Hit me with a giant hammer and call me ‘Sean Ian Nails’, Marvel has done it again with Thor: The Dark World! The new film is so good you’ll wish you knew a few great ‘Thor’ puns to use on your friends. I wish I had a few right now because this movie is worth every cringe-inducing accolade one could think up.

Thor: The Dark World is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Marvel Studios, combining exciting action with strong character work and just the right amount of humor. Your thides will be thore from laughing so hard.

Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.

The new Thor film is bigger, badder and far more entertaining than the first, once again proving beyond all doubt that Marvel can turn Thor into an A-List action hero. I never thought it possible. I always figured Thor was too complex a character. But three times in a row now, he’s wielded that hammer like a true cinematic star. Children dress up as Thor for Halloween and play with his action figures. Loki is beloved by men and women alike. And with movies as good as The Dark World, I hope they’re doing it for a long time to come.

But some critics seem to think otherwise. Of the few negative reviews I’ve seen online, a lot of them complain about this being yet another superhero movie, yet another outing from Marvel’s Avengers franchise. I don’t know what their problem is, but I don’t particularly care. I can’t get enough of these superhero blockbusters, and Marvel has yet to disappoint me. Think about it: it’s safe to expect that we will get a certain number of action movies out of Hollywood each year. It’s just the way our system works. Well I would much rather watch a movie starring Thor that’s this damn good than watch one starring Tom Cruise in whatever generic action film Tom Cruise has signed on for this time.

Superheroes have replaced actors as the primary draw in Hollywood, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Join me after the jump for the full review.

The biggest draw in Thor: The Dark World, surprisingly, is its characters. It’s got its fill of action and superhero battles, for sure. And like I said, it’s pretty darn funny. But I was really struck at just how important its characters were – and not just Thor and Loki. Everyone from Darcy to Queen Frigga gets at least one moment to shine, often more. (Well, everyone except Tadanobu Asano as Hogun. That guy clearly pissed off the wrong person). Whether he’s making small talk with Darcy, making googly eyes at Jane Foster or bickering with his brother, Chris Hemsworth as Thor completely inhabits the character. He’s great in the big heroic scenes, and he’s great in the quieter, romantic scenes. His Thor has really grown, no longer the brash, headstrong brute we met at the start of the first film. Now he’s noble, caring and  all manner of badass.

I’m grateful no one has made a ‘Hammer Time’ joke in the films…yet

Of course, as we all know, Loki is the real draw of this movie. Who knew casting Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the first Thor film would turn out to be such a huge