Thor: The Dark World

Well, it's midterm season. And as usual, the only way I can cope with the stress is with an egregious amount of movies and television. As you'll see in the next couple of days, I have been busy the last two weeks. Not only with schoolwork, but also with my Netflix account and my movie theater.

The amount of movies -- on top of that stress I mentioned earlier -- has made it difficult for me to process everything I have been watching. Which means my reviews are not going to be particularly insightful (as if they ever were). On the plus side, they'll probably be a little bit shorter than usual.

First and foremost, yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing Thor: The Dark World. You know who's in it and what it's about, so I'll just get to it.

First off, let's ignore the fact that the poster reminds us of another movie...

Yea, this one

As alluded to by the posters above, I went into theaters wondering how this film would compare with Iron Man 3. By now, there is no reason for me to reiterate the issues Mark and I, and much of the Marvel fan community, had with IM3. However, being that it was the most recent Marvel studios film, and the first entry in the Phase 2 film line-up, I couldn't help but use it as a template for the Thor sequel.

That being said, I was very pleased with the latest adventures of the Asgardian prince. Unlike the Iron Man films, which rely solely on Robert Downey's Jr.'s witty banter, the Thor films have an entire cast of colorful and endearing characters. And what I enjoyed most about The Dark World is that, with the exception of the new bad guy and the absence of agent Coulson, the cast is unchanged from the first film. As a result, just about every character is taken to the next level, in terms of depth and personality. Even the nine realms, particularly Asgard, are explored to a greater degree. All of this effectively expanded and enriched the universe, which is exactly what a sequel is supposed to do. And because much of it took place off earth, it eluded those questions that plagued IM3 (such as, where are S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers during all this).

My biggest complaint is that the movie felt short and somewhat rushed. The villain was hardly explored, and the powerful weapon, which will apparently return in later films, was barely explained beyond its ability to destroy the universe.

This is not the best superhero movie out there. But I will say that it surpasses its predecessor, and is much less groan-inducing than this year's earlier superhero films. All of this to say that my excitement and curiosity for Marvel's Phase 2 have been reignited. If you enjoyed Thor, I think you will definitely enjoy  Thor: The Dark World.