Thor: The Dark World (2013)

When I misspent my youth I read a lot of The Mighty Thor comics.  It was my favourite of all the Marvel comics then available, and I liked the mixture of faux mythology, magic and swashbuckling. I saw the first movie in the Thor franchise in the cinema and enjoyed it very much.

Thor: The Dark World is not so nearly a successful vehicle as its predecessor.  There is a bad guy, Malekith the Dark Elf, who has the motive and opportunity to destroy the universe.  What a pity the character is given neither the charisma nor the intrinsic power to match his grand scheme.  In short: the baddie is boring and oddly impotent, unlike Loki (the arch-villain of the previous movie) portrayed with great likability and subtlety by Tom Hiddleston.

Here's the thing:  whenever Loki appears, the film becomes interesting; in his absence, things quickly become dull and plodding.  Kat Denning and Jonathan Howard provide some welcome light comic relief at times in their roles of Darcy and Ian, while Stellan Skarsgard's character Eric Selvig is put through an unbecoming vaudeville escapade by the scriptwriters.

Also jarring was the predominance of high technology and the lack of light in the action scenes.  The thing about Asgardians is that they are the possessors of elemental god-powers, but they rarely use them in the film; and Malekith has a suite of magical powers which don't get used either.  No, what we get is spaceships and ray-guns on one side and swords and flying boats on the other.  And it all happens in a murk so deep it is very difficult to discern what action is actually happening

If you haven't seen the first Thor movie, I recommend it as a solid action movie with one of the great baddies - Tom Hiddleston's Loki.  Thor: The Dark World is perhaps mandatory viewing in that it will be the prelude to matters to be raised in subsequent Marvel movies.  I understand that there will be a third movie in the Thor franchise.  All I can say is: guys, more magic and more light next time.