Fresh off his charming portrayal of cocky racecar driver James Hunt
in 'Rush', Chris Hemsworth slips back into his Asgardian armor as he
prepares to take on The Dark Elves in this ridiculously complicated
story.
Turns out this ancient race of evil aliens, led by the vengeful
Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) is seeking a powerful energy source
that has somehow found its way into the body of Thor's astrophysicist
girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).
Left with no choice but to
reunite with his unreliable brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), currently
locked away in a prison cell in Asgard, Thor must not only protect his
ladylove, but also foil Malekith's plan to plunge the entire cosmos into
darkness and despair.
Everything moves at a frenetic pace in this film, giving you
barely any chance to enjoy the action, to soak in a clever one-liner, or
to mourn the death of a loved character. The special effects are pretty
impressive, but Asgard still looks like a gaudy Vegas attraction.
What's surprising about the film is how spectacularly uninvolving it is.
The previous film had a nice fish-out-of-water charm, but this one's
trying too hard to achieve an epic feel.
The best moments are the humorous bits, including Loki's stinging
putdowns, and stray clap-traps provided by the likes of Jane's bumbling
intern (Kat Dennings), her would-be-suitor (Chris O'Dowd), and her daft
mentor (Stellan Skarsgard).
Hemsworth himself gets a few light moments,
including a scene in which Thor travels on the London tube with cape
and all. These little treats are scattered sparingly during the film,
which expectedly focuses on Thor's mission to save the Nine Realms from
imminent disaster.
Unfortunately that's as formulaic and predictable as the recipe
for an omelette, and there's never any real sense of fear or dread when
Thor faces off against the supposedly indestructible villains. As
superhero movies go, this is underwhelming stuff.
