Entertainment

“Thor: The Dark World” Brings the Hammer Down

The Nordic god Thor is back again with the release of “Thor: The Dark World.” After the events that happened in New York in “The Avengers,” Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Asgard to face his father (Anthony Hopkins), Odin, and prove he is worthy of the throne.

The question on most people’s minds going into this movie is what will happen with Thor and Jane (Natalie Portman)? As you remember, Jane is the girl that Thor fell in love with before he had to return to Asgard to deal with Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Do not worry! This will be addressed in “Thor: The Dark World” and there will be more barriers in Thor’s way. Thor will have to deal with new conflicts and fight an old enemy.

Along with the ongoing problem with what to do with Loki, Thor states that he had learned to not trust him or give him any more chances. Unfortunately, a problem arises that is not Loki’s fault and Thor needs to fix this or Loki will be the least of his problems. In fact, Thor will need Loki’s help in order to deal with this new threat.

Thor’s adopted brother, Loki, is back because they just cannot seem to get rid of him. Loki has to be judged by Odin and punished for what he did in New York. Thor’s reluctance to completely stop trusting Loki may prove to be a problem for Thor in the end.

A theme of the movie is mortality. Loki always states how everyone one from Asgard is a god and the humans are just mortals. Mortality is a strong factor of “The Dark World.” We will see if the stud god, Thor, will be able to outwit Loki in the end.

The aesthetic appeal to the Thor movies is well done. The CGI is well balanced and realistic looking. Asgard matches the godly world that you would imagine deities to live in. 

Lighting was not an issue at all. In fact, I enjoyed the lighting of the movie. This is not usually a large criteria for the judgment of a movie, but the lighting made Asgard feel godly and the few scenes that depicted an evil feel were enforced well by the lighting and color changes for those scenes.

The casting and acting is above par in the “Thor” movies. Chris Hemsworth plays the role of Thor well.

What would the “Thor” movies be without Loki? Tom Hiddleston plays his role as Loki at a top notch level. Loki is the force that holds the Thor movies together. The unpredictability of whether to trust him or not for certain situations is what makes him so important to the series. Loki, as proven in “The Avengers,” is a powerful opposing force that keeps the Marvel universe entertaining.

Many criticized the first Thor movie as being a poorly-made super hero movie that is not nearly as good as some of the other heroes that have been shining over the past few years. This could be because the Thor comics tell his story in a very different way.

If you are a person who did not read any of the comics related to Thor, then you may enjoy the movies more than the people who did read them. It is important to note that just because the movies are different does not necessarily mean that they are bad. The movies are different so that there is less confusion for the viewer.

The “Thor” movies are witty and action-packed. Marvel has been trying to add more smart humor and has been getting cleverer with their plots over the last few years. To me, this style works well for Marvel. “Thor: The Dark World” continues to be witty with little jokes relating to how Thor does not know human culture on Earth.

With the addition of “The Avengers” to the Marvel movie universe, movies like Thor are now intertwined with other Marvel movies. Marvel has this new style for their movies: the events in each movie, whether it is Thor, Captain America, Iron Man or other hero movies, are all in the same universe and timeline. An example of how this works is how each movie for each individual member of the Avengers led up to “The Avengers” movie by having Nick Fury talk to each hero and offer them a spot in the Avengers. This ties each movie together nicely.

Marvel is famous for having an after credits scene. In these scenes are teasers for the next possible movie in the series or adds to the movie’s plot by tying up loose ends. “Thor: The Dark World” follows this style as well. “The Dark World” has two after credits scenes that left me with many questions. These scenes gave fans, like myself, more anticipation for future Marvel films. (Beware: There are two post-credit scenes. Stay until the very end for everything.)

Even though Thor’s story is different in the movies than the comics, the viewer should enjoy this different experience. This is sort of like how “The Walking Dead” deviates off of the story of their comic books. This works just as well for Thor.

“Thor: The Dark World” helped answer some lingering questions that viewers had after watching the first Thor movie and “The Avengers.” Of course, there are more questions introduced by the end of the movie but that just adds to the anticipation of more Marvel films to come!

PHOTO TAKEN from marvel.com/thor