Completely on autopilot...

Rating: 2/10 (8 December 2013)

Let me start by saying that I don't hate superhero films. I like them very much when they are done well. I hate laziness in films and superficiality. The problem is that pretty much every superhero film made is very lazy and most of them are entirely superficial. Marvel's initial idea of an Avengers universe was inspired from a marketing stand point but I am beginning to question whether or not it has been a failure from a creative stand point. 'Thor the Dark World' is a terrible movie. It does absolutely nothing to add to the mythos of the character or this Marvel universe. The only reason it exists is to draw up excitement for the next Avengers film.
There are no stakes to this film and there are a lot of places to direct blame. The acting aside from Tom Hiddleston is next to unwatchable. The thing is that this is a very talented cast we are working with here. Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman have both won Academy Awards. Stellan Skarsgard is one of the most fascinating character actors in Hollywood. I like Hemsworth a lot too and thought he was great in the first 'Thor' film. But none of them invest anything in the material. Hopkins looks bored and emotes nothing in his delivery. Portman's performance is terrible too and in the process of it being terrible it makes a terrible script look even worse. Jane Foster is a horrible character here. She is by far the stupidest damsel in distress portrayed in comic books recently. Portman is too lazy to give her any sort of character. She punctuates every cheap joke and many of them are just about how ditsy the character is. This kind of writing and performance make me almost agree that comic books offer a flawed and stereotypical depiction of women. Stellan Skarsgard, an actor I think has great depth, is played as a complete fool here. I hated every time he appeared on screen and I am a Stellan Skarsgard fan. I don't place the blame all on him but yeah everyone here did something very wrong in bringing these stupidly conceived characters to life.
In actuality though they are not the biggest problem with the film. The problem is that there is no threat to anything or anyone. The villain here is so completely forgettable and has a plan for evil so half assed that they movie really had no chance of working. This is the ultimate example of a conflict for the sake of having a conflict. If actor Christopher Eccleston is not rewarded a Razzie for his portrayal here than that award show has lost all credibility. Villains even poorly written ones with no motivation like this Maleketh should at least offer the actor the chance to try to ham it up with the tropes of goofy villainy. Eccleston doesn't do that. He has a boring calm delivery that evokes no response but laughter. And since Eccleston's performance is such an overwhelming failure I was drawn to how stupid his make-up looked too.
I wish I could give this a bomb rating, I really do. To be honest though Tom Hiddleston is too damn good in the Loki role to say the film is completely without merit. They don't do anything new with his character here but he's so entertaining and in every Marvel film he adds new layers and nuances to a very interesting character. A whole movie could have been made about this stage of Loki's life and it would have been so much more entertaining and compelling than this load of work. Hiddleston portrays Loki as unchained with no loyalty to anyone. This is the first film where we see him as a trickster and Hiddleston delivers suffice to say. The problem is he isn't really in the film long enough. Jane Foster, Darcy, and Dr Selvig all get more screen time than Loki.
Here's my brilliant business proposition to Marvel. Don't make any movies but Avengers films. Give your golden boy Joss Whedon the four hundred or so million you spent on 'Iron Man 3' and 'Thor the Dark World' and see what he does with it. In watching 'Iron Man 3' and this film it is clear that is where the mindset and passion are.
I hope the Marvel cinematic universe can be saved but I have to say that their track record is looking really bad right now. Kevin Feige and Disney should look back at Favareu's first 'Iron Man' film. It was gutsy and took risks and there was no guarantee of immediate endless sequels.