Directed by: Alan Taylor
Release date: November 8th, 2013
Rating: 3/10
While Thor: The Dark World has its moments, I think it's the weakest film in the entire MCU. The Dark Elves, specifically Malekith, are dull and boring. I don't understand their motivation at all. They want to turn the universe into a dark universe because...they like it that way? Thor himself is even a little boring. In the first Thor film we see someone change from a war-mongering, stubborn child to a selfless king. In the Avengers we see a man who believes that Loki is his fault and that he needs to fix what has gone wrong. Also we see him go from believing that Loki still has good in him, to accepting that he needs to be defeated at all costs. In The Dark World, Thor doesn't really go through any type of change. He doesn't trust Loki from beginning to end. He is still selfless from beginning to end. Nothing changes, there is no growth which makes him uninteresting.
The best part of the movie is Loki. Even though he really doesn't go through any type of change either, his character is written better. It's interesting to see what happens to him after the events of the Avengers. Jane Foster is dull as well. She acts as the fish-out-of-water character in this film when Thor was that character in the first Thor movie. I don't think we needed to see that same type of story again, only role-reversed.
Thor: The Dark World is a dull movie filled with dull characters. I believe that it was made solely for its connection to one of the infinity stones. Nothing else happens and, while there are callbacks to it in Avengers: Endgame, it is unnecessary in the cinematic universe.