This movie continues the storyline on our titular hero on a fairly blemished note, but at least it is not a total washout

Rating: 6/10 (4 November 2017)

This sequel to 2011's 'Thor' exhibits the return of our titular Marvel superhero with both the good and the bad to offer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With no surprise, expectations were high on how this film would handle the resurrection of the hammer- wielding god of thunder considering how the cinematic universe is set speak to the fanbase rather than Hollywood's general expectations. This only bring us to the question of whether it succeeds. The answers lies square in between yes and no. Kenneth Branaugh who directed the first film dropped out of the project, and the director's chair was handed over to Alan Taylor. The final outcome shows the Branaugh holds a slightly more gifted handling on the source material whereas Taylor's rendition of the titular hero leaves more to desired. By no means does this mark a disaster of a sequel but rather a disappointing one to say the least. It has the sleek visual scope that everyone would expect to come from a big- budget MCU entry, but what it has to offer from a narrative standpoint is fairly underwhelming. Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor, the god of thunder who returns to Earth to find his lover Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) cursed by a mysterious force known as Aether, a sinister weapon helmed from a dark realm. And the evil leader Malekith (played by Christopher Eccleston) is behind all this. When Thor brings Jane to Asgard to learn what's happening to her, his father Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) lacks interest is helping. This leaves Thor with no one to turn to but his dubious brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) in a fight against Malekith and his army of Dark Elves in an effort to free Jane of this sinister curse.
Watching Thor battle against the evil demonic forces, thrashing his lightning-charge hammer in an ass-kicking frenzy should be a whole lot of fun. For awhile, it has its moments of excitement, but it is not too long before the excitement steadily starts to drain out beneath the underwhelming storyline. The film does what its predecessor did best, and that is setting up the story with an intriguing premise involving a mythological war raging between Asgard and the evil forces that threaten the mythical realm. Once the the plot kicks into gear, it settles with something less interesting than what is promised. The first half moves along a series of frenetic, visually-arousing action sequences intertwined with overlong exposition used to establish our new main villain Malekith, who is played cleanly by Christopher Eccleston, but nonetheless fails to grow as an interesting figure. Whereas Tom Hiddleston's Loki flourished with charisma that made him a compelling villain, Malekith lacks depth and feels awfully generic which only renders it final climatic sequence less effective; though not without plenty of sweet special effects to go around. As for Chris Hemsworth, he remains charismatic ever as ever in the title role as does Tom Hiddleston as his brother Loki who's alignment on both the good side and the bad side stands ambiguous. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman is restrained in the damsel-in-distress role that operates more as a plot device than a solid character. Many will be wishing she and Hemsworth demonstrated a much stronger chemistry.
Thor: Dark World marks a fairly inferior chapter to the now- franchise, and ends on a rather disappointing note. However, it is not to say that Alan Taylor doesn't offer the goods in terms of special effects action elan to occupy those who are able to skim past the patchy flaws in its script. Compared to other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this makes for a lesser option, but maybe one worth at least a try for better or worse. After all, the movie is not a total washout