Flash Review – Thor: The Dark World
As a big opposer of the first Thor, one of the silliest movies I’ve seen in the last couple of years, I have to say this sequel is better. New director Alan Taylor, filling in for Kenneth Branagh, brings it one baby-step above, but doesn’t quite nail his film either; the product is bland, contrived and poorly written. As with many comic-book movies, the absence of a strong main villain and the presence of kooky supporting characters weigh the film down. Enter Loki, the coolest Marvel antagonist, and one that has been the ambiguous baddie for three films now, yet remains underdeveloped. Leave it to Tom Hiddleston and a fantastic costume to make you forget about that and save the day (that ending sent chills up my spine!). When are we getting a film that’s all Loki and no annoying “scientists”? I’m looking at you, Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings.
I liked the movie, and this is coming from someone who thought the first Thor was just okay. Greatly enjoyed Asgard in the sequel, while in the first film I found it boring. It felt like a real place and was extremely stimulating. Heck, even the Earth scenes got my designer and cinematography juices flowing.
I do think the villain was a bit disappointing. Eccleston did a good job with his interpretation, but the character good have been given more to do. At the end of the day, he didn’t feel out that important to the movie, strangely.
As a whole, I like the movie. Thought it was funnier, better written, more skillfully structured, and had, for the most part, more satisfying action.
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Definitely agree on Asgard. It played a bigger part in this film, and the scenes set there were fun.
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Dude, well said Fernando. In particular, Kat Denning’s Darcy ruined any scene she was in (for me). There is silly, a good amount of silly, Anchorman-silly, and then there’s over-the-top. Some of the writing for this movie transcended even the latter.
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Thanks, Tom! I found Kat Dennings to be a bit less anoying than in the first but yeah, some of the comedy was too silly, even though I feel that also improved from the first film.
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Thor is one of the silliest movies you’ve seen in the last couple years?! You must’ve missed Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2. Ha ha.
You tend to have, shall we say, very high standards when it comes to superhero films, so I am surprised to see you gave this a decent review. I gave the same rating, but in contrast, I found it paled in comparison to The Avengers for example. Loki was the saving grace.
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I did miss those, thankfully!
And you’re right. I do have very high standards for superhero films haha, so I was surprised that all-in-all, I enjoyed this one and wasn’t nearly as annoyed as I was with the first.
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I really need to see this again to see what i’m apparently missing. i thought the film was mediocre and worse than the first one
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I’m not that far from that opinion. While think this was better than the first, I think the film was just OK. Entertaining but very flawed.
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Agreed on Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings. They do nothing for these movies, except weigh them down, no doubt partially because the screenplays have never bothered to make them matter, really.
Good review.
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Exactly. That said, I think they gave Natalie more to do in this one.
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They did. She did stuff. But, at the core, it still feels forced, like they know they need a female star so …
Oh. Here’s how to fit one in.
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Yeah, you’re right.
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Looks like we share the same opinion on this one.
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Good! 🙂
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Fair review. Glad you enjoyed this. Though I, incidentally, am putting it off till DVD–and I enjoyed the first movie. I haven’t read a review that went up above three stars…yet.
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You’re not missing out on much if you put it off a few weeks. Although if you liked the first, you’ll probably love this one.
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I can tell hahah! I remember you lambasting the first.
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Ugh. I had a terrible time. This one didn’t make me angry, so it’s all good.
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Good review Fernando. Everybody here seemed to be having a ball, which then translated to me and everybody else watching have a good time as well.
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Yeah. Even though I didn’t love it, I did have fun!
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Nice review (love the Loki poster too!). Seems I enjoyed this one a little more than you did…
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Thanks. It’s a cool poster, huh? And yeah, I remember you being very enthusiastic about this one.
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I didn’t care for this sequel, to be honest, and felt the “scientists” were too cheesy.
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Definitely cheesy, I agree.
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