Thor: The Dark World follows up the events of both Thor and The Avengers with a story that advances the Asgardian world and its inhabitants along with several other mere mortals. I went in not expecting much, and those lowered expectations probably helped my enjoyment of it. I placed the Blu-ray in my player with similarly lowered expectations of this sequel and was, again, rewarded with an experience that left me, if not wanting more, at least satisfied with what was offered.
One of the things I like about the Marvel cinematic universe is that while the stories in each film are largely self-contained, the are part of a bigger narrative. Events in previous films are addressed. Here we have Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) pissed off at Thor (Chris Hemsworth) for showing back up on Earth (during the events of The Avengers) and not calling her up.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is imprisoned for the events in previous films, but ultimately Thor is going to need his help. Turns out an ancient evil has returned (led by Christopher Eccleston) and now threatens not only Asgard and Midgard (Earth) but the whole of the 9 realms.
Unlike Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World feels much more like a direct successor to The Avengers. Sure, you needed to see The Avengers to fully understand and enjoy Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, but the story here ties in a bit more directly. This isn’t meant to be a slight against Iron Man 3 or that Thor: The Dark World is better, but simply the stories are much more connected.
There are some good battle sequences, some decent bits of dialogue, and it’s nice to see a bit of Asgard and the home life of Thor and family. While I didn’t expect too fully enjoy Thor: The Dark World as much as the other Marvel cinematic universe films, it definitely doesn’t sour my taste for them. Thor: The Dark World advances the overall universe storyline as well as those of the characters involved. That’s about what you expect. The supporting players (Sif, Fandral, etc.) aren’t given much and when they do have their moments it almost feels perfunctory because those characters never get as established as they should be. Of course Loki steals the show.
As for teasers of what is too come the sequence within the credits points to where the upcoming Avengers sequel could be going. Then there is the Marvel One Shot, an original short that has become standard on the home video releases. This feels much less like a “one shot” than as a prologue, perhaps again for the upcoming Avengers sequel or perhaps Iron Man 4.
Special features kick off with an audio commentary that features two separately recorded tracks but spliced together. One has director lan Taylor and director of photography Kramer Morgenthau and the other Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige along with Tom Hiddleston. Why not just have two audio commentaries? Also included are a few deleted and extended scenes which would have been just fine had they been left in the film. Actually, they might have improved things.
Then we get a half hour look at the sequel through the guise of the relationship between Thor and Loki as it spanned the previous Thor and Avengers movies first then on to this sequel. Then we get a few minutes on the score and a gag reel. Finally there’s a brief look at the upcoming Captain America sequel.
Thor: The Dark World moves things along nicely and there’s a good time to be had in doing it. I’m interested to see where these characters go next, and that could be about all you could ask for.