So the second Thor installment. What’s that about then? An other-worldly superhero in the guise of a Norse-type god re-engages with his earthly love interest, whilst saving everyone from an evil enemy. They do a lot of world jumping. What? That’s Christopher Eccleston under all that prosthetic make up? A war! A monster! Some super powered stuff! There’s even a somewhat inexplicable scene of Thor having a wash sans shirt. Whilst Chris Hemsworth as Thor is quite a spectacular specimen, I’m not quite sure this nod to appeasing ‘girlfriend along for the ride as boyfriend has picked the film’ is necessary. I mean, it’s not like he’s 007 or anything, when we expect Mr Bond to be half naked for a proportion of the film.
This Thor follow up takes the fantasy elements to another level, as there is more action in the Nine Realms beyond Earth than in previous the movie. The movement between Earth and other planes is not distracting. In fact after the foundation of the first Thor chapter, it’s easy for the viewer to accept that this is the way it is. Thor just has a really good version of an Oyster card….
It’s fascinating that Marvel takes well-established and creditable actors and lets them run with comic book characters. Who’d have thought that Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård and Natalie Portman would fit in to such roles? Yet they make the whole ‘science’ of the plot all the more believable because they can deliver as actors. The prime instigator of this is Tom Hiddleston as Loki, who steals every scene to the extent that I’m actually thinking that it’s Loki that is Tom Hiddleston.
Not to get too The Big Bang Theory about it, but the Marvel universe of movies is a bunch of interconnected loveliness that has created a clique of science fiction fans who just aren’t going to go away. Whilst I’m not that much of a fanatic to pick up on every nuance of cross-reference between The Avengers and the rest of the titles that make up the Marvel franchise, I love the fact that seeing all the movies means you have the means to appreciate how much effort has gone to joining up the dots from Iron Man, through Thor to Captain America.
Always stay to the very end of a Marvel movie as there will be a surprise or two after the credits stop rolling, as there is in this one. It just adds to the general yumminess of the way Marvel has created their collective offerings. I love the fact that there is much more to come.
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