Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World by Marvel Studios

Recommended For: Ages 13 to Adult

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive content (and a bad word) For a more thorough discussion of any content concerns, see the Plugged In review.

From the Studio that brought you the #1 Super Hero movie of all time, Marvel's The Avengers, comes another must-own, epic blockbuster starring Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor. Worlds collide when a powerful ancient enemy threatens to plunge the cosmos into eternal darkness. Now, reunited with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and forced to forge an alliance with his treacherous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor embarks on a perilous personal quest to save both Earth and Asgard from destruction. Experience this action-packed adventure featuring bonus content, including a deleted scene and a new exclusive look at the feature film Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier!

This movie was better than I thought it would be due to a review I read condemning its lack of sequel scenes. True, it did suffer from a lack of sequel scenes, but nothing so major as to detract from the enjoyment of the movie.

Technical: 4/5
As I mentioned above, this movie suffered from a lack of sequel scenes, mainly manifested in the way Thor and his friends and family almost never have a discussion about the events taking place and how they feel about them. Thor and Jane talk alone together maybe twice, and when Thor, Jane, and Odin talk, it's mostly Odin explaining to Jane about the bad guys and their evil intentions. The addition of sequel scenes would have made it a little less confusing and slowed down the pace a little. Also, it was a little too fast-paced for my taste. Other than that, it was good. The acting was good, the special effects were good, and the filming was good.

Setting: 5/5
The movie was set in London and on Asgard, with a few scenes on the Dark World. The setting was well-done and consistent. Asgard particularly was impressive, and was developed even more as the watcher got to see what an Asgardian funeral is like. Very impressive.

Plot: 5/5
The plot was very good, if a little confusing. It kept me hooked all the way through the movie. This movie was more serious than the first one, with less humorous moments. The movie was very action-y. It wasn't quite as good as the first one, but are sequels ever really?

Character Development: 4/5
I loved the characters! Honestly, there weren't a lot of new ones (just Darcy's intern, some random guy Jane went out to lunch with, and the bad guys), but I didn't really care. The old characters were fun to revisit, and Thor didn't have a character-arc reset, as is common in sequels. He continued to grow in character, and the other characters, were good as well (Although Jane's scientist friend's character confused me. It's constantly changing! But there's probably a good reason for this, I just missed it.) All in all, the characters were mostly very well-developed, with the exception of some more minor characters like Odin. The characters weren't as good as they could have been, which is why I gave it 4 instead of 5.

I recommend this movie to anyone who liked the previous Marvel movies. This movie is a good continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite its flaws. This is a movie you don't want to miss!