The Thor character was already somewhat redeemed by The Avengers (not everyone seemed as bewildered and annoyed by the first Thor movie as I was; it’s my Green Lantern), but what Alan Taylor was able to do with this Asgardian space opera saga is nothing short of remarkable. I credit him for the improvement in Thor: The Dark World because he is one important distinguishing change that was made, because he has done excellent episodic work on Game of Thrones (I wonder if more franchises will turn to TV directors, who are used to working with episodic storytelling?), and most importantly, because I choose to believe it.
In terms of the cosmic story that sets the action in motion in this movie, I barely understood it any more than I did in the first one. There’s some weird thing called Aether and an evil looking elf alien guy and a portal on Earth that kids like to play in. None of that mattered when Loki showed up though, because the team behind this new movie realized—so much so that they reportedly reshot scenes so he had more screen time—that Loki is the best part of Thor. You have Chris Hemsworth being his usual meathead self, Natalie Portman collecting a paycheck, and others who seem equally disinterested, but Tom Hiddleston brings it, as does, surprisingly, Rene Russo.
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