Thor 2 a bit of a snore but it’s fine, really

Paul Peterson

The second installment of the Hunger Games is thundering along and even with a 50 per cent drop off, it’s huge. Meanwhile, back on Odin, the second installment of Thor walks loudly and carries a big hammer.
Recognizing that the next time Hollywood has an original idea it will be the first time, I have to admit I spend a lot of psychic capitol trying to sound interested in sequels. But hey. I’m not bitter. I actually have a formula.

Flashback on the first one, do a mini review and then  springboard to the ways the new one is different.
What a yawnfest. I’m already bored.
Still, the first Thor was really good. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, who knows a thing or two about storytelling, it was really simple and compelling.
Of course it was all expository. We needed to know all the characters and the limited parameters of their powers.
I like simple.
Branagh made it fun. Chris Hemsworth made it sexy, and sexy made it ok for your girlfriend to watch it with you.

In this year’s model, everyone is back and the story is complicated.
Branagh is gone and the story and pacing suffers for that.
Thor is still fun, but he suffers from the limitations of being the good guy forced to fight evil and rescue the humans. How droll. His brother Loki has the most fun in the film. He’s smarmy and evil and completely void of any redeeming qualities. It’s a great characterization. Tom Hiddleston is the best thing to watch in this film.

The love story is fine They’re star crossed lovers in the sense of he seems to have to go back to Odin and then there’s the hurtling across the universe to close the chasm.
I find it hard enough just to get to Springbrook.
So here’s the thing.
There’s a story line here and just repeating it to you lowers my cool factor by 20 per cent.  Suddenly I want to find a pocket protector and see if my mom will let me move into her basement. Ok, here goes: The dark elves of Svartalfheim were vanquished by Thor’s great granddad who put them into some kind of hibernation and buried their evil red powder, called The Aether pronounced the ether.
Meanwhile, back in London, Natalie Portman is on the verge of discovering The Convergence. She’s a scientist and Thor’s girlfriend. She’s in London  with her intern, played by Kat Dennings.  I really like Kat Dennings. That’s not so much a review as an observation.
Portman gets sucked into the portal; her blood gets infected by the leader of the elves Malekith because hibernation never lasts and burying evil smoke eggs is a dumb security measure.
Good guys really are limited.
So Thor to the rescue.
Ho hum.
It’s fine.
It’s just not as good as the original.
Thor The Dark Wold is fairly formulaic and nothing to write home about but it’s a fun watch and if you aren’t looking to change your life it’s at least worth a rental.
On the upside, it comes in under two hours so that makes me happy.
On the down, I just hate stories where you have to remember who has what power and you can’t pronounce where they came from.  It feels like homework. I go to the movies to forget not remember.
As always, other opinions are welcome, but wrong. That’s it for this week. The cheque’s in the mail and I’m outta here. Paul