About as good as the original.

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2013)

'THOR: THE DARK WORLD': Four Stars (Out of Five)
Chris Hemsworth returns as the titular superhero in this sequel to 2011's hit Marvel Comics adaptation film 'THOR'. It's also the eighth movie in 'The Avengers' Marvel film franchise universe. Tom Hiddleston also returns as Thor's villainous brother Loki, Anthony Hopkins once again plays his father Odin and Natalie Portman returns as his earthling love interest Jane Foster. Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgard, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano and Rene Russo all reprise their roles from the original film with newcomers Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jonathan Howard, Chris O'Dowd and Zachary Levi (now playing Fandral) all joining the cast. In this installment Thor must battle 'Dark Elves' trying to gain control of a powerful weapon known as the Aether, which would send the universe into total darkness. The story is irrelevant; the epic action, visuals and superhero spectacle (that fans expect from a Marvel's 'Avengers' film) is all there! Fans of the original won't be disappointed.
Many years ago Odin's father Bor (Tony Curran) defeated the Dark Elves, as they tried to gain control of the Aether and destroy the universe. Bor hid the powerful weapon in a stone column but unknown to him the Dark Elves' leader Malekith (Eccleston), and his surviving followers, hid themselves in suspended animation. In present day Jane Foster (Portman) finds the Aether and is infected by it. When she disappears, for several hours, Thor (Hemsworth) returns to Earth to find her. He brings her back to Asgard with him, so his people can find out what happened to her, but Malekith and his Dark Elves army have awakened and soon attack Asgard looking for Jane and the Aether (once again). Thor must turn to his brother Loki (Hiddleston), who's now locked up for his crimes on Earth, for help.
Like with a lot of big action movies (especially superhero films) the plot line is confusing and uninvolving but it doesn't really matter in a film like this. People come to see the characters and action and as long as a film like this is visually stunning and well cast (and some decent dialogue helps as well) then fans will be pleased. I think 'Thor' fans will definitely be pleased with this movie (I was). I'd say the movie is about as good as the original; it's grander in scale and a bit more epic but it also lacks some of the awe that made the first film so entertaining. Fans of the comic book will probably get more of a kick out of it (as they're more likely to follow what's going on and pick up on easter eggs); I have friends that read the 'Thor' comics that have really enjoyed both movies. I don't think it quite lives up to the best comic book films but it is better than most. Hemsworth and Hiddleston are once again both outstanding in their roles and Alan Taylor (the film's new director) does a decent job directing. Portman is once again underused (and she's really above roles like this) and the script (by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) is pretty routine but the movie still has plenty of what fans are looking for!
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