Thor: The Dark World (2013) Review

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

The Dark World follows Thor, who, after the Aether attaches itself to Jane and awakens Malekith, must find a way to protect Jane and prevent Malekith from weaponizing the Aether against the 9 realms during the convergence.

While Thor: The Dark World has long been considered the worst entry in the MCU (of which Eternals is now the proud owner of that title), one can hardly call it bad…just uninspired and somewhat boring. It’s premise actually lays down a level of intrigue, with us now being familiar with the existence of the infinity stones, introducing the Aether (aka the reality stone) and thus marking the arrival of the Dark Elf, Malekith (played to incredible indifference by Doctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston). Malekith however would be the first in a string of pretty vanilla villains for Marvel, and so while he makes his presence certainly known, killing Frigga and ‘nearly’ destroying the 9 realms, he never seems like that much of a threat, more that Thor has just been greatly scaled down to his level.

That in mind, I still quite admire Thor’s arc in Dark World, starting a shift in his character that is defined by his losses. If that’s the one great thing about this film, it’s that it’s willing to sprinkle in somber moments of tragedy and heartbreak amongst Malekith’s destruction, allowing us to feel the losses of his mother and Loki, empowering him to protect Asgard against his father’s wishes and protect Jane at all costs. 

We get a fair cast, starring Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Stellen Skarsgård, Rene Russo, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston, and Chris Hemsworth. Though he’s given zero favors by Eccleston or Portman, who very much don’t t want to be here, Hemsworth holds his own and makes the most of his Thor’s tragedy ridden sequel, even sharing some tender moments with the always enigmatic, Hiddleston.

Thor: The Dark World, directed by Alan Taylor, while not necessarily a bad film, loses much of the mythical qualities of the first, that, when paired with an uninspired villain, leads this sequel to being far more forgettable as the universe builds in scale. 

6.9/10