Great return for Thor

Rating: 9/10 (31 March 2014)

As a bit of a Marvel fanatic, I always look forward to their superhero movies. Thor first became a sensation in 2011 when the not too hard on the eye Chris Hemsworth came crashing in with his hammer onto our big screens.
I loved the Kenneth Branagh directed movie, which I felt brought a new kind of sophisticated humour rarely seen in the Marvel universe. I was apprehensive about The Dark World as I wondered whether after the smash hit that was the Avengers in 2012 if Thor could stand of his own accord again, without the help of other superheroes. Because lets face it, Thor (although pretty to look at) is in my opinion a little boring compared to the other Avengers. It was his interaction with the other characters in the Avengers that made him stand out.
But it works.
Thor The Dark World plays to Thor's strengths, the strengths that made him stand out in the Avengers, which is his interactions with those around him. In Thor The Dark World we get to see more of my favourite brotherly love. Thor and Loki (played by the fantastic Tom Hiddleston) were again the stars of the show. Their relationship kept me glued to the screen and their interaction with each other was simply magical. The twist of the two brothers working together to avenge a family death meant that we begin to see how complicated the brothers relationship is. I think that this development in the brothers relationship is pivotal to the success of this movie and certainly left me wanting more of both Thor and Loki.
The plot involves Thor again enlisting the help of his favourite humans, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Eric Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Darcy (Kat Dennings) to save the universe from a new threat. The evil dark elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) is determined to plunge the universe into eternal darkness so that he may rein supreme. Christopher Eccleston does an good job with what I feel is a rather limited villain. It is difficult to portray a villain who is barely on screen or who speaks a made up language making it difficult to convey specific emotions. I felt that the movie lost some of the magic from the first films with such a bland villain. It was the presence of Loki (a far superior "bad guy") that saved the movie for me.
I can overlook certain aspects that made me cringe. Zachary Levi whom is a fantastic actor and one of my personal favourites, had the most ridiculous accent which caused me physical embarrassment whenever I heard him speak. Some of the humour I felt was forced, I never again want to be subjected to Stellan Skarsgard running naked through Stonehenge. The humour in the movie was at it's best when Loki returned.
Personally, despite the under developed villain and the desperate attempts at humour, I loved this movie. I think I am justified in saying my enjoyment was mainly down to Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki. His performance I cannot fault and without him I feel this movie would have been sorely lacking.