Not as good as the first.

Rating: 6/10 (13 November 2013)

I liked the first one. I knew nothing about Thor as a superhero going into the movie. The first immersed me into a new world while doing a great job of bringing that world into our own. Everything looked great, it felt different, and reminded me of experiencing the Lord of the Rings in a smaller way.
This one...not so much. Yes, it's a sequel and it's given that the audience should already be immersed into its own world, following the first. But...as it progressed, the jokes got more common, the clichés showed up, and I swear I would've made a good profit if I had $20 every time Loki used his trickster-hologram move. Now, I did enjoy most of the jokes, because they felt appropriate and in the right place at the right time. But when the world about to collapse, the fabric of reality about to break, people are dying, space-time is going out of whack...I find it very hard to take the conflict seriously. I'm not expecting Dark Knight or Man of Steel seriousness because that's just not how the movie presents itself. But as the plot unfolded, I just wasn't able to follow much of what was going on. Then, the villain himself...what a let down. I didn't expect much in the first place, but was hoping nothing like Iron Man 3. His grunt is apparently stronger than the hulk and his almighty, ever-destructing, reality-breaking weapon/power didn't seem so great once it met Thor and his hammer.
I enjoyed the action, some jokes, and the special effects looked spectacular. I liked how it showed more of the less glorious side of Asgard and showed different realms. I also enjoyed being able to watch a Marvel hero on screen again.