The Dark World Comes Up Just Short

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2014)

--WARNING: There may be some spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the film, so just a heads up. In order to accurately review this film, it may be necessary to talk about some key moments.--
Oh, Thor. Thor had won me over with his first feature film. I'd never been a particularly big fan and actually had wasted effort in staying away from the comics as they had zero appeal to me growing up (queue Aquaman here as well). Yet in someway I got around to watching Thor, and here I am having just finished the sequel due to that enjoyable experience...I feel let down, but not angsty or bitter; more or less cheated.
Now before going any further I feel it necessary to state that this is a good movie, dare I say a great movie; but I feel some fair warning is needed for those who are unfamiliar with the original film released a few years back. First off, this is not an easy movie to watch if you have not seen the original, and it is very much so a sequel. Second, those who wrote it where clearly aware of the expectations some currently popular actors are now facing as their careers grow. Those who have seen a spike in attention and or have begun to harness a more promising future since the first film's release have seen their roles grow in this film, yet unfortunately to a less organic and much more forced standard. And lastly, it is a blockbuster, much less that of an Iron Man or Avengers blockbuster, and a lot more like what could be considered the bottom rung of the finer Marvel adaptations.
With that being said, the story is more or less an episodic occurrence of events that serve as a jumping off point to reunite Thor with Natalie Portman's character, and everything else more or less exists as a way to utilize the popularity of Loki as much as possible. It's not to the point where the film should've been called "Loki: The Dark World", but the actual villain is largely forgettable, and the franchise would've most likely benefited more from creating a film centered around a brotherly conflict, rather than make it seem like they're beating around the bush to facilitate tension. It ends up feeling like those involved didn't know how to make the complicated relationship between Thor and Loki exist in a stand alone way, when several original ideas would've been better than the more generic approach they had taken: *Spoiler* Someone dies, Thor and Loki share an interest, Thor and Loki team up...been there dudes *end spoiler*.
It just make you want to roll your eyes rather than go 'Yes! I've been waiting for this'. A surprise isn't even needed for this to be a good film, but given the caliber of comic book adaptations these days, I feel like this film was treated much more like a cash in than a genuine attempt to make a great film like its many other marvel contemporaries.
No other conflicts or relationships seem really worth mentioning cause no one else ends up feeling even moderately important; they're all just comedy relief in a story that doesn't even feel serious often enough to warrant that. Also, you will see the twist coming from a mile away, and yes it reeks of this cash-in I previously spoke of. It's a beautiful film which goes without saying, as it is easily one of the nicer ones to look at; but to recommend this movie you'd need to be a fan first and foremost. It's fun, but it's fleeting, and it's most likely going to be the more forgettable Thor film in due time.