Film review – Thor: The Dark World

Review: Thor: The Dark World (Cert 12A)

There is a significant split within the general public between those who adore superhero movies and those who couldn’t care less. Fortunately, going into Thor: The Dark World, I am one of the former, and don’t miss the chance to check out the latest Marvel or DC adaption.

Thor 2 is one of the many franchises riding on the back of the success of The Avengers and Iron Man and – between you and me – it’s one of my favourites.

For Australian actor Chris Hemsworth to take a potentially wooden, hyper-masculine character and produce something likeable and fun is a feat in itself. And don’t even get me started on Tom Hiddleston’s Loki – who has a huge following of teenage girls worldwide.

Consequently I go into the cinema feeling positive – but ready for anything. After the awful reincarnation of Wolverine, who knows what Marvel will hit us with next.

The film starts fairly generically – describing a long-past galactic war between Asgard and the Dark Elves, and the idea that the Dark Elves’ Dark Energy – commonly known as the Aether – instead of being destroyed, was merely hidden.

The film starts post-Avengers, with Loki sentenced to lifetime imprisonment, Thor mourning the loss of love interest Jane Foster and conquering a few planets in the meantime.

Jane is, inexplicably, in London now, trying to date and investigating some odd disturbances in Earth’s physics. Once she accidentally ingests the Aether and immediately becomes the universe’s most wanted, it’s a race against time and space to save the world.

One of the best things about Thor is it’s comedy value – from Stellan Skarsgard as our resident mad scientist, to Kat Dennings as the quirky sidekick it doesn’t disappoint.

If you ignore the plot holes and blatant plot devices – like Natalie Portman’s entire role in this film – you can enjoy the witty one-liners which, combined with awesome battle scenes, other-worldly spaceship designs and fantastic showdowns with a host of different characters make for a very enjoyable yet completely implausible romp through the Marvel-verse.

• Thor: The Dark World (Cert 12A) is showing at City Screen, Reel and Vue Cinemas in York