A worthy, if not slightly weaker installment in the Marvel film franchise.

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2014)

"Thor: The Dark World" is the Marvel film that made me realize the element of the franchise's success. It's the movie's preference to not take themselves too seriously. Sure, there's still good character development and drama, but the movies still know that the premise is nothing that serious, and manages to have fun with itself, and in the process, lets the audience get in on that fun too. They are as much fun too laugh at as they are to be entertained. Despite not reading any of the comics, I liked the first "Thor" movie, so I looked forward to seeing this one. This movie takes place in London (a decision I find pointless, but that's just me). Jane Foster, while awaiting the return of Thor, discovers that she's possessed by a mystical element known as the ether. Because of this, a group of dark elves from the titular dark world, are sent out to kidnap Jane and use the ether's power to rule the world. Now it's up to Thor to stop the elves, all the while trying to decide what to do about his brother, Loki. Something I find that the film does a very good job at is telling a three-act story. The first third of the movie reintroduces as to all of our favorite characters, and the dilemmas that they're all facing. None of it is boring, and I was content in seeing where it would be going. Unfortunately, the second act doesn't shine as much. After Thor saves Jane, he takes her back to his home world, Asgard. Here, we take in the lavish art direction by John Bush, almost reminding me of the "Ave Maria" sequence from Fantasia. And yet, I still feel bored. This goes on for awhile. It finally starts to pick itself up during a well paced fight scene between the asgardians and the dark elves, and, without giving too much away, someone dies. One of the other characters had previously built up drama between them, leading to some actual drama. And finally, the final act gives us practically what we want. A great final battle, well paced action, and plenty of brushed on humor. "Thor:The Dark World" is a worthy, if not weaker, edition of the Marvel film franchise. The plot is very engaging, the comic relief for the most part is very funny, and as always, the action scenes are some of the best I've ever seen. It's proof that the movies still like to have fun with their premise, like any good action movie should.