No Lessons Learned

Rating: 4/10 (20 October 2014)

Lulz. The IMDb rating is at a solid 7.2, but the written reviews are mostly panning the movie. And rightfully so. Thor 2 does little to improve from the last entry. While we have better visuals and more Loki, the character, plot devices, and comedic relieve are just as bad, if not worse. If it weren't for the enormous budget, the movie would have blew.
I usually give some lenience towards plot devices. You can't let small parts of a movie ruin the entire experience. But crap were they awful here. I've rarely seen a film so contrived, so desperate to use characters that don't belong. But we need to have the brothers team up, and who would our Norse God be without a beautiful woman by his side? The Aether has no rhyme or reason to what it actually does, and the villains were store shelf. But none of the characters had enough time to develop beyond movie clichés.
I disliked Kat Dennings in the first one. Now I hate her. She's a complete ditz who has no respect for the impossible events going on. She breaks tense moments with dollar-store lines, devoid of comedic creativity. But we also have some useless intern, and Dr. Erik Selvig. He's turned into "movie crazy", a man who acts delusional, but is really a misunderstood genius. Its a stupid and offensive plot point, made by imbeciles who don't know, nor care, about mental health. Thor's Girlfriend (it might as well be her name) still lacks any connection with Thor, and is such a bit player in the story. She's supposed to be a genius scientist, but everything she says is Hollywood gobbledegook.
The only strength beyond the production values is Loki. Most of the good moments of the film revolve around him. He has the most personality, and is the only character to develop in any way. But his relationships still need fleshing out. I need more time to buy his love and hate for his family.
Are you really that desperate for a time-waster? C'mon. There are better action movies out there. Thor: Dark World will soon be forgotten. I'd never recommend it, but there's worse I suppose.