10 Years of the MCU: A Retrospective Part 10 - Thor: The Dark World

As we gear up for the impending release of Avengers: Infinity War which is billed as the culmination of everything built up for the last decade, I'm going to revisit as much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as I possibly can over the next month. That entails rewatching all 18 movies released to date, all of the one-shots, and at least the pilot episode of every TV show released on ABC, Netflix, and Hulu so far. So, without further ado, let's jump into it!

There's no two ways about it: Thor: The Dark World is one of the most generic, uninspiring films in the entire MCU canon. It's far from a bad film; it's actually perfectly competent. But it takes no chances, and was the first sure-fire sign that Marvel Studios had a formula and it was getting tired. Yes, Thor: The Dark World made a lot of money, way more than the first film thanks to a bump post-Avengers. But it has by far the worst reviews of the MCU movies and was another sign that Thor just could not carry his own franchise despite the best efforts from Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.

There's really not much to say about this middling chapter of the MCU, so this will probably be one of my shortest entries in this retrospective. It is completely inoffensive, and often fun at times. I'd even go so far as to say it's better than the first Thor movie simply because it has slightly more imagination. But man, it has no real drive to do anything except take our characters from point A to point B, offering no real character growth for any of its leads. And no amount of pretty visual effects and production design can save a story that doesn't resonate and exists only as a stop-gap for the larger universe. Simply put, Thor: The Dark World is not much more than an obligation.

Once again, all of the heavy lifting of this film is carried by the strength of the chemistry and performances of Hemsworth and Hiddleston. The movie only comes to life when Thor enlists Loki's help to take Jane out of Asgard thanks to the fantastic banter they share, even though it's about an hour into the film when this happens. The dynamic between the two also adds a much-needed layer of character depth to the narrative as Thor must cope with either loving or hating his brother despite his irredeemable actions in The Avengers. It's fun watching Thor reluctantly concoct a plan with his untrustworthy brother,  even though Loki is driven by vengeance after the death of Frigga, their mother, who he still legitimately loved.

The film also features an insanely imaginative and chaotic (in a good way) climax with Thor battling Malekith across several dimensions, leading to some fun sight gags with Mjolnir attempting to pursue Thor and jets accidentally bombing the realm of Vanaheim. This battle is a huge step up from the anticlimactic fights between Thor and the Destroyer followed by Thor and Loki in the first film, especially in visual interest and pleasant surprises. If the battle had just been a boring fist-fight, this would easily have been the weakest MCU film in my opinion.

Unfortunately, that's really where my positives end. The rest of the film is just so thoroughly mediocre. A bland villain is just one of the film's many problems as Christopher Eccleston is totally wasted as Malekith, a one-note character with zero interesting qualities about him. He's even boring design-wise, and the only time he shows anything other than evil behavior is when he sacrifices his closest confidant to become a Kursed.

Another major issue lies in Jane Foster herself in a performance that's several steps down from the charming character we saw in Thor. Here, Natalie Portman completely sleepwalks through the performance mostly because Patty Jenkins, a director she actually wanted to work with, was fired and replaced by Alan Taylor, who has absolutely no interesting qualities as a director except he likes things very, very gray. It also doesn't help that Foster exists solely to be Thor's love interest in this film, with her entire motivation being "bang Thor". She's surrounded once again by Erik Selvig and Darcy, but they are relegated to nothing more than comic relief (Selvig's stripping gag in Stonehenge is shown not once, but twice in what has to be a weird editing gaffe).

I mean, the film's pretty, I guess? The visual effects are outstanding and the production design are all A+. There's some beautiful scenes scattered here and there like Frigga's funeral, and we get to see a new side of Asgard that was glossed over in Thor. But all in all, as I said earlier, all of the budgetary advantages of this film can't mask the fact that this story is boring. It exists to give Thor a second movie, and to introduce another Infinity Stone. Sure, it ends with a huge and enticing cliffhanger, but that is undercut and resolved almost immediately in Thor: Ragnarok (not the only thing that film undercuts...).

Yeah, uh, that's really all I can say about this movie. It exists. It's a fine way to kill an afternoon. But in terms of the rest of the MCU canon, it sticks out as a film where no one really tried except for the design teams. The only time I find myself watching this film is for marathons like the one I'm currently in, and I imagine it's going to stay that way. It checks off all that it needs to check off, making it less of a movie and more of a product.

Hey, there's the required shirtless scene that serves zero purpose to the plot. Check.

But phase two is about to kick all sorts of ass with our next installment as we formally introduce Captain America to the 21st century in one of the best films in the MCU and, in my opinion, the best film in phase two. The film will also deliver us the writing and directing team that are currently working hard on the whole reason this retrospective exists. So they must have done an amazing job with this film.

Next time: Captain America: The Winter Soldier