Thor: The Dark World Conversational Review

Posted by Stephen Lambrechts & Anthony O'Connor - 31/10/2013

STEPHEN: With the release of Thor: The Dark World, it’s beginning to look like Marvel Studios is on an unstoppable hot-streak. Now that we’re well into Phase-2 of Marvel’s combined cinematic universe, the studio seems to have nailed the tone of what a Marvel superhero film should be. Much like Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, Alan Taylor’s take on Thor is one that raises the stakes in terms of scope, high drama, science fiction elements and comedy. It’s also more fantastical than ever, with a Lord of the Rings-style opening that makes it immediately clear that the Game of Thrones director has raised the action ante.

The story this time is fairly complex. Thousands of years ago, Bor, father of Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) went into battle with the evil Dark Elves. Their leader, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) wants to restore the universe to darkness, but was defeated by Bor, who used a mysterious and powerful force called the Aether. Bor contains the Aether in stone, but when Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) stumbles onto it thousands of years later via a portal in London, it is absorbed into her body, awakening Malekith to seek it out again and use it to plague the universe with Dark Energy, which he can do due to the upcoming Convergence, a time in which all Nine Realms overlap exactly. After a vicious attack on Asgard, it is up to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to stop Malekith and prevent this from happening.

Believe it or not, that’s the simplified explanation. The story is slightly more convoluted than the first Thor film, but it is completely in the spirit of the comics that it’s based on, and it is unfolded in a way that makes it pretty easy to follow. What did you think of the story, Anthony?

ANTHONY: Yes, I have to admit I had my doubts about this sequel. While I enjoyed the first Thor I didn't quite buy the depiction of Asgard. It never felt like a real world (or perhaps a "credible world" is a better description). This time around Asgard feels like a place. A place you might even like to visit. In fact we get a glimpse at a few of the nine realms, all of which lends a sense of multi-dimensional/galactic weirdness that is very pleasing to me and expands the Marvel universe.

STEPHEN: Actually, I feel the exact opposite about the depiction of Asgard from the first film. It was cosmic and fantastical with some futuristic and majestic designs. It was straight-up as close to a Jack Kirby drawing of Asgard as modern audiences would accept. I was a little taken aback by the decision to grime Asgard up in this film. It was no longer stunning vision of a world populated by gods; instead it was scaled down to a more generic-looking medieval/viking style. Even the characters' armour was no longer shiny! Eventually I settled into it, but I think that the dread of a universe drenched in darkness would've seemed like much more of a contrast had Asgard remained the shining beacon it was in the first Thor.

ANTHONY: Oh no, in the first film Asgard felt like a friend's place whose mum had a plastic cover over the couch. Sure, it looks nice but where the hell am I supposed to sit?! Come on, Asgard I'm TIRED!

This time it felt like people, or Gods, lived there. It also drew an interesting line in the sand about Gods. There's a line of dialogue where Thor says something about 'not being Gods' but rather living for thousands of years. It does, perhaps, take some of the majesty out of it but they kind of need to if they want relatable characters.

Which brings me to what I think is Thor's biggest strength: what an absolutely delightful group of people/Gods/other! From Thor, Jane, Loki (oh my, how I love Loki) Chris O'Dowd, various interns, Rene Russo - everyone seemed to have at least one moment of likeable - and frequently hilarious - business.

I think I may have laughed in this as much as Iron Man 3! Was not expecting such strong comedy chops.

Oh and Kat Dennings. Or the future Mrs. Dennings-O'Connor as I shall be calling her.

STEPHEN: Laughs] She brought quite a lot of hilarity to the film, and it's to Taylor's credit that he never let the drama of the big action finale get too bogged down in seriousness. Dennings (and surprisingly, a pants-less Stellan Skarsgård) kept the laughs coming thick and fast.

I'm glad that you mentioned Tom Hiddleston's Loki, because he was, in my opinion, the film's undisputed MVP. He was not only extremely funny (especially during the constant smack-talk that he gives Thor throughout the film), but also proved to be the (albeit dark) heart of the film. You never know if he should be trusted, but you're always hoping that he will eventually do the right thing. I think it's a testament to Hiddleston as an actor, that he can imbue what is ostensibly a comic book villain with so much soul.

Marvel villains come and go, but how many of them have been brought back as many times as Loki? Compared to him, previous Marvel foes like Red Skull and Whiplash are but a distant memory.

ANTHONY: Holy crap, it just took me five minutes to remember who the hell Whiplash was. I totally agree re: Loki. A complicated, interesting character who is brought into the action in a really clever, organic way.

The same level of depth, unfortunately, is UTTERLY MISSING for the film's main antagonist, Malekith, played by the great and sadly wasted Christopher Eccleston. His look is amazing, his technology is intriguing and his story is… um…

Somethingsomething dark world somethingsomething.

What the hell does he want again? To turn the world dark? Slide the dimmer switch of reality over to "Goth Club" setting? Well, join the club, mate. I also hate daylight and people but you don't see me as the main baddie in a big Marvel film.

