Thor – The Dork World

“Quickly Thor!  We need to deresonate the whizzle-wig by reversing the dynamic poles of the samophlange!  Hit it with your hammer!”  And so went pretty much the only bad parts of Thor – The Dark World.  In all, it was a fun romp full of good actors and great effects, with a great B plot and a fun, if ridiculous, A plot.

The main plot of the film follows the story of the dark elves, freaky looking albinos (except for the one black elf) from Svartalfheim, who want to use Powerade to return the universe to “the Dark”.  At no point in the movie do they really give a good explanation of what “the Dark Universe” is, or why the dark elves want to bring the darkness back.  The only thing that is mentioned is that they used to rule absolutely in the Dark Universe, which to me implies that beings can survive in the Dark Universe, so why do they suddenly get to rule?

That weird plot hole aside, the main plot is a lot of fun because Christopher Eccleston gets to consume every set piece around him.  The fight scenes are fantastic, in particular the final fight that involves random teleportations.  The way they handle Mjollnir during that fight was a great detail that most action movies wouldn’t have considered.  The romance between Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster and Hemsworth’s Thor was pretty poorly written and plastic, but despite turning in decent performances their roles were basically written to be eye candy, which they serve well.  The only significant downside was the ridiculousness that I already covered.  The entire plot and especially the resolution to the plot was meaningless babble.  It was like watching a Silver Age TV show again – sudden and inexplicable leaps of logic from nowhere with no real backing that lead the heroes to exactly the correct place they need to be.

Where the movie really shines, however, is the B plot, which of course stars Loki in the Loki Show.  Hiddleston is fantastic both in the megalomaniacal and regretful faces of the role, and the interaction between Loki and Thor manages to bring actual emotion out of the oafish god of thunder.  The “twist” of the plot can be seen coming a mile away, which is fine because the writers clearly acknowledge that and don’t try to mask it too much.  This side of the plot is told very straightforward, but it’s told well – so well, in fact, that there just isn’t a lot to say about it, other than it makes the movie worth watching.

A few other notables are how badass they made Frigga, who absolutely owns the main bad guy of the film, the annoying assistant still being annoying, and a few instances of surprisingly bad CGI.  Seriously, a few of the CGI scenes in the movie look like an unfinished student project, though overall the visuals are incredible.  They really emphasize that Asgardian power is based on technology, not magic, without bashing you over the head with it.  (Except for that once, when they bash you over the head with it.)

If you liked the first Thor, you’re probably going to like this one.  If you didn’t, you’ll probably want to give it a pass.  Unless, of course, you like Agents of Shield, since this week’s episode of the show is apparently going to link directly to the film.