By David Hurtado
**Contains spoilers**
With the blessings of the All Father, Thor has once again descended unto theatres in the realm of Midgard.
The next installment in the Marvel franchise picks up roughly one year after the Chitauri invasion of New York, with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Warriors Three attempting to restore peace to the Nine Realms after they were thrown into chaos following the destruction of the Bifröst.
Dark World opens with a prologue setting things up in manner similar to the first Lord of the Rings. 5000 years ago, Bor, father of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), led the forces of Asgard in a massive invasion of the Dark Elf home world, Svartalfheim. The Dark Elves, led by Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston), were attempting to plunge the cosmos into darkness through the Aether, a relic from a time before the universe.
Before Malekith can harness the power of the Aether, Asgard steals it away through the Bifröst. In a desperate, last act of defiance, Malekith sacrifices his own people so that he and a handful of Dark Elves escape in suspended animation.
Like its predecessor, the main story line in Dark World focuses on a piece of highly advanced technology. Despite being relatively straightforward, the script does an great job at developing the relationship between Thor and Loki, as well as exploring Thor’s future role in Asgard. The Dark Elves themselves are about as dimensioned as stick figures, but Loki’s scenes, which are often the most emotional, help make up for that.
Dark World was a great movie, with plenty of action packed scenes and humorous dialogue, but there are moments that left me wondering how Asgard remains top dog of the Nine Realms. When Malekith launches a covert invasion of Asgard, he deploys about five fighter craft to clear the way for his flagship. The only resistance the Asgardians seemed to mount consisted of a few air defense towers and light skiffs.
Does Asgard even have an air force, or were they all on lunch break at the time? Those few fighters weren’t even the full might of the Dark Elf armada, as most of them fell on Svartalfheim eons ago. This is to say nothing of Asgard’s pitiful World War I era human wave tactics in the throne room.
And in the final showdown between Thor and Malekith – after they’ve knocked seven shades out of each other – Malekith is defeated in a very anti-climatic fashion. Apparently, scientific rods developed using primitive human technology are enough to mortally wound him. Mjölnir ultimately lands the killing blow, but the rods do most of the heavy lifting.
None of these are enough to break the film, in my book. The striking visuals, coupled with an amazing score by Brian Tyler, make for two solid hours of great entertainment. Most of the screen time was spent off-Earth, which was greatly appreciated, as exploration of Asgard and the other realms was something that was lacking in the first Thor.
It’s not perfect, but it was well worth the $7.75 I spent to see it.
Contact David Hurtado, features editor, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.