Thor: The Dark World

The Avenger with the hammer is back.

Once again played by Chris Hemsworth, the mythical Marvel is the star of his own movie. This one is Thor: The Dark World, and its prospects are bright.

As he did in the first Thor, the mighty All-Father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) relates the tale of how some evil beings were vanquished long ago. These were the Dark Elves of Svartalfeim, led by the evil Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccelston). They tried to use the magical Aether stone to conquer all of existence, but they were thwarted by Bor, father of the All-Father himself.

The Aether stone was supposed to have been hidden away. But Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Thor's mortal crush, finds it and becomes its host. And now, the evil elves have come back looking for their Doomsday MacGuffin. Whether he likes it or not, Thor will have to team up with Loki (Tom Hiddelston) to save the day.

This sequel, directed by Alan Taylor, is a lot more fun than its predecessor. There's a more constant sense of humor here and it even appears during the fight scenes. A portal device the heroes intend to use on the Dark Elves instead frustrates Thor's fight against them in the funniest ways, for example.

Per the course with the Marvel films is its visual style. Its computerized visual effects are good, but some of the practical effects with the Elves were better. The makeup and costume design on them were quite unique, as was the interior of their spaceship.

At some points, you'll realize a few characters are too genre blind for their own good. I'm naming Odin the Prime Suspect. How many points you'll take off the film for this depends on how frustrated you get with it. For me, it took off a few points from this fine sequel. That's because the fun factor was more predominant than this.

Thor: The Dark World is in 3D and Flatscreen, as usual. You'll still get one of the best of the Marvel Studios movies either way.

Stay during the credits and you'll get a tease for Marvel's August release of Guardians of the Galaxy. Stay even further for something funnier.