Review: "Thor: The Dark World"

So much darkness in our popcorn movies lately. Everybody wants their comic book and sci-fi heroes to be brooding fellows trapped in grim, dim circumstances. We know it to be so because -- apparently not confident in their own ability to express it onscreen -- Hollywood keeps putting the word "dark" into the titles.

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is a fit example, both for the curious lack of a colon as well as being colossally inaccurate. (Might I suggest: "Star Trek Into Regurgitation.")

So now Thor, the mighty, grinning blond Norse god of thunder, has gotten himself mired in a patch of inky intrigue. Things are looking bad for his home world of Asgard, which has been invaded by an ancient evil: dark elves! And they've got some nasty red goo called the Aether, which floats around and gets absorbed into bodies, making people all-powerful.

"Thor: The Dark World" is a muddle of a movie, and not entirely because it's trying to be dour. Mainly the problem is that director Alan Taylor and his trio of screenwriters can't decide between a sober action/drama and a doofy superhero flick, and end up with ingredients for both. It's not that either way is better or worse, but that they simply don't taste good together.

For instance, it might not be apparent to Taylor & Co. that the death of a major character tends to have less of an impact when someone makes a joke about it not five minutes later.

That's the thing about dark movies -- you've got to keep at it. Trying to brighten things up with little rays of sunshine and humor just fouls it all up.

The movie also lacks the one thing necessary to a really good super-hero movie: a terrific villain for him or her to match wits against. That's entirely a loss here, with the main bad guy sporting a mouthful of a name, Malekith, and actor Christopher Eccleston buried under mounds of pasty white makeup and costume.

Seems he's been sleeping the eons away, waiting for his chance to reclaim the Aether and avenge himself upon Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the rest of Asgard and the nine realms. Those universes are about to sync up in a once-in-5,000-years Convergence, which could result in a return of eternal darkness, something dark elves tend to like.

Returning for another go is Natalie Portman, Thor's totally unnecessary girlfriend, who's also an astrophysicist studying the links between her world and Asgard because she's sweet on the big guy wielding the big hammer. Meanwhile, Thor's been too busy saving worlds to check in on her, despite a lengthy stop in New York for that Avengers thing.

As he was in the first Thor movie, Tom Hiddleston is the best thing going as Loki, Thor's adoptive brother and chief rival for the throne of Asgard. He's now languishing in Odin's dungeon for his past crimes, but you know it's just a matter of time before he gets sprung for one reason or another.

Smirking and charismatic, Loki is the lovingly loathsome bad guy this movie desperately needed. Instead, he's given one last chance to prove he's not the turncoat everyone thinks by teaming up with Thor against the elves.

"Thor: The Dark World" features lots of screwy action scenes, including one where Thor and Malekith fight while being transported multiple times between worlds. Up is down, left is right, and nothing really makes a lick of sense. That's pretty much how it goes for the rest of the movie.

Video review: "Thor"

Summer's first major blockbuster announces the march of high-profile movies arriving on video from now through the rest of the year. I'm glad to see "Thor," because the pickings has been a mite slim lately.

Based on the comic book, "Thor" is the tale of the Norse god of thunder, an arrogant warrior played with brio by Chris Hemsworth. No hero creation myth necessary here: Thor was born a mighty god, the son of the all-powerful Odin (Anthony Hopkins). After offending Odin with an ill-advised attack on the home of their mortal enemies, the frost giants, Thor is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers -- including the hammer Mjolnir, which is to him as Excalibur is to King Arthur.

While vulnerable, Thor finds himself falling for a mortal scientist (Natalie Portman) and dealing with the machinations of his half-brother Loki, who has some serious daddy issues and would like to sit on Odin's throne.

As a villain, Loki is a little lacking, more of a mopey presence than a truly forbidding one. Fortunately, Laufey, the king of the frost giants, serves as a suitable backup.

The movie occasionally gets tripped up by its own sense of pomposity, taking on Shakespearean overtones when the material is more suited to bubblegum action set pieces. But there are plenty of those, and despite a few weaknesses "Thor" packs quite a wallop.

Video goodies are decent with the basic DVD edition, and improve significantly upon upgrading to Blu-ray.

The DVD has a feature-length commentary track by director Kenneth Branagh, four deleted scenes with commentary, and "Road to The Avengers," a featurette building up to the super-hero super-group (including Iron Man and Thor) debuting in their own flick next summer.

The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack includes all that stuff, plus seven more deleted scenes, a digital copy of the film, seven making-of featurettes centering mostly on visual effects, and something called "Marvel One Shot: The Consultant," a short film that helps bridge the divide between "Thor" and the Avengers movie.

Movie: B
Extras: B-plus

Review: "Thor"

I think "Thor" is going to produce mostly groans from professional critics and huzzahs from audiences -- at least the fanboys who grew up reading the Marvel Comics version of the Norse god of thunder.

I was not among them; as a youngster I read comic books, but not Thor, who struck me as an arrogant clod. However, I knew all about the gods of Asgard, reading gobs of Norse mythology (I was a strange kid) in visits to the local library. The Norse gods seemed simultaneously more accessible and badass than their Greek/Roman counterparts -- at least they wore armor instead of a sheet.

Like Thor himself, the movie about him is overly puffed up and self-serious, and suffers from moments of pomposity as it reaches for the grandiose. But the character experiences a satisfying arc of change, turning into a genuinely heroic figure whose magic hammer does some serious smiting.

Plus, I admit I'm a sucker for celestial rainbow bridges, evil frost giants, sorcerous trickery and all the other claptrap of Norse lore.

Thor is played by Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth (it seems like all the action stars are from Down Under lately), best known for playing Jim Kirk's dad in the reboot of "Star Trek." He packed on thick slabs of muscle for the role, and is convincing as a born warrior and crown prince of Asgard who still has much to learn about the humility and sacrifice required of a true leader.

Thor spends most of the movie on Earth stripped of his powers, a result of an action-packed 30-minute opening sequence in which Thor and some comrades invade Jotunheim, the world of their frost giant enemies. For his arrogance, his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) banishes Thor and confiscates Mjolnir, the all-powerful hammer that is the source of his power.

He falls to earth in the desert, where he meets astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) when she runs him over with her van. Thor is haughty and dismissive, until he finds out he's as vulnerable as any mortal.

Meanwhile, Mjolnir also appears, half-buried in rock, waiting Excalibur-like for a worthy hero to lift it free. It also draws the attention of some government spy-types (led by Clark Gregg) who place the hammer in lockdown.

The heavy is Loki, Thor's brother and a master magician who is supposed to be a trickster, despite a glum, self-loathing performance by Tom Hiddleston. Loki desires the throne for himself, though some family secrets are dredged up to complicate his plans.

As a sub-villain, I enjoyed Laufey, the frost giant king (played via CGI by Colm Feore), who has baleful eyes and a malevolent sort of patience.

Directed by Kenneth Branaugh from a script by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne, "Thor" has about a half-dozen too many characters. Thor's four warrior buddies are about three sidekicks more than necessary, and Jane has her own duo of hangers-on, including Stellan Skarsgård as her scientific mentor.

There has been snide talk on the Web about some of the Norse gods being portrayed by non-Caucasian actors. I suppose they have a point -- I don't recall any Vikings showing up in the pantheon of African deities -- but for my money Idris Elba, as the Asgard guardian Heimdall, has an even more commanding presence than Odin. Heimdall guards the entrance to the gods' realm, and his sight can extend into other worlds.

That's much cooler than any silly hammer, if you ask me.

3 stars out of four