A Worthy Sequel!

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2015)

Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to the 2011 film and sort-of-spin off from 2012's The Avengers, is quite a spectacle. Thor isn't my favorite character from the Marvel universe, as I feel Captain America and Iron Man have better character arches, but Thor does have his moments. This film retained the well-liked humor from the first film and added more set pieces to the film to its advantage. The special effects are great and we are still treated to the visual beauty of Asgard. The only part of the film I felt was weak was the forced romance between Thor and Jane. But luckily for the rating, I didn't care too much.
Alan Taylor, taking over from Kenneth Branagh in the director's chair, directs a film regarding Thor in the aftermath of New York. In this particular film, Thor must team up with his brother and nemesis Loki to stop the Dark Elves who are led by the malicious Malekith from plunging the world into darkness and once again saving Earth and the Nine Realms.
Like many Marvel films, the film has an incredible array of actors and actresses working on the film. Chris Hemsworth as Thor is mighty as ever. Tom Hiddleston provides some of the best humor with his witty dialogue as Loki. Natalie Portman is okay as Jane, but I felt her romance with Thor was forced and unrealistic. Stellan Skarsgaard makes a welcome return and my favorite scene involves him at Stonehenge acting quite weird. Christopher Eccleston actually makes for a solid villain. Finally, we get some brief, but effective supporting turns from Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, and Rene Russo.
Overall, the Thor sequel pushes up the stakes even more as Thor and Loki must try to the save the universe yet again. I loved the humor, willingly provided by Loki. I also loved how the film is action-packed without sacrificing anything for the story. Towards the end, we have a great action scene involving the travel between many worlds, so that was quite fascinating to watch. The visual effects are also impressive as well. This is an incredible sequel, about on par with the first film. There are also several scenes to keep an eye out for in the post-credits. I rate this film 9/10.