Thor — specifically the Marvel hero, not the mythological Norse god — is a weird character. He’s big, bold and goofy — a good fit in the anything-goes Silver Age, but hopelessly awkward in the modern Marvel universe. I don’t want to offend any fans, but he’s always brought a cornball aesthetic to the table. So when the post-credits stinger on Iron Man 2 revealed his hammer in the desert, I groaned audibly. But when I finally saw Thor, I had to man up and admit that Kenneth Branagh had made a legitimately great movie out of the worst (or at least most difficult) major Marvel character. The film had a playful fish-out-of-water theme, and demonstrated a wise sense of restraint with the Asgardian realm: mysticism was generally replaced with science and the Rainbow Road somehow didn’t end up looking like something from a Lisa Frank Trapper-Keeper. Not only was Thor surprisingly good; it set most of the major groundwork for The Avengers, including its conflict, villain, and MacGuffin.
At this point in the Marvel game, the franchises have singly and collectively reached a certain level of stability and maturity, and you probably have a pretty solid sense of whether you’re on board or not. In a post-Avengers climate, the challenge for Marvel is to craft solo tales that don’t feel like a downgrade from the All-Star team. Thor: The Dark World addresses that challenge by moving, for the most part, away from Earth and into the larger universe of Asgard and the other realms. It also deals directly with the aftermath of Loki’s villainy and its impact on the two brothers’ relationship. I’m not going to pretend I’ve read a lot of Thor comics (I didn’t like him, after all) but I do know the ones I appreciated best were focused on Thor and Loki in Asgard, apart from the larger Marvel Universe, and even as a casual reader I was definitely aware of Loki’s wavering between good and evil. This is exactly the kind of adventure that Thor: The Dark World attempts to tell, and I think it was a good move.
We begin with Loki imprisoned in Asgard as punishment for his actions in The Avengers. The film’s antagonists, an ancient race of Dark Elves reawakened from ages of slumber, storm Asgard and manage to blow past its defenses. It’s honestly perplexing how hopelessly outgunned The Asgardians are, despite being the proud masters of their world. They’re armed with swords and axes while their enemies are running around with laser cannons and black-hole grenades. The events transpire in a way which forces Thor and Loki to team up despite their now-contentious relationship: both want revenge, and Thor needs Loki’s knowledge of teleporting and expertise in magic. There are more layers to the story involving an alignment and convergence of Realms, a cranky Odin, and the inclusion of Jane Foster and her team, but nothing that needs to be explained to get the basic plot. This is a movie about Thor and Loki teaming up to fight bad guys. The Dark Elves are well designed and actually have a somewhat unsettling appearance, thanks to their creepy masks. I don’t know their role or origin in the comics, but they look like something from a Silver-Age illustration or science fiction magazine cover, lending to the weird and pulpy kind of atmosphere.
THE PACKAGE
The Blu-Ray is available in single-disc and 2-disc (2D/3D) editions with identical features. Surprisingly, none of the Blu-Ray editions provide DVD copies, which is out of the ordinary for Marvel Studios but probably irrelevant to most viewers. I’m using the Best Buy Exclusive Steelbook for this review, but the content is the same across different editions.
Special Features
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King
Probably the highlight of the package, this 14-minute short returns us to the story of Iron Man 3’s faux-Mandarin, Trevor Slattery, who is now enjoying a sort of popular celebrity lifestyle in prison. I haven’t been overly impressed with the Marvel One-Shots so far, but this one was stylish, funny, and addresses fan criticism of Marvel’s handling of the Mandarin while providing a possible clue of things to come.
A Brothers’ Journey: Thor & Loki
This half-hour featurette is the primary documentary on the disc, a look at the changing dynamics of Thor and Loki’s relationship through their three films thus far. There’s a quick snippet of test footage of Tom Hiddleston auditioning as Thor, which was cool to see — I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of it. Overall it’s not bad, but as a film guy I would’ve preferred a more traditional “making of” or behind-the-scenes piece.
Scoring Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World With Brian Tyler
Composer Brian Tyler discusses how he develops the musical themes to suit the tone of the story. At five minutes, it’s just about the right length to be interesting and informative without wearing out its welcome.
Exclusive Look: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A short EPK-type preview of the new Captain America film. EDIT: Here I should mention that the preview does reveal the identity of the Winter Soldier, which is probably something better kept under wraps.
Extended and Deleted Scenes
I found these interesting mainly for the draft-level production which contained some textual notes and pre-viz graphics which help highlight the staggering amount of CG employed.
Gag Reel (Yawn.)
Audio Commentary with Director Alan Taylor, Producer Kevin Fiege, Tom Hiddleston (Loki), and Cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau.
A/V Out.