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Veknoid_Outcast on 25 February 2018
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OK, so Thor 2. When I first saw this I thought it was slightly better than the first Thor, but I've changed my mind. It's worse, and probably the worst of the entire MCU.

The first act -- everything up to Jane infecting herself with the Carnage symbiote -- is perhaps the worst single act in 18 Marvel movies. From the voice-over narration to the goofy costumes Christopher Eccleston and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje are stuffed into to the cheesy LOTR knock-off battle, to the raid on Vanaheim -- which looks and plays like something out of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys -- to EVERYTHING with Jane and Darcy and their suburban hijinks, is just awful.

Once Thor brings Jane back to Asgard things pick up a bit. We get more family drama, buoyed by really nice performances from Hopkins, Hiddleston, and most especially Russo -- who desperately needed a couple more scenes before the fatal attack. Speaking of the attack, it's pretty good. You can feel the desperation and chaos of the battle. The funeral sequence that follows is good too.

The Thor-Loki road trip stuff is the best in the movie, but it's far too short. Loki is by a wide margin the more interesting, engaging character here, and only in proximity to him does Thor become provocative himself. Loki's "death" robs the film of its most important asset.

Then we get back to Earth -- yay -- for the climactic action scene. I will say the merging of realms and the portals that connect them make for some visually interesting and surprising moments. I would have liked more of this. Maybe the jet fighters that stumble into Vanaheim run into winged beasts, or Thor and Malekith chase each other through portal after portal -- something like the brilliant chase sequence through the subconscious in Being John Malkovich. It would also be nice if I cared about anyone or anything.

I'll probably say it again when we get to Ragnarok, but that movie's decision to essentially jettison everything that makes Thor Thor was the right play.

4/10