Better-than-anticipated follow-up

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2013)

THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) *** Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asou, Rene Russo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Stellan Skarsgard, Alice Krige, Chris O' Dowd, Jonathan Howard. (Cameos: Chris Evans, Stan Lee & Benicio Del Toro) Better-than-anticipated follow-up to the Marvel Comics big-screen adaptation of the Norse god cum superhero with the Teutonic hammersmith (Hemsworth reprising his iconic role) attempting to stop an evasive war between his world of Asgard by a vengeful elf (Eccleston under tons of prosthetic make-up) and Earth while still protecting his amour, physicist Portman. While the subcommittee of its screenplay (5 scribes are attributed) tends to get long-winded in the mythos of the sci-fi fantasy (and a wonky life-force that looks like a spilling of merlot!) the direction by Alan Taylor (and James Gunn, uncredited for the wait-to- the-end-credits-sneak-peak of the next installment) moves along and a sprinkling of humor is welcome amidst the over-the-top digital effects. And once again Hiddleston's Loki gleefully steals the film.