Unlikely alliances in ‘Thor’ sequel

HEMSWORTH AND PORTMAN. Reunite in “The Dark World.”

There are surprising life-and-death stakes and unlikely alliances in Alan Taylor’s “Thor: The Dark World”—that’s par for the course for a film franchise that began with an Origins story that was given a gritty narrative heft and Shakespearean context a la “Henry V” by director Kenneth Branagh.

By bringing Thor’s humanity and sense of humor to the fore, the series also “found” an audience who vigorously rooted for the previously unrelatable, hammer-wielding crown prince of Asgard.

With Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in prison after the events in “The Avengers,” Thor finds his attention drawn back to earth, where lovelorn astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) stumbles into a gateway to the Nine Realms, deemed inaccessible when the “bifrost” bridgeway was destroyed two years ago in “Thor.”

Unwittingly, Jane also becomes the host of the Aether, an energy-generating entity sought after by the vengeful forces of Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and his Dark Elves to plunge the universe into darkness!

To extract the Aether out of Jane, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) takes her to Asgard, but exposes his friends and loved ones to death and destruction at the hands of Malekith! His only shot at overturning the tragic turn of events is to get Loki to help him—but, can his power-grabbing brother be trusted?

With its merry and messy mix of action and humor (especially when Hemsworth gets to trade barbs with the scene-stealing Hiddleston), “The Dark World” hits the ground running but, thereafter, is dragged down by a number of snags on its way to its otherwise exciting finale.

Taylor’s derivative brew shows off its computer-generated innovations by allowing the action to hopscotch from the lovely but overcast surroundings of London to exotic hills and valleys elsewhere in the Nine Realms—and back again. But, it’s hard to suspend disbelief when the characters mouth scientific mumbo-jumbo that’s as implausible as Loki morphing into, say, Chris Evans…!

As with other superhero flicks, this film has sarcasm-induced humor and edge-of-your-seat thrills, though they’re episodic at best.

It’s unfortunate that Loki isn’t given enough screen time to “save” the ultimately underwhelming production from its prosaic limitations and plodding middle part! Ultimately, watching it is like running into the same dog—with a different collar.