Ooooo boy. How to review this one without spoilers eh? I guess it
depends if you read these to know if you should go see them, or to see
if you agree with my analysis...or if its just me pontificating to
myself.
I'll try no spoilers.
****Advice note: stay until the very end of the credits. I did not and I missed out on what was probably a lovely scene****
With
this second outing for the standalone Thor films we delve deeper into
the history of Asgard and get to know Thor's family a little better. We
also get to see Thor and Jane reunited, while the hunt for a dark energy
called the Aether brings Dark Elves into Asgard and a lot of death and
destruction for both Asgardians and Londoners.
Jane and Darcy have
come to the UK at the behest of Eric Selvig who has, well, suffered
since having Loki control him and there are some choice scenes and
almost constant lack of trousers. Jane has suffered in the two years
since Thor had to destroy the Bifrost to save Earth and has all but
given up on the science,
choosing instead to wallow. Darcy, still an
intern, has gotten herself an intern. Go Darcy.
Thor has spent his
time away from Jane saving the Earth against his brother (with the
Avengers) and repairing the Nine Realms, establishing peace across the
systems while keeping an eye on Jane through Haimdell.
Then the
worlds begin to, literally, collide and Jane inadvertently gets herself
mixed up with the Aether, this dark energy source, and Thor has to take
her to Asgard to keep her safe from the Christopher Eccleston led Dark
Elves.
What ensues is a lot of action, some dark and tragic moments, welcome humour and a rather brilliant film.
Director
Alan Taylor is said to have panicked about halfway through this film
because he was concerned he wasn't getting the tone right for the Marvel
Universe, I'm guessing because his background in Game of Thrones
(though epic) is dark and twisty without much lightness. In comes Joss
Whedon for a few choice rewrites and guidance and voila, what a film we
now have.
Taylor does a fantastic job directing this beast. His
background in epic television certainly has helped getting the battle
scenes and tense mood of the characters, whilst also lending an intimacy
to the proceedings much the same way Joss Whedon did with The Avengers.
Taylor had to balance two worlds of characters, Earth and Asgard, then
cross these over as Thor comes to Earth and Jane goes up-world to a
less-than-impressed Odin and a flirtacious and wonderful Loki.
It
was like seeing old friends going to see this movie. Jane and Thor back
together with their height difference, Darcy being Darcy, Eric being so
much more than he was allowed in the first movie. Loki being - well
Loki. Hiddleston has a riot for sure.
However what I really loved
was getting to see Frigga and Odin more, especially Frigga and her
interactions with both Loki and Jane. Rene Russo is a simply gorgeous
mother of Thor and adoptive mother of quite possibly a psychopath.
Anthony Hopkins got to be an angry King of Asgard, a worried father and
loving husband.
Zachary Levi makes a great replacement Fandral.
Funnily enough he was supposed to play the character in the first movie
but couldn't owing to television commitments (Chuck), and his
replacement Josh Dallas had to duck out of the sequel owing to his
commitment to Once Upon A Time. Personally I love consistency in films
and characters but when the replacement is good enough (see Don Cheadle
replacing Terrence Howard in Iron Man) then you can get over it. Zach
Levi is fabulous so no complaints from this fan.
Eccleston is a completely dead-eyed, evil Elf with a malevolent nature and the acting chops to be the face of the Enemy.
So
for fans of the genre, of Thor and his world this is a fantastic second
installment and third outing for the 'god'. It has action, humour,
darkness, tragedy and a real human element amoing the magic and space
ships. There is also a rather magnificent cameo from one of the
Avengers....
It is a definite recommend to see on the Big Screen.
***As
for the credits, though not as fabulous as Iron Man Three's, there are
two stings (one of which I missed and am now really sad) but the first
sting is a clue to the next film in Marvel Phase 2 - Guardians of the
Galaxy. So probably good to plan to stay until the screen goes black.***
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