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On the eve of the convergence, when the nine realms are about to align, enemies from the past return to haunt and imperil the citizens of Asgard and everyone else. Thor, who has been away from astrophysicist Jane Foster for two years, dealing with instability across the nine realms, returns to Asgard.
Then Jane chances upon an anomaly that brings back the Aether, a mysterious force that once threatened Asgard and has awakened its long-time enemies, the Dark Elves, who are out for blood. Meanwhile, Loki, is languishing in prison, awaiting his next chance at glory.
Is it any good?
No one can accuse “Thor: The Dark World” of being uncomplicated. It’s certainly not simple-minded in the way some comic-book-based films are. In fact, it may actually suffer from an over-abundance of complexity, as it struggles mightily to explain the nuances of a universal convergence that has awakened beasts called the Dark Elves and threatens to upend all that Thor and his father, Odin (played amiably by Anthony Hopkins), and their ancestors have worked so hard to achieve.
Sadly, it doesn’t win the fight, allowing dogma to win over wit; back story to triumph over characterisation.
Portman’s Jane Foster doesn’t have much to do here, and is relegated to an even more pronounced damsel-in-distress position than in the original Thor.
Her mentor, Dr Erik Selvig (Stellan Saarsgard), is ignored, too, left to play the nutty professor. Even Thor himself doesn’t seem to be deriving much honour in being the leader, or glory from all the hammer-throwing he’s doing. (Or joy from seeing Jane again, for that matter.)
So thank goodness for Hiddleston’s Loki, who’s still a delight, even if the story no longer revolves around him. It’s the special effects that take centre stage here, in battle scenes that are visually gripping. If only the story made the audience more invested in what was happening on screen, those battles would hold more heft.
Parents need to know that “Thor: The Dark World” is a teen-friendly follow-up to 2011’s Thor, continuing where the adventures of that film – as well as Marvel’s “The Avengers” – left off.
The comic book-based action film treads on heavy ground, with moody characters prone to power-hungry moves and rage-filled conquests, and with intense battle scenes involving lots of stabbing, shooting, and punching, but it’s not so much bloody as brutal. We don’t, in fact, see a lot of blood.
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