Better than the first, but not flawless

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2013)

Well, the sequel is finally out! How does it fare? The action is amazing, the acting has drastically improved, and the villain is more intimidating and threatening than the last. Pretty much everything is improved upon in every way, but it still manages to trip in a couple of areas which ultimately took down the film's greatness a notch or two.
The premise revolves around Dark Elves who want the universe to bathed in darkness again (like it used to be) and they have a weapon that can do it. However, thousands of years ago the Dark Elves were virtually wiped out in a giant battle. Surprise, they are back and ready to try and make the world dark again... which honestly doesn't sound too bad but apparently it also destroys everything in the process... I guess... it isn't really explained.
As I have already mentioned, the Dark Elves are really sweet. Their technology is unique and menacing and the 'Kursed' infantry are totally BA! The designs of the Kursed were unique because CGI was mixed with legitimate animatronics and intricate costumes. Very nice to look at. The Asgardian tech is also expanded upon further in this movie, which at times makes the movie feel like Star Wars (but oh well). The movie's first three-fourths or so has really good action that is well thought out. The battles have scale, clever elements, and lots of violence. If there is one complaint that I would have is that both sides seem to enjoy killing people in gruesome ways a little too much. I know we are all used to violence, but at times it is hard to sympathize with the main characters when they are brutally murdering their enemies. Which leads to one of the movie's problems:
I wish the villains would win.
To me, everything about the Asgardian culture seems wrong. When Loki murders and kills hundreds if not thousands of humans they slap him on the wrist. When Thor killed thousands of ice dudes in the first movie they only slapped his wrist. Even Odin is portrayed as an arrogant jerk in this movie who literally says "I am right because I win!" These guys need to be defeated! I want them to lose! Thor does have a bit of a change of heart in this movie, but still, Asgard is corrupt and obnoxious.
The human aspect of the movie is still dull, but not as bad as in the first movie. The action there obviously had some influence from the game Portal. A new character named Richard is randomly brought up and forgotten. For being a new love interest, it is strange that he is entirely forgotten in the movie's finale and ending. Which brings us to the movie's weaker element: the finale.
Don't get me wrong, the finale has a wonderful set up and some great moments; however, very little is explained for why things are happening the way they do. Out of nowhere, it is revealed that *spoilers* these medal instruments used for identifying issues in time and space can be used as weapons... why? It was never really explained what they do or why they do anything so it is incredibly random and unfair when they are used. Other questions such as what happened to the ice beast that got brought in through the portal aren't explained. Why did the Dark Elf ship EXPLODE FOR NO FREAKING REASON!!! I'm not even joking! The Dark Elf ship just decided to blow up with no explanation! The movie established previously that it was full of what looked like possibly hundreds of Dark Elves. In the final battle we see maybe 50 (and they came down in a pod, not the main ship itself) so what happened to the rest of them in the ship? The ship just tips over and explodes even though it was clearly shown in the previous scenes that it had its engines on so it shouldn't tip over.
The finale does have its moments with humour and good action, but so little is explained and so many random events happen that are never explained even after the finale has finished! It is chaotic and random! However, the portal element was well-done.
All in all, Thor 2 has a much better premise and set-up than a lot of Marvel movies of late. It has the action, the villain, the acting, the emotion, and the visuals; however, the conclusion didn't seem fair. If a villain is to lose, then he better lose fairly. You can't "cheat" the audience into a victory, because then it just feels like a joke. The bad guy was obviously winning and was superior, but for no logical reason he just loses. Another minor gripe is that the Dark Elves probably could've just worn dark sunglasses or have found some sort of agreement of having their own dark sector. Their plan didn't seem logical, and sometimes their strength varied depending on what was needed for the plot. Their ships are like flying swords that can cut through buildings, but in another scene they tear apart like paper just with a sword. This is another case of the movie "cheating".
I would give it a 7 or a 7.5. Can't wait for the sequel! Oh, and what about Light Elves? Those are in mythology as well :P