Thor 2 – The Dark World review – Loki steals the light

Posted on 4 November 2013
By Andy Johnson
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Nobody in Hollywood can burn up the screen with a sneer quite like Tom Hiddleston and Thor 2: The Dark World belongs to Loki.

In Loki, Marvel know they’ve created a fan favourite character from an unlikely source and now will surely continue to use him as Thor’s main foil.

Tom clearly relishes his role as the God of Mischief and pulls out all the stops to create further depths of malignant marauders.

The downside is that the depth of Loki’s character can at times cast a shadow over the heroic Thor, (Chris Hemsworth) who apart from providing a well rounded voice and accent for the Norse God, is left looking like a glorified clothes horse when Loki is stealing the lime light from him.

A brilliant scene unfolds when Thor springs his raven haired brother from his prison cell and they embark on their clandestine voyage off Asgard and Loki uses his powers of illusion to re-invent himself in the image of Thor’s Asgardian pals and even as Captain America.

As Marvel launch their so called ‘Phase 2’ of movies, Thor 2 marks a return to the lofty ambitions of The Avengers movie after the stable effort of Iron Man 3.

Director Alan Taylor – who has worked on many TV hits including Game of Thrones, admirably picks up the gauntlet laid down by English ‘lovie’ superemo Kenneth Branagh from the first Thor film.

Sir Anthony Hopkins also lends some much needed gravitas to the heavenly bodies on Asgard and it would be great to see more of him on the screen, as he appears to be largely used for plot exposition.

Far from settled after the fallout from Avengers Assemble, the majestic realm of Asgard is under attack from the Dark Elves, led by Malekith, who are seeking the all-encompassing power of the Aether in an attempt to plunge the Universe back into eternal darkness.

Meanwhile, it seems that the universal centre for the Elves’ evil ambitions is Earth and all the action takes place in London, which is a welcome sight – especially as the majority of the Marvel movies are being shot in Blighty.

Astrophysicist Erik Selvig, played deftly by Stellan Skarsgard is seen dementedly running naked around Stonehenge and later establishes the danger involving the convergence of the nine realms and why all the ancient star gazing spots are pointing to Greenwich as the central focus for trouble when they fully allign.

This has got to be one of the funniest Marvel movies to date, which when compared with the Iron Man movies and Robert Downey Jnr’s quip-firing Tony Stark is no mean feat. Perhaps it’s because the story line is so fantastical in Thor, that it needs the comic relief.

As we’ve come to expect from Marvel, the attention to detail is spot on and the little British references are done with great aplomb.

When Jane Foster grabs a can to throw into a portal to another realm, it is none other than a can of Vimto. Eagle eyed viewers can also spot a box of Shreddies gracing the table of Jane’s apartment-turned-lab.

One of the funniest moments comes when Thor comes home with Jane and hangs up his Mjolnir tentatively on a coat hook.

Although the directions the blonde-haired god gets on The Tube to Greenwich from Charring Cross have drawn some askance observations from the blogosphere.

Viewers really trying to pick fault with the film, could find an easy target in one time Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal of Malekith, who despite rolling his tongue around the fictional Elven language (created by the chap who invented Dothraki for Game of Thrones), often comes over as unmistakably Mancunian and mostly looks like he’s just going through the motions.

But the design of the Dark Elves’ aesthetic is fantastic and even gives a nod to The Doctor as they boast a look that is pure Whovian villain.

Their great warrior The Kursed, brings about the most destruction in the film and brutally kicks Thor’s arse, before Loki comes to his aid with another intricate illusion.

A challenge for all directors stepping up to the helm of a Marvel Studio’s movie is tying all the extended plot lines from the other comic films together.

This can often be seen in the now unmissable end credits scenes, which sets up plot line for Guardians of the Galaxy, due out next year, and introducing Benicio Del Toro as The Collector.

Alan Taylor is reportedly unhappy with the mid-credits scene. And fans at large might be unhappy to wait right til the bitter end to see Thor bound back to a very domestic scene on Earth. Roll on Avengers 2!

And fans who have journeyed to The Dark World are in for an extra treat this week as Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is promising a tie in as Agent Coulson’s Earth bound team deal with the after effects of the Dark Elves’ assault on Greenwich.

Director: Alan Taylor; Screenwriter Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely; Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings; Running time: 112 mins; Certificate: 12A

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