[156] THOR: THE DARK WORLD - And this time they got it right. Freed from the constraints of having to make a cheesy franchise place holder, director Alan Taylor and his cast and crew cut loose to deliver a robust adventure that features pretty much everything you want from a movie like this. The storyline is some ridiculous something or other nonsense about saving the universe from destruction by a blob of energy that can only be activated when the nine worlds are all in alignment or something I dont know and I dont care and just typing this shit out is giving me the shits... But it doesnt matter because its supposed to be a clothesline on which to hang a series of situations and place characters in peril every fifteen minutes anyway, what matters is the entertainment value on display, which is plentiful and exceedingly well executed. I suppose there is an inherent understanding that you need to come in with a little background information for all the gags to really work. So, no, you cant really look at this as a stand alone adventure. But that goes without saying, since the Marvel movies have been constituting a massive franchise for some time now. But what this movie does finally prove is these characters can stand on their own and deliver fresh adventures with their own unique personality. We did see a little of this with Iron Man Three, and here we see a movie that - oh yes - is leagues better than its predecessor, and feels like it inhabits its own space. It surrenders to the absolute ridiculousness of the concept - presenting large scale camp of the highest order. Its all campy... The dramatic portent, the big epic scope put at the service of such shallow idiocy, the bombastic music by Brian Tyler that assures you this is supposed to be Tolkien. Anthony Hopkins spitting out his lines as if he were Sir John Gielgud after taking three lines of coke... And none of this is meant as a put down. The movie is tremendous fun to watch BECAUSE it embraces its own silliness so well. This is a fun cast, cool characters. Its basically a blast all the way. It looks great, is full of action and in particular has a climactic battle that just might be the most visually inventive and cheerfully ridiculous of the bunch. Two demerits. First - every single scene of Natalie Portman making goo goo eyes at Thor is absolutely 100% embarrassing. And, um, really? Thats the best you could do with a cosmic villain played by Christopher Eccleston? Really? Thats all you could come up with? And, um, could you have maybe thrown in a tube of Marmite together with whatever cash you gave him, just so that he maybe, sorta, kinda could have put his heart into it? I dunno. Might have been a good idea. But, lame villain or not, incoherent cosmic storyline or not... It doesnt matter. I still had a great time here and, chances are, most of you will too.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 02:26:25 +0000
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