Great Addition To Phase 2!

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2013)

*Acting*: Fantastic - Kat Dennings stood out to me; although she had a lot of screen time, more so than the Warriors 3 it appeared - but she portrayed the character so well that I really didn't care because frankly, she was very entertaining. Chris Hemsworth reached a new level of 'fantastic' with his performance - he held his own and kept the film going.Not a huge amount to say about anyone else; Hopkins is always great, my personal 'meh' regarding Portman continues (Foster seems to be a believable character, though so kudos) and Ecclston didn't get a huge amount in the way of screen time. Hiddleston was incredible. I leave him until last, because... well, he was incredible.
*Effects*: Much like the first film, I thought the effects of this film were flawless. There are few films which have effects and graphical quality which match Thor, for some reason they are literally amazing, and better, in places than Iron Man 3.
*Directing*: There is a scene where some Elves fight some Asgardians with flying ships - this to me felt way too Star Warsy. But other than that, Taylor did a good job.
*Writing*: The effects and acting aside, the writing was one of the best bits if this film: it was surprisingly funny throughout, and the Old English way of speaking is continued well.
*Fight Scenes*: *drools*
*Tone*: I loved this tone. Seriously, it gave hopelessness when it was necessary and I loved that because the audience needs to feel hopeless against the bad guy so that when the good guy wins it's just that much more satisfactory. And Loki just added a giant enigma to it.
*Characters*: Loki is my main point regarding this; compared to Thor (1) he is very different, but nonetheless unpredictable. And because of Avengers, he has become even more so. Ergo, there's a bunch of moments where 'I did not see that coming.' Darcy, too, seems to have a larger part, which was fantastic. Having watched all the other films previously, I can now say I like Selvig's arc, and his character, while not required so much by the plot, helped continue on his story in a post-Avengers world.
*Chris Hemsworth's Muscles*: He looks like a Nord when he takes his shirt off. It might be the hair.
*Weaknesses/Drawbacks*: With Iron Man 3, I found the score to be great - and memorable because of it - so I therefore own several songs from the score album. However this score, not so much. I'll try listen harder on my second viewing, but I was not blown away by it (though I could hear Iron Man overtones...) I'm not sure if Agents of SHIELD have spoiled me for intra-Avengers references, but Chris Evans pops up and I'm not sure if its really necessary, though it was funny and nice to be reminded of the fact we're in the Avengers world.
I didn't feel it was long enough. The midway-through-film action sequence in Asgard provided several battle sequences, all of which ended rather abruptly.
And the funeral scene, while moving, felt long in comparison to the battle sequence. The scene itself I had no problem with, just the sequence before it. I also felt it missed something. I liked Jane Foster's input into defeating the bad guy, and the comedy was great, but I still feel there is something missing, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
The 'intern', I felt, wasn't a necessary character. While it was somewhat nice for Darcy to have a guy, it's not like the audience, or indeed, Darcy, would have suffered if he wasn't there. And indeed, the plot would definitely not have suffered had he not been there. I guess that's my own particular approach to film-making.
*Future Set-Ups/Questions*: The film does what all great franchise films do - make's the audience ask questions about the end and the franchise's future. Taylor has set up something that makes me want to explore. Mid- credits scene too, interests me - for those who don't know, it's Benicio del Toro and Guardians Of The Galaxy setting up that film, and probably Thanos in some way too. The post-credits scene is nothing special, though gives us a point about Thor on Earth, and is kinda funny (won't say why.)