The Dullest MCU Movie

Rating: 4/10 (18 September 2016)

I really enjoyed the first Thor. It was actually probably my favorite of Marvel's phase one films. The mixture of high Asgardian fantasy mixed well with the fish out of water humor on Earth. I'm sure having Kenneth Branagh in the director's chair certainly helped. He has a good touch for switching between high drama and light humor.
The Dark World arrived at a time when Marvel needed to build its larger universe's ultimate conflict. As a result of this, the antagonists in this movie feel undercooked and nonthreatening. Maybe its their designs, which look alarmingly low budget, but they are maybe the weakest villains yet in the MCU.
There was ripe opportunity here to make it a personal threat, where Jane's life was legitimately at stake. But the human element of the Marvel movies always plays second fiddle to the spectacle, and this story line is no more than a brief distraction until we get to the ships colliding into cities and CGI explosions.
I actually quite enjoyed the climax of the movie, which is usually not the case for these. There's always a light comic touch to the Earth scenes in these Thor movies, and they thankfully continue that trend even during scenes of mass destruction. It's nice to see Thor asking for directions on the Underground, or confused office workers witness two supernatural beings slide down their window in agony. While not exciting for a story point of view, it was entertaining. Plus, I really liked Natalie Portman's red rainboots.
It's too bad then that I was really not a fan of the first 75 minutes, where much of the action needs to be explained to us for it to have any weight, and then for the action to be middling at best. I don't know if it's Alan Taylor or what, but his Terminator film was just as generic and dull as this felt for a good long while.
Mildly enjoyable in the end, but a forgettable entry in the grand scheme of things.