It's a $170 million-dollar B-picture, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Rating: Null/10 (8 November 2013)

If you peel back the expensive production values and the fancy schmancy special effects, "Thor: The Dark World," the latest superhero blockbuster from Marvel Studios, reveals itself to be a $170 million-dollar B-picture. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Actually, it's reminiscent of those cheap sword and sandal pictures from the 1960s with titles like "Hercules Unchained" and "Colossus and the Headhunters." All that's missing is Sandahl Bergman in a brass brassiere being chased around by a hoard of axe-wielding cavemen. Adding in those elements, Steve Reeves might have wept.
All of the Herculean clichés are on display here, up to and including a scene in which our beefcake hero bathes himself over a wash basin – a little treat for the ladies. "Thor: The Dark World" mostly takes place in Asgard, the kingdom run by Thor's father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), which is apparently one kingdom out of nine. Some of the others are seen very briefly and are more or less interchangeable. The technology of Asgard is kind of curious. You can travel between dimensions but the warriors still engage in hand-to-hand combat with axes and broad swords.
The population of Asgard and the other eight kingdoms seems to be made up almost exclusively of male warriors. If the math is right, there are exactly three women in Asgard, one of which is a visiting human from Earth. The others are Thor's mom Frigga (Rene Russo) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) a female warrior who is on hand to be . . . well . . . a female warrior.
The movie is fun in a goofy, dumbbell sort of way. The production values are impressive, the plot is completely canned, yet this is not a boring movie. Unlike its predecessor, Kenneth Branaugh's dusty "Thor," this sequel benefits from a healthy and much-needed dose of humor. The laughs juice things up when the plot gets dry – and that's most of the time. It's impossible to get involved in this story so you just keep waiting for the funny bits. A good deal of the humor comes from Chris Hemsworth who, in his third go-around as Thor, has relaxed into the role. Like Christopher Reeve in "Superman," he plays the role serious, but there's still a wink in his performance.
The story? Who cares? It's so thin that you could spell it out on the back of a business card: Asgard, after generations of peace, finds itself threatened by an endangered species of dark elves who wish to harness the power of a substance called Aether (pronounced Ether) which will plunge the Nine Kingdoms into darkness. The elves are led by a malevolent dullard named Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) who speaks in pat, formal phrases that only serve to further the plot ("Your bravery will not ease your pain. Your family, your world will be extinguished!") He has a heavy-sloped evil forehead that makes him look like something left over from "The Lord of the Rings." In a plot element that will not be revealed here, Thor's earthbound scientist girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) gets pulled into the Asgard war because she's in possession of something that Malekith wants. Portman's performance here is, more or less, just functional. She has more to do than she did in the first movie, but she really just plays a victim who exudes no independent personality. Much more entertaining is Foster's intern friend Darcy (Kat Dennings from CBS's "2 Broke Girls") who comes on as the comic relief and steals the show. She has such a wonderful personality, such a vibrant comic energy that her delivery reminds you a little of Phyllis Diller. Dennings is so funny and so energetic that you wish that she had been the romantic lead, or maybe even the villain. Maybe next time.
"Thor: The Dark World" was directed by Alan Taylor, a television director whose only notable film credit was a low-budget 1995 comedy named "Palookaville" about a group of bumbling crooks who get the idea to puncture the gas tank of an armored car so they can rob it when the tank runs dry, only to have the truck roll to a stop in front of the police station. That humorous touch is here too and he isn't afraid to use his special effects for a good sight gag. It leavens a movie that is, too often, over-stuffed with wall to wall special effects. Is "Thor: The Dark World" entertaining? Yes. Of the three Marvel pictures released in 2013, after the weary "Iron Man Three" and the boring drag of "The Wolverine," this one is the best. It's far from perfect, but it gets the job done.
*** (of four)