I still stand by recommendation of the first Thor movie but I’ve always felt it was the weakest of the other Avengers movies. The hero’s journey part was cool. The letdown was the threat…a giant furnace monster. When the supporting characters steal the movie, that’s another sign of trouble.
This time Thor has a true threat, Malekith and his dark elves. Once again the movie opens with some drawn-out exposition which explains how Malekith attempted to destroy reality only to be defeated by Thor’s grandfather. After the final battle, everybody believed all the elves were killed or died in a desperate suicidal push near the end. Obviously not. Malekith and a handful of his followers used the others’ sacrifice to go into hiding for millennia.
Enter Dr. Jane Foster, again. Now she’s in London because the weird Asgardian energy readings are turning up there like they did in New Mexico. Instead she finds a different weirdness and it alerts Malekith.
See the movie if you want to know how it pans out.
Dark is superior to the first movie. More Loki. More magic as technology (I love the singularity grenades). Better battles. Elements of this year’s Iron Man 3 bleeding over, pay attention to how the Kurse creatures operate. It bore some resemblance to the Mandarin’s healing chemicals. As always, the cameos and ending credits keep you excited about what will happen next in Captain America: Winter Soldier and the still congealing Avengers 2. This movie’s violence is less disturbing for little kids than Iron Man 3 or Man of Steel too.
Sadly, the Alamo Drafthouse’s pre-show features were the same as they were two years ago. I would’ve hoped they found some new silliness regarding the golden-tressed thunder-god. The 3-D element was decent, namely during the Asgard sequences plus it includes a six-minute preview of Captain America‘s sequel next April, 2-D doesn’t have it.