Movie Review: "Thor: The Dark World"

By this point, you're either a fan of what Marvel Studios are doing with their movies, or you aren't.  It is that pure and simple, and if you enjoyed the first Thor film and his role in The Avengers, then you will absolutely love Thor: The Dark World, as I did.

Few films these days are as much fun as the films that Marvel Studios are putting out right now.  Not only are these films showing deep respect and faithfulness to their source material whenever they can, but they also never try to downplay the fantasticalness of what makes these comic book heroes so awe-inspiring.  They embrace the comic booky-nature of all of these heroes and portray it not as satire, because while there are jokes at almost every juncture of these films, the characters are always taking the situations they are in seriously, therefore we're laughing while feeling like there are genuine stakes at hand.  Thor: The Dark World does Marvel's typical bang-up job of this, and everything works.

This particular film is very much born out of the repercussions of Thor and The Avengers, picking up right where those films left off, and you must have seen both of those films in order to get full enjoyment out of this one.  At the start of Thor: The Dark World, Thor is still traveling across the nine realms, trying to restore peace and order to the galaxy after he had to destroy the bifrost at the end of Thor, therefore cutting off the other realms from Asgard's protection.  Meanwhile, Loki has been imprisoned in the dungeons of Asgard for his attack on New York at the end of The Avengers.  When the convergence of the nine realms approaches, that only happens every one thousand years, an ancient power awakens, threatening to destroy all nine realms, including Midgard, or Earth, as it is better known.  This sends Thor having to journey back to Earth to save his beloved mortal, Jane Foster, while also having to make a shaky alliance with Loki in order to fight the evil that is brewing.

As a whole, there isn't anything more I can say to entice you to see this film.  If you love these films, you're going to see it.  All I can really say is that Thor: The Dark World is everything you expect it to be.  There is tons of action, lots of laughs (contributed mostly from Kat Dennings' Darcy and some smartly utilized cameos), and the film is also emotional and genuinely heroic.  Few films can put you through so much emotional turmoil in the course of the story, and yet still keep things lighthearted and full of hope.  That is what Marvel does better than anyone else.

What we're seeing here is a new Golden Age for Marvel superheroes, and if you just sit back and allow yourself to enjoy the ride, rather than searching for ways to not like these films just because you have your own ideas of how you feel these heroes should be best represented on film, then you will be a part of something that is truly special.

P.S.  Stay till the very end of the credits.  There are two scenes after the end of the movie.  One in the middle of the credits, and one after they're all done.

I give Thor: The Dark World a 9 out of 10!