Deep in the wreckage of post-Avengers New York there lay a discarded shoe, a Marvel film executive who felt more of this was a good idea and four cinema fans who agreed with him. Therefore a steady respect of the destruction and leaving it time to settle isn't allowed and several months after Iron Man 3 destroys more things Thor will return to flash his golden locks and fight an inter-galactic war which reaks of Avengers 2 baiting...And we all know how much we loved that in Iron Man 2.
What Could Be Awesome About It:
Thor was an entertaining if predictable yarn whilst also being the most redeeming feature of The Avengers (people just can't resist that hair) and his bubbling relationship with Loki is something that has been building nicely throughout his appearances, even if it hasn't quite hit the emotional high points yet.
The premise of this movie, Thor battling an ancient race of Dark Elves led by the vengeful Malekith who threatens to bring the universe into a new darkness, promises to expand the Marvel universe on screen, introduce new characters, new conflicts and take us to some truly tremendous visual places - if they can bring a comic books environment to life it will be a visual feast. On top of this the rather surprising decision to give the directorial reigns to Alan Taylor, perhaps best known recently for his work on Game Of Thrones, may help the Marvel Universe break its quite 'mainstream' feel and help take it to a darker place much like Iron Man 3 is threatening to go. Now that we know Thor, dropping his 'fish out of water' aesthetic and pushing characters to their limits could really make these films much more palateable than their predecessors.
What Could Suck About It:
One thing that particularly irked me about The Avengers is how they never really addressed Thor's feelings towards his brother, slapping it aside with a couple of forgettable one liners and leaving the most emotionally engaging thing about the current Marvel cannon to the side. A deeper exploration of this would be more engrossing than any amount of action, yet it looks like this is going to be pushed to the side in favour of bringing a new villain to the floor in what I can only assume is another set up for The Avengers 2. Inherently it looks like Thor 2 will be the Iron Man 2 of this sequence of Marvel movies which is a shame, as that ruined Iron Man 2 and could just as easily ruin this. It's a shame that The Avengers films aren't let to work like a normal movie where they introduce their own plot, instead they have to steal the second half of other movies so that they can rush quicker in to the explosions, explosions and...erm....oh yeah more explosions. Sacrificing the most interesting aspect of Thor's character to expand the Marvel universe will be a crime that will leave Thor as underdeveloped as he was in the opening act of his first outing. Whilst the spectacle will be marginally exciting, building character relationships will invariably lead to a greater pay off that Marvel don't want to achieve.
PREDICTED STAR RATING: 3/5 Pretty but inevitably hollow with a final act that will get lost in translation as Marvel achieve their grand plan. Expect fireworks but not a lot else. Please see my other articles here, they get lonely:
Gangster Squad,
Oblivion,
Iron Man 3,
The Great Gatsby,
Star Trek Into Darkness,
Man Of Steel,
The Mortal Instruments,
The World's End.