November 08, 2013
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard
Director: Alan Taylor
Having overcome exile and battled his treacherous brother in 2011’s Thor, before teaming up with a band of dysfunctional superheroes to protect the earth from the same power-mad sibling in last year’s The Avengers, our hammer-hurling demi-god returns to vanquish a new enemy in Thor: The Dark World.
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.
I’m going with two out of five for Thor: The Dark World. Only enjoyable in spurts.
(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)
Thor:The Dark World was far far better than Man of Steel that received rave reviews…. !
Comment by Rahul Sompura — November 8, 2013 @ 10:46 pm
Sir, this movie is too much interesting than Krissh 3!
Awesome movie!
4 stars from mine for thor 2.
Comment by Akash Deshpande — November 8, 2013 @ 11:53 pm
I disagree. Good movie that keeps a smile on ur face and popcorn in ur mouth.
Comment by Amit — November 8, 2013 @ 11:58 pm
For all t Geeks nd Nerds out there !!!
Its a Great Flick.. 3.5 star!! Good action pkd Entertainment..!!!
Disrespect Mr.Masand… 2 star to thor2 & 3 to krish3…
wats wrong ?? Get well soon
Comment by Thomas — November 9, 2013 @ 1:13 am
Hollywood ho ya Bollywood, so many movies these days are becoming as predictable as cheese. I knew instinctively that Thor would be boring as hell. I have not seen Thor but I think I have seen similar predictable action crap in “The Hobbit’, “Ender’s Game”, “GI Joe Retaliation”, “Machete Kills”, “The Wolverine”, “Iron Man 3”, “Escape Plan”, “Oblivion”, “After Earth”, “Elysium”, “Fast and Furious 6”, “Olympus Has Fallen”, “White House Down”. A lot of creative writers and other dialogue writers are NOT DOING THEIR JOB PROPERLY and need to be fired for lack of imagination/
Moviemaking should be freed from the control of large corporations and amateur film-makers. It should be handled by professionals with a passion for cinema and a daring to try new, exciting things.
Comment by Sahil — November 9, 2013 @ 2:47 am
Oh… so according to you Krish 3 is better than Thor: The Dark World!!
Comment by Ajay — November 9, 2013 @ 6:56 am
Good review sir…..i go wit u ,,,,, this people see only action and they cant understand wats gng in the movie …… and y this people r comparing it wit krish3 …… guys krish3 is 100cr movie wer as Thor is nearly 1000cr budgeted movie ,….
Comment by sachin — November 9, 2013 @ 2:09 pm
Thor is a mighty bore than Krissh 3? Cmon Mr Masand, stop kiddin !
the stunts/VFX have been terrific.
Comment by Sgk — November 9, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
I agree with the review. After wolverine this is a second misfire from Marvel. For the first time i enjoyed a bollywood movie over the hollywood one.
Comment by Sumukh — November 11, 2013 @ 11:42 am
Disagree. Thor 2 was much better than both Iron man 3 and Man of steel. What is happening to u? Earlier u used to give perfect reviews. 🙁
Comment by yash — November 11, 2013 @ 5:43 pm