Thor 2: The Dark World

Going to the movies is a funny experience. Not the movies themselves, only about half of those are funny, but the experience of going to them. Prior to heading out for Thor 2: The Dark World, I had shared an afternoon meal at the home of my girlfriend's parents. When my girlfriend and I announced we would be heading out to the theatre (I refuse to spell “theater” properly, because YOLO), we had this exchange with my girlfriend's mother:

Her: “Oh, so you're going out to see 12 Years a Slave! It's amazing!”

Us: “Umm, actually, we were going to see Thor. We thought we'd have some fun, and save the crying for next weekend.”

Her: “Whaat!? Gross. Well if you decide to be moved, and have something to think about for the next decade, you should see 12 Years instead.”

Right then.

All of this is somewhat unfair to Thor, and I'm sure the Norse god's thundering biceps would disapprove, but I think the convo speaks marvels towards Marvel's (sorry, yolo again) decisions about positioning their movies. They aren't particularly interested in my parent's generation, but they know that to gross the absurdist numbers that they would like to gross with each iteration of their hydraform sagas, they need to appeal to adults who might otherwise go to see a film, rather than a movie. They promise a fun, mindless diversion that won't leave someone in their mid-twenties embarrassed for themselves afterward (Transformers, anyone?). The question is, did they succeed?

The short answer, of course, is yes.

The long answer goes something like this:

I adored about 90 percent of this movie. The original Thor succeeded for me due to Branagh's almost Shakespearean ambitions with the film. The use of royal struggles to explore normal family dynamics is something I love about the Bard, and is it me, or did the laughs in the first Thor movie feel inspired from a few of the comedies (right down to playing with mistaken identity) as well?

This movie delivers that exact same feel, but peppered and zinged with a few Whedon-y spices along the way (he's no stranger to Shakespeare either). The dialogue leaves most cheap-thrill action movies in the dust, and as for the action itself, well, the Marvel movies are like a fine wine.

My favorite thing about the action in Thor is actually Thor himself. He's practically indestructible, so the directors get to do stuff to him that they just don't get to do to the other Avengers. Whedon obvously had tons of fun doing this last summer – Thor is the Hulk's favorite buddy, because he's the only teammate that the Hulk can harmlessly punch through walls – and Alan Taylor does a great job picking up the torch in this movie. The action feels epic and exciting. It completely avoids “apocalypse fatigue,” (the way the impending end of the world can feel boring because you've seen it so many damn times) despite the high stakes, and people wanting to see new and innovative uses of Thor's powers get plenty of the as well.

While the action is awesome, let's get back to Shakespeare idea for a second. This movie is at it's finest when we see the drama of a family in turmoil, both from outside and within. Every single scene with 2 of the 4 members of the Allfather household (Odin, Friga, Thor, and Loki) sizzles, and even more so when one of the two members is Loki. Hiddelston is the gift that keeps on giving, and he's as much a key to my love of the Marvel franchise as RDJ and Whedon.

So that's a lot of adoring. What's that last unpleasant 10%, you ask? Well, I wasn't a fan of the villains. I'm sure the Dark Elves have a rich history in the comics, but they felt a little flat. The head honcho was great, but even his motivation seemed like it might have been purchased at Forboders-R-Us. Those things, of course, are relatively minor when we're talking about what is essentially a stop-gap movie to set the stage for something bigger in 18 months. What really irked me was the orcing.

Orcing is a problem in a lot of fantasy, so this isn't the most horrible offense in the world. The fact that it should pop up in Marvel's fantasy helping of the superhero platter is no surprise, but great sword/sorcery stories have been told without it, and epic battles have still taken place. Orcing, by the way, is explained with quite a bit more expertise in the link above, but is essentially what happens when you introduce an entire race of people who are treated much the same way by your story as othered races are treated by mainstream media in this country. Again, this is a small issue with the juxtaposition of the villains that irked, but did not remove me from the action.

Anyway, I hope you see Thor, most of all because of Loki's charming ass, but also because I'd love to spend some time with you, laughing and applauding the big blondie's innovative use lightning and gutteral screaming. Thousand year old Asgardians really can learn new tricks.