Glorious and Gloriously Preposterous,"Thor: The Dark World" Makes Armageddon Both Dire and Fun

Rating: 9/10 (26 October 2014)

Successful depictions of mythological tales embrace both their grandeur and bizarre but entertaining illogic. Marvel Comics' "Thor" recognized this, as did the original "Thor" movie, and now its more cosmic, world-spanning sequel, "Thor: The Dark World" (hereafter "Thor: DW"). Even though not only Earth (Midgard) but all the Nine Realms of Norse legend including Asgard, abode of the gods, are threatened by an existence-ending "Dark Side" as embodied by the liquid Aether, "Thor: DW" manages to intersperse and sprinkle dry, understated, but sharp humorous dialogue and situations throughout its epic tale.
This is no trivial feat, since along with the expected warrior battles and clashes and imminent Armageddon (or Ragnarok), "Thor: DW" deals with forbidden mortal love, latent mortal/deity romantic jealousy, incorrigible and enigmatic siblings, obstinate and imperious fathers, self- sacrificing goddesses, unhinged astronomical geniuses, and charting your own destiny. Within each of these elements "Thor: DW" explores both their serious and light-hearted sides.
Pointy-eared but cruelly saturnine Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), the Dark Elves' leader seeks the Aether to bring back the darkness they need to live and extinguish the hated brilliance of Asgard and the other worlds. The Asgardians, led by Thor wielding his enchanted hammer Mjolnir, have managed to wrest the Aether from the Dark Elves and hidden it within what they think is a totally unexpected place. However, astrophysicist and Thor's mortal love interest Jane Porter, incensed by the Thunder God's long absence, attempts to locate a dimensional portal in order to contact him again. Concealed within a London warehouse district, she finds not only the portal, but the Aether as well. The Aether possesses her.
Malekith, with the brutal assistance of the ape-like juggernaut (no, not that Juggernaut) Algrim/Kurse, has sought to recover the Aether for over 5,000 years and use it for universal darkness once the Nine Realms are linearly aligned. Realizing that Jane has now become the Aether's vessel, Thor transports her to Asgard in an initial attempt to protect her from Malekith. Nevertheless, Malekith, Algrim, and the Dark Elf armada of dagger-shaped ships soon breach even Asgard's seemingly-impervious defenses.
Against the edicts of the Lord of Asgard and Thor's father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor decides that instead of remaining besieged behind Asgard's fortress, he will take Jane to true safety in an obscure dimension. To do this, he must free and make an uncertain Faustian alliance with the God of Deceit and Evil, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), imprisoned in an Asgardian dungeon for crimes he committed in the "Avengers" movie. To buy time for the escape, Thor asks the omniscient, all-sensing Guardian of Asgard Heimdall(Idris Elba) to risk treason by running interference for him. And so "Thor: DW" boils down to whether Thor can save Jane and the Nine Realms (including Earth) from Malekith and the Aether.
Yep, these are literally deadly serious issues the movie is dealing with. But with effortless skill, "Thor: DW" sees the inherent overwrought silliness of it all and gently teases and prods it without diminishing the importance of these issues. For example, Thor faces a towering, Goliath stone creature in a scene that might remind you of Indiana Jones and the swordsman in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". As another example, to help the jailbreak along, Loki transforms himself and Thor into various figures including an out-of-left field patriotic one. Back on Earth, Jane's brash intern Darcy (Kat Dennings) sardonically and bemusedly comments on the wild proceedings when the Thor/Malekith battle spills over onto Midgard. Jane's oddball but enthusiastic mentor Dr. Erik Selvig, committed for streaking at Stonehenge, has nevertheless seemed to discover a gravity-shifting device that might avert the alignment, provided Darcy and her own callow but cute intern can get him out of the mental hospital. Finally, loved all the dimension-hopping and throwaway critters, especially in the very last scene.
The humor also makes "Thor:DW" more relatable even to people who are not Thor or Norse mythology aficionados and fans. Without it (and without the introductory exposition) at the movie's beginning, newcomers might be at a bit of a loss as to who these outlandish characters are and what the heck they're fighting for. They might not know who grim Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), dashing Fandral (Zachary Levi), voluminous Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), or the stunning Sif (Jaime Alexander) are, but they know about romantic entanglements (Sif gives Jane such a stare), a son's duty to a father (Thor in Odin's shadow), and perseverance in finding the hidden bravery and self-sacrifice of a previously selfish and treacherous brother (Loki's helping Thor defend Jane), and finding the courage to blaze your own trail in life (Thor resolving to stay with Jane on Earth). Therefore, "Thor:DW" manages the neat trick of making Armageddon not only foreboding but also satisfyingly enjoyable. 4.5 stars
P.S.: "Thor:DW" is a self-contained story in and of itself, even if you haven't seen the first "Thor" movie. But I heartily recommend you see the first movie, and watch the credits of this movie, because they continue Thor's story and raise doubts about Loki's reformation, AND connect to a broader Avengers story line involving some powerful stones. Verily, Thor will return.