Thor: The Dark World, 2013.

Directed by Alan Taylor.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Christopher Eccleston, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, Jaimie Alexander, Tadanobu Asano, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Idris Elba.

SYNOPSIS:

Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

It’s fair to say that Thor was the surprise entry of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While a touch campy and overly theatrical, Thor was a fun comic book romp with some good action, a glorious amount of scenery chewing and a fun villain in Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. With Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor now in the director’s chair (and Marvel being a much bigger brand this time round), how will its sequel Thor: The Dark World fair?

Those who felt slightly let down by Iron Man 3 will be very happy to hear that Thor: The Dark World is an incredible amount of fun as it takes everything that was brilliant about the first movie and turns it up to eleven. It’s bigger, grander and more epic with some exquisite cinematography, excellent CGI and a script that allows for beautiful character growth. Which would all lead to a superb movie, if it wasn’t let down by its plot.

With Thor: The Dark World being so much fun, it feels wrong to be complaining about something so early on in the review, but it does need to be addressed. In classic Star Trek style, Thor: The Dark World features some truly baffling science that is never really explained and it never feels like they intended to. The third act in particular, while awesome, is a proper head scratcher and those who demand 100% sense from their movie may be a little disappointed by Thor’s lack of it. And while this may take a lesser movie down to the depths of ‘Worst of the Year’ Thor: The Dark World manages to get away with it because it gets everything else right. Even if the ending doesn’t make a lick of sense, it’s so exciting, entertaining and gorgeous to look at at that you’ll ignore all the Trek-like mumbo jumbo excuses that explain the nonsensical science.

Much like the first film, a lot of the enjoyment from Thor: The Dark World comes from its wonderful cast of characters and everyone is on top form. Natalie Portman is given a lot more to do this time round and is really good as the woman-scorned love interest and while Kat Dennings is incredibly annoying throughout the movie, she does have a few funny turns here and there. Hopkins lives up to his scenery chewing ways as Odin to the point where it’s amazing there is any set left and Stellan Skarsgård is wonderful as the now slightly mad Erik Selvig. Christopher Eccleston manages to match Hopkins on the hamming it up scale to act over the heavy make-up that he requires for the leader of the Dark Elves Malekith and Rene Russo is given one of the more touching moments of the movie, which she sells perfectly.

But it’s Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston who once again steal the show as the brothers-at-odds Thor and Loki. Now in their third film together, the pair have created a cinematic bond to the point where you’d believe they’d actually grown up as brothers. There’s a scene where they are bickering on a spaceship that will ring some bells with anyone who has have had to endure long car rides in the back seat with siblings and the two excel in these scenes. Hiddleston is once again phenomenal as Loki and his turn here is possibly even better than last year’s The Avengers while Hemsworth gets better and better with each cinematic performance he makes. Thor: The Dark World might not be the acting tour-de-force he gave us in Rush, but he never lets Hiddleston or anyone else steal the spot light from him with a commanding performance that perfectly treads the line of brilliance of Hiddleston and the scenery chewing of Hopkins.

Over the last few weeks, there has been some discussion about the movie’s length as it’s the shortest Marvel movie to date with many across the Internet wondering whether Thor: The Dark World would run a little thin. However, the 112 minute runtime means that there is no wasteful moments in the movie and each scene means something to the albeit stupid plot. This ridiculous idea that a movie needs to be over two-hours long to be worthwhile is the reason we have bloated action movies like The Lone Ranger, which would have benefited from a runtime like Thor: The Dark World. The movie’s length is never a deficit and this should act as an example to studios on how a tighter movie can be more entertaining.

There has been a word used a lot during this review, but it’s one that encapsulates why Thor: The Dark World is such a joy to watch – and that word is fun. There is so much fun to be had from this movie whether it be the relationship between Thor and Loki, the wackiness of Stellan Skarsgård or the final action scene that could rival The Avengers in terms of ‘wow factor’. And despite its sometimes dark tone, the film is also a lot funnier than you’d think with a couple of laugh out loud moments (including a great cameo) that should appeal to anyone who found humour in “puny God” – which is pretty much everyone, ever. Thor: The Dark World is pure cinema entertainment and a shining example of why Marvel are leading the way in this genre.

Exciting, brilliant, fun, energetic with well-written humour and some outstanding performances let down slightly by a stupid plot that makes no sense, Thor: The Dark World has everything a comic book movie fan could want and so much more. It’s Avengers levels of fun and the final third will have you on the edge of your seat, even if you’re scratching your head while doing so. Thor may have been the surprise entry of Phase One, but Thor: The Dark World could end up the best solo outing of Phase Two.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.