Scott Iwaniec

Film Editor

First and foremost, Thor: The Dark World was the best midnight screening I’ve ever been to. Anyway, I liked the original Thor, not as much as Iron Man or Captain America, but that’s nothing to really be ashamed of. I expected to enjoy this installment more than its predecessor, and I walked out satisfied.Pros: The special effects were beautiful. There are some breathtaking shots of Asgard in this. I mean absolutely stunning. Even scenes on earth are marvelous to look at. This is definitely a great looking film; there are so many artistic “out there” ideas and visuals in it. The climax specifically is probably the most creative and original climactic battle of any Avengers movie from either phase 1 or 2.

The action, as always, remains to be jewel. Chris Hemsworth is the blood and flesh of Thor, there is no denying that. Tom Hiddleston as Loki, as always, just steals the show completely. He absolutely owns every scene he is in. The brotherly banter between him and Thor is written really well. We see them cut back a little bit since we’ve seen it in two other films before, but it’s just enough.

This film also gives Loki a very satisfying and heart-warming closure. Ironically, this film is orientated to be the darkest of all the marvel films, but in contrast, it’s the funniest. They waste no opportunity to make the audience burst out laughing, and they hit grand slams almost every time. They are genuinely laugh-out-loud hilarious. Needless to say, this movie has THE best joke out of ANY Avengers movie this far. You will know exactly what I mean when it happens, my screening had full blown laughter and cheering into the next seen. And as a side note, there are two after credit scenes; stay for both.

Cons: The villain Malekith is very blah. He’s terrifying to look at and the actor does a very good job playing him, but he’s very generic. Granted the main focus of the movie are the Asgardians and how they interact to the situation rather than an intriguing villain arc, so its forgivable, just a little against what we’re used to with the franchise.

I praised the humor before and deservingly so, but they could have cut back a little bit in a few parts. Just a few parts could have hit a little harder if they took out a few jokes, but thankfully the film was written well enough that it didn’t take too much out of it. It could have done without Jane’s assistant, because like the first movie, she comes across as a little annoying and could have done with less screen time.

Veridct: Go see it and I promise you will love it. Marvel doesn’t show any sign of letting up any time soon.\

Dylan Rupprecht

Film Writer

Going into the midnight premier of Thor: The Dark World, I had high expectations, not necessarily because of how good the first movie was (because honestly I was not that impressed with the first) but because of how amazing The Avengers was, which features Thor.

I have to say that compared to the first one, Thor: The Dark World was by far more entertaining. I was also excited to see how Thor’s brother, Loki, who had orchestrated the plight against Earth in The Avengers would be dealt with back on their home planet Asgard. Ultimately, I believe that this film does a good job adding to Thor’s plot line, and I am excited to see the Marvel film franchise keep growing.

Pros: Some things I liked most about this movie compared to the first Thor movie was that more scenes took place in other planets besides earth, which provided an array of creative sceneries. Also, I was more fascinated with the development of Thor and his brother, as they actually team up together to protect Asgard.

An element that I actually enjoyed in the first movie was the humor seen in some of the character interplay, and Thor: The Dark World did not disappoint when it came to that respect.

Cons: Not everything was done well however, as I felt much of the plot was orchestrated by lofty explanations. For instance, during the intergalactic teleportation sequence, which was a main component of this film, it seemed oddly too convenient when Thor and his love interest from the first film, Jane Foster (played by the magnificent Natalie Portman) were stranded on a planet obviously haplessly far away from Earth. Then both were able to find a random portal that took them back to Foster’s native planet of Earth. Also, when Foster and her team of scientists used her rods to consequently, somewhat voluntarily, control the space-time continuum for their benefit, I was too distracted by the lack of explanations.

Putting aside some of the clearly badly edited action sequences, which consisted of inconsistent facial expressions/facial features, the fighting elements were even more exciting in this film.

Verdict: Overall, I still thought that this was a much more enjoyable film than the first, and I believe that the plot of Thor will just get better as the franchise progresses. I would definitely recommend this film to all the hero movie lovers out there.