It's so weird to have such a generic and ultimately plotless nemesis. Now, I've not read much Thor but surely this guy had a reason for wanting the end of other things that was a little deeper than: "Because."

*By the way, Marvel, if you're reading this: Ant'Knee The Mighty Napper is TOTALLY available for your perusal.

STEPHEN: I believe that Dark Elves thrive off of Dark Energy, which is why they want darkness to return to the universe. I wouldn't mind that story much, if we had more insight into the Dark Elves and their leader. I completely agree about Malekith being one of the film's weak points. He was almost non-existent, and 80 percent of his dialogue being in a made-up Dark Elf language didn't really help us empathise with his plight.

Funnily enough, the reason I didn't list Malekith with Red Skull and Whiplash is because he was even more forgettable.

ANTHONY: It was like they just didn't know what to do with him. On on hand it's understandable because Thor is GROANING with content. There's the whole aligning of the nine realms, some cool Portal-esque dimension hopping insanity (which is used to great effect in the film's climax), the love story with Jane, Thor taking his shirt off and flexing and Loki's journey…

HOWEVER you should have a bad guy with at least SOME understandable, emotionally relatable reason for his/her evil doings.

That said, any time I started thinking that - something funny, silly, exciting or all of the above would happen and I would find myself charmed into submission. I'm not excusing this flaw, you understand, but seeing Thor ride the London tube, or hang his hammer on a coat rack was worth some foggy antagonist motivation for me.

Plus, I'll say again, the climax is REALLY exciting and eschews most of the usual 'disaster porn' tedium we tend to get in blockbusters these days, he said looking directly at Man of Steel.

STEPHEN: Yeah, there was a lot of destruction, but not a ridiculous amount. After all, it would be hard to crack jokes with the deaths of thousands of people looming overhead.

You're right, the Thor series is a truly charming one. Chris Hemsworth proved to be an instant star in the first film, and once again his charisma shines through, making it impossible not be behind Thor's every decision. Natalie Portman is also in fine form, both extremely beautiful and somewhat quirky and funny at the same time. She has a wonderful energy that just fuses perfectly with Hemsworth's charm, and I think that the true secret to Thor's success is not so much the action and spectacle, but the romance of their story together.

ANTHONY: It brings a sense of fun of wild, untamed whimsy that is so often missing from films with an epic scope. Interestingly being post-Avengers they almost CAN'T have a threat that is going to destroy the whole planet (because the obvious question would be: "Hey, us, so where are the Avengers???") so they need to dig into character development and become more clever with the stories they tell.

It's not a perfect film, the second act sags a bit and the threat never feels terribly threatening. However it is big heavy sacks of gleeful, genuinely funny FUN. It also cleverly expands the Marvel Universe that little bit more so something like Guardians of the Galaxy seems ever more credible.

I'm very interested (and indeed, excited) so see what they do with Cap in Winter Soldier next year because that looks terrific and again: needs to have an enemy that isn't "The Universe Eating Doom Cloud of Monstery EEEEEEEVIL".

Side note: I wonder if any of the after effects of Dark World will find themselves in Agents of SHIELD.

STEPHEN: Judging from past instances from the show, If anything, we'll get lots of passing comments about 'what happened in London' and a few references to the Aether. Seems to be that show's M.O.

For me it was the first act that left me a little cold, and then around 25 or 30 minutes in, it kicked into gear and suddenly became very exciting. I suppose that's kind of what happened with The Avengers, too. Both films kind of have a slow build that picks up steam in the middle and then kicks into overdrive.

Like you said, the film isn't perfect, but when Thor: The Dark World is firing on all cylinders, it's hard to find a more purely enjoyable time at the movies.

ANTHONY: Yeah, I can't imagine being more charmed by this movie… unless Kat Dennings bought me a pie and told me my hair was pretty.

Which, let's face it, is unlikely.

STEPHEN: Oh Anthony, your mind always heads toward Kat Denning's pie.

ANTHONY: HEY-OH! Alright, score? I reckon… a 3.5 from me.

STEPHEN: Only 3.5? I'm going to give it 4 out of 5 because I think it definitely belongs in the top-tier of Marvel movies alongside The Avengers and Iron Man 3.

ANTHONY: It's perilously close to a 4 but I wanted a credible threat and I don't think Malekith worked as that. I still enjoyed it way more than I expected (I kind of had an inkling that this would be the first of these Marvel flicks to drop the ball - so was pleasantly surprised) and heartily recommend it to those who enjoy stuff like laughter, joy and fun.

STEPHEN: I like all of those things!

Yeah, Loki brought this film up to 4 for me, as did the brilliant mid-film cameo (which I won't spoil here).

ANTHONY: Ah yes, mid film cameo was a cracker. I can't wait to binge on all of these post-Avengers movies at once.

STEPHEN: And viewers, stay until the end credits are completely over. It's hard to believe that audiences still don't know to do that for Marvel films at this point, but just do it. The one at the end of this film is actually quite important and adds a bit of closure to one of the film's story threads.

ANTHONY: ★★★½

STEPHEN: ★★★★