A vast improvement, but with a lot of room left for more

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2014)

First and foremost, I am sad to say that the sequel did not top the original as thoroughly as has been put forth as a general consensus. If anything, they have used elements from the first Thor and simply added a new villain. But, that is breaking it down to its very core element and does not do the film justice.
As is expected with big budget superhero movies these days, the special effects were simply flawless and beautiful. The sound guys also worked their magic.
The actors (reprising and new) did a terrific job pulling us into the fictional "Earth", Asgard, and Svartalfheim. Thor, Jane, Odin, Loki, and all the lead characters impress just like they did in 2011.
As the baddies, Malekith and his Dark Elves are quite a force to be reckoned with. They were not the types to have a nice meal with. And I liked that quite a lot. Thor was challenged and almost killed on multiple occasions instead of defeating them with a swing and a shock. And Kurse? Now that's a right-hand man a tough baddie like Malekith needs! The fight of the century between him and Hulk would rake in chests upon chests.
The little fusses I made for its duration added up, however. For example, Loki's body was simply left behind by Thor. Of course, we discover later that Loki was not killed, but is it not an insult to not bring Loki back to Asgard? And there was a lot of unnecessary dialog intended to pass off as comic relief, but was only obtuse. Things like, "I better get my pants." And why would the students in the library not have run away like the rest of their peers right outside when Malekith's ship crashed down instead of making Thor's fight a big celebrity photo shoot? Finally, some of the scenes were not needed, like Selvig's nude terrorism story on the news being shown twice and the double history lesson that could have been summarized into one that was slightly shorter.
All in all, entertainment at every step. Watched 04/23/2014, written 04/24/2014.