Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston return in Thor: The Dark World in a continuation of the Marvel saga.

With the great quality of the first film and the utilization of Loki as the focal villain in The Avengers, the Thor franchise gained some clout. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are prominent figures in the franchise’s success as Hemsworth was built to play Thor and Hiddleston captures the mysterious role of Loki with ease.

However, as we learned from Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. In other words, with past high-quality films comes future expectations. Iron Man 3 utterly disappointed me as the first Marvel movie released after The Avengers. Could the god of thunder fair any better?

STRENGTHS

Fight Scenes

I loved the fighting in this movie. It’s awesome to see Thor match-up against his opponents. However, his friends also have very cool and succinct sequences. Even Frigga (Thor’s mother) got in the action and she was awesome. I wish the film had more of them.

Visuals

Asgard and the Bifrost blow me away every time I watch these films. Asgard is a beautiful place and it’s no different in Thor: The Dark World.

Asgardian Characters

I love the casting choices of all the characters who reside in Asgard. Hemsworth and Hiddleston are obviously fantastic, but Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Rene Russo (Frigga), Jaimie Alexander (Sif) and Idris Elba (Heimdall) all deserve accolades for their performances among others.

Witty Humor

The witty humor that has grown to embody the Marvel Universe continues in Thor: The Dark World. I enjoyed it for the most part, especially Thor hanging his hammer on the coat rack and *SPOILER ALERT* the Captain America cameo.

Darcy

I enjoyed Kat Dennings in her role as Darcy, who has some funny moments in both films. She is undoubtedly the most engaging human character in this film, which is interesting because she’s not the main human character.

WEAKNESSES

Too Much Sequel Cliche

This category is the reasoning behind the headline for this post.

Thor: The Dark World amped up Loki’s power, especially his mystical prowess. That is fine but it turned into an overuse of his power of illusion. So much so that before the credits rolled I thought Thor: The Dark World would turn into Free Birds or something.

Also, the final battle was way too ridiculous. Thor and Malekith did more falling through different universes than actual fighting. Oh yeah Malekith is the bad guy. He is the head of the dark elves who try to turn the nine realms to darkness by harnessing the power of the Aether. I never mentioned him because he was an uninteresting villain who added nothing to the ongoing saga and got beat up by the queen of Asgard.

So as with most sequels, Thor: The Dark World tried to add too much, which sacrificed some of its quality. I would give other examples, but I’m sure you want to stop reading this at some point.

Sif vs. Jane

The love triangle among Thor, Jane and Sif isn’t understandable or necessary. Must every movie now have a Team Edward and Team Jacob feel to it? The Twilight Saga is behind us (Thank God) so let’s not bring it back to life. Now this is a bit hypocritical but because it exists I feel the need to talk about it.

It makes no sense that Thor would fall in love with Jane Foster and the movie doesn’t do a good job of convincing me otherwise. Sif is an Asgardian, a warrior who has fought at Thor’s side throughout his life and absolutely beautiful. Jane is not interesting. Plain and simple. However, this paragraph is pointless because for some reason Jane is and will always be the love interest of Thor. What a perfect time to talk about Natalie Portman.

Jane Foster

Natalie Portman does not belong in this franchise. She is an uninteresting character who brings nothing to the movies. She’s simply there because she has to be. Portman also has the worst attempted relationship with another person since her marriage with Hayden Christensen in Star Wars.

Darcy

Despite what I said above, I could see her being a pretty annoying character to others. The fact remains that her role is the best over a clearly out of place Natalie Portman and a confusing Stellan Skarsgard character.

MOMENT THAT STUCK OUT (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

In arguably the most shocking and exciting part of the film, Thor, Loki and Jane travel to The Dark World with the Aether, which is flowing through Jane’s body (Yes, that is her purpose in the film), to confront Malekith and the dark elves. Loki betrays Thor and cuts off his hand, which is shocking in and of itself. However, after Malekith removes the Aether from Jane’s body, it turns out Thor losing his hand was an illusion. Loki turns Thor back to his original form who in turn shoots lightning at the Aether, which explodes into pieces. Just when you thought the Asgardians’ plan had succeeded, the Aether slowly starts to reassemble itself (a la Terminator 2: Judgement Day) proving it is in fact indestructible.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Though Thor: The Dark World experienced a small drop in quality, it is still incredibly entertaining and leaves you excited for the prospect of a third film.

RATING

I’ll give Thor: The Dark World 3.5 out of 5 cups.

BOX OFFICE INFO/HOW OTHERS VIEWED THE FILM

As of Nov. 11, Thor: The Dark World made a domestic total of approximately $96 million versus a production budget of $170 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Thor: The Dark World has a rating of 65% at Rotten Tomatoes while users at the Internet Movie Database gave it 7.7 out of 10 stars.

To see the movie trailer for Thor: The Dark World, click here.