__The following contains spoilers for Thor and Thor: The Dark World. You can reveal spoilers by clicking the button to the left or highlighting. IF YOU CAN SEE THIS SENTENCE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SPOILERS.__Tonight, not even the gods are safe as Thor: The Dark World debuts in theaters. The second chapter (third if you count Avengers) of Thor's story, The Dark World is by no means a perfect movie, but it really doesn't need to be: It's tremendously fun and eminently worthwhile, warts and all. If you're already a Thor fan courtesy of either the comics or the first film, it's a safe bet that you'll enjoy The Dark World.
Thor, at its best, has always blended epic gravitas with humor, so prepare to laugh – a lot. It's a tradition that The Dark World embraces enthusiastically, from the awkward culture clash of inserting a Norse god into modern America to an epic battle that plays out like a mix between a boss level from the video game Portal and a Dungeons & Dragons teleport puzzle, and even an unexpected Chris Evans cameo as Captain America (sort of).
If you're new to the Thor film franchise, however, or to Marvel movies in general, you'll want to make a point of watching at least Thor before heading to The Dark World, as the latter is very much a sequel. Thor, which came out in 2011, was essentially a prologue, concerned primarily with establishing a sprawling cosmology and depositing the principal players of its colorful cast in their defining roles and rivalries. The Dark World, then, is in a prime position to shake Asgard's literal and figurative foundations, and allow its characters to develop depth and complexity far beyond Thor.
Unfortunately, the vehicles for that deconstruction – the ancient and deadly Dark Elves, led by Christopher Eccleston as Malekith – don't get the same chance. Rumor has it that several of Malekith's scenes were cut to make more screen time for fan-favorite Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston; and while Eccleston performs admirably, Malekith and the Dark Elves as a whole remain badly underdeveloped, as does the mysterious Aether, a MacGuffin that Malekith needs to conquer the nine realms. He's roughly analogous to Nero, the Romulan commander from 2009's Star Trek: a credible threat, but never really an interesting one.
The silver lining, of course, is more Loki. Tom Hiddleston is justifiably the break-out star of the last several years of Marvel movies, and his performance as the embittered trickster god in The Dark World is his best yet. We saw Loki begin to fray in Thor and unravel across Avengers; now, returned to Asgard and incarcerated for what is meant to be eternity, he clings to arrogant indifference over a profound pathos that surfaces only during a visit from an illusory projection of Frigga – though whether she's a projection of Loki's actual adopted mother or a figment of his own conjuring is never clear.
When Thor comes to him for help after Frigga's death, Loki struts and postures until Thor calls his deception out and the bright illusion drops away, revealing the real Loki slumped in a corner, bedraggled with sorrow and rage, surrounded by a shambles of smashed furniture. It's a powerful and shocking moment, testament to the tenacity with which Loki clings to his last shreds of control.
Given the brightness of Hiddleston's star, it's easy to forget just how very good the rest of the cast is, both individually and as an ensemble – particularly Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The boisterous prince of Asgard is an easy character to allow to slip into two dimensions, but Hemsworth's performance is anything but flat. In Thor, he played an arrogant young god proving he was worthy of his birthright; The Dark World demands that both character and actor grow beyond it. It's the first chance Hemsworth has really had to flex his considerable range, and he rises exquisitely to the challenge.
Duality is a recurring theme in The Dark World, but never more than in the relationship between Thor and Loki. It's in the collision and contrast between the two characters that both Hiddleston and Hemsworth do their best work, playing off each other with phenomenal chemistry, as brothers, as enemies, and finally as erstwhile odd-couple allies, until each learns to play against his type – Thor as trickster, and Loki as hero.
As Thor grows up, so, too, does his relationship with his father begin to invert. Tempered by exile and experience, Thor is now the voice of compassion and strategy, while Odin presses bluntly on to battle with little regard for cost or consequence. Anthony Hopkins builds the King of Asgard's rigid wrath over a core of brittle and fearful fragility underscored by clever cinematography. Widowed, helpless as his kingdom crumbles around him, Odin has never been more dignified – nor smaller and more alone.
Odin's intractability leads to Thor and Loki's eventual, reluctant alliance to stop Malekith – Thor, to save Jane Foster, who has somehow become bonded to and is being consumed by the Aether; Loki to avenge the murder of his adopted mother, Frigga.
Frigga's death at the Kursed Dark Elf Algrim's fiery hands is the largest turning point in the movie, and one that left me conflicted. On one hand Frigga is essentially "fridged" – an uncomfortable addition to the long-standing comic book tradition of killing off female characters to motivate male survivors. On the other hand, it's pretty much the only thing that could serve as a catalyst for what comes next: Thor's decision to defy Odin, and Loki's to join forces with his brother against an enemy of Asgard. If Frigga had played a more prominent role in Thor, I think I'd feel better about the decision to kill her in The Dark World. She gets some fantastic badass moments in The Dark World, but in retrospect, it's hard to look at those without a fair streak of cynicism: The movie builds her up mostly to maximize the impact of her death.
That scene is also testament to one of The Dark World's greatest strengths: the power to shock again and again. In a lot of ways, the Dark Elves are to Asgard as the Aesir are to Earth – beings vastly older and so powerful that the gods stand little more chance against them than humans against gods; it's genuinely shocking to see the Aesir cut down as easily as men.
This is a movie whose twists have twists, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Even the more predictable surprises are as much misdirection as genuine foreshadowing. Did anyone actually expect Loki to stay dead after he apparently sacrificed his own life to destroy Algrim, the Kursed Dark Elf behemoth who killed Frigga? Loki does indeed come back, but the nature and revelation of his survival will not only blow your mind, but retroactively inject a whole new layer of subtext into one of the climactic scenes of the movie. Thor: The Dark World will lie to you, over and over, and you will love it.
As this is a Marvel movie, you probably already know to stick around through the credits for a bonus scene. The Dark World has not one but two stingers – the first after the film ends, and the second after the credits finish rolling – and it's worth sticking around for both of them. If you're a long-time comic reader, the second's got a cameo on par with the reveal of the villain Thanos after Avengers.
Thor: The Dark World may be a bumpy ride, but it gets its hero where he needs to go – from Prince of Asgard to hero of Earth – with grace, humor, and a lot of heart. It's not perfect, but it doesn't have to be: It's awesome.
