Thor: The Dark World is a great follow up to 2011’s Thor. Starring Chris Hemsworth (Red Dawn, Rush) as the demi-god himself, and Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) as his love interest, the film sees Thor and his companions battling the dark elf Malekith, played wonderfully by Christopher Eccleston of Doctor Who and G.I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra.

Set after the team-up in Marvel’s: The Avengers, an ancient evil returns when the leader of the Dark Elves, Malekith, who has been defeated by Thor’s grandfather, returns to enact his revenge. Thor must fight to save the world. Standard stuff. But one thing before continuing; Dark Elves? Doesn’t sound too scary for a potentially world ending group. But, I digress.

One of the best parts of the film is the interaction between Thor and his half-brother, Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston (War Horse). Hemsworth and Hiddleston work great together, and their parts together onscreen together are wonderful. Hiddleston continues his great performance of the character from Thor and Avengers.

One fault of the film is Maliketh himself. While his many underlings and warriors seem intimidating, once Maliketh himself fights Thor, he just seems to be lacking the power of previous villains in the series. The final fight, however, is great, and the choreography has some amazing sequences, all tying into a very creative ending that is fresh compared to how most comic based films end. One very jarring characteristic is the heavy amount of computer generated imagery (CGI) is used in many scenes. Thor’s home world of Asgard looks both stunning and flaky in the same scenes at times, and countless shots are very obviously fake.

So, all in all, Thor: The Dark World is a must see for fans of the Marvel series, and great overall. Despite some minor failings, the film succeeds at everything it sets out to do with a well-rounded plot, and a great cast of likeable characters. Tom Hiddleston really stands out as Loki.

However, to really understand the story, I recommend checking out other entries in the series such as Thor and Marvel’s The Avengers.