Thor: The Dark World

After a prologue recalling the ancient battles between the heroic Asgardians and the evil Dark Elves, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) reluctantly prepares to succeed his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on Asgard's throne. But now, following Thor's two-year absence from Earth, his girlfriend—astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)—stumbles upon a vortex that marks the boundary between Realms and she becomes infected by the Aether (a gaseous cosmic substance of infinite destruction), which makes her the target of the Dark Elves' ruler, the megalomaniacal Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), who hopes to detonate the Aether during an astronomical alignment, plunging Earth and the additional eight Realms into primordial darkness. Needless to say, Thor's coronation is postponed. Inspired by Norse mythology, filmmaker Alan Taylor's sequel is darker yet also obviously derivative, borrowing from Star Wars prequels, TRON, and Prometheus. Australia's hunky Hemsworth swaggers confidently in the hammer-wielding thunder god's cape and armor, but Portman's talent seems wasted as his romantic interest. Kat Dennings supplies comic relief as Jane's spunky, sarcastic colleague Darcy, and Stellan Skarsgård is solid as Dr. Erik Selvig, along with Tom Hiddleston as Thor's sneering trickster brother Loki, Rene Russo as Odin's Queen Frigga, and Idris Elba as ever-vigilant Heimdall. Also look for Marvel's Stan Lee in a cameo. A decent popcorn flick with some dazzling special effects, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an exclusive look at the upcoming film Captain America: The Winter Soldier (4 min.), a deleted scene, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is an audio commentary (by director Alan Taylor, producer Kevin Feige, costar Tom Middleston, and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau), “A Brothers Journey: Thor & Loki” featurette (32 min.), the “Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King” short with Ben Kingsley (14 min.), deleted and extended scenes (8 min.), a score featurette with composer Brian Tyler (6 min.), and a gag reel (4 min.). Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid sequel.] (S. Granger)