s clear the Natalie Portman REALLY doesn’t want to be here, her chemistry with Hemsworth is ok but overall, this relationship was never particularly interesting so I won’t lament its departure from the MCU.

Kat Dennings’s Darcy went from being a mildly amusing wacky sidekick in “Thor” to being an intensely grating and painfully unfunny wacky sidekick here. And then there’s another wacky sidekick in the form of British intern Ian, who is completely unnecessary to the plot and could have been cut out easily (this film has an overabundance of wacky sidekicks.)

The only character that I really liked in the Earth section was Erik Selvig, played by Stellan Skarsgård. This is probably the best use of Selvig in any MCU film, he’s much more entertaining than the other human characters!

Another sub-par aspect of “Thor: The Dark World” is it’s incredibly generic and uninteresting antagonist, Malekith the Dark Elf, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston. Malekith is hands-down the worst MCU villain, his plan is paper-thin, his motivation non-existent and his dialogue bland and forgettable (not helped by the fact that he spends the majority of the film speaking elvish.) Judging by his tenure as the Ninth Doctor in “Doctor Who”, Eccleston is a very good actor, but he is wasted here. I couldn’t tell you a single trait of Malekith’s character, he’s angry about something or other, he doesn’t like light for some reason and… err, he’s… um, I have no idea. At least the MCU has mostly escaped from their villain trap, with antagonists such as Ego, Vulture, Klaue and Thanos, we can finally forget Malekith… who were we talking about again?

“Thor: The Dark World” also has “The Incredible Hulk” syndrome; both films feature cameos from other Avengers that turn out to be the best scenes in each respective film. I won’t spoil which character appears here but his inclusion is by far my favourite moment in this movie!

The action sequences in “Thor: The Dark World” aren’t that great; none of them stand-out as they all blend into each other. This is the primary reason why I like “The Incredible Hulk” ever so slightly more than this movie, even though the CGI in that film was appalling, the set-pieces were still thrilling and intense.

A major issue with “Thor: The Dark World” is that it’s a tonal mess. The narrative cuts from a “Lord of the Rings” in space epic to a so-so romance and a quippy comedy. It’s a shame because the movie houses two very emotionally effective death scenes; however, the constant gags tend to ruin the atmosphere (and one of the deaths is completely undone by the end so it’s entirely pointless!)

In summary, “Thor: The Dark World” isn’t dreadful, just dull. There are some really good scenes, lines of dialogue and visual moments, but the overall film is just disposable filler; it’s only important because there’s an Infinity Stone in it. I’m probably extra harsh on this film because of its placement in the MCU, it was released after “Iron Man 3” (which is a super entertaining and bold film) and before “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”, which are two of my favourite comic book movies of all time. As I said, I do like elements of it, but you can absolutely skip “Thor: The Dark World” before you see “Avengers: Endgame!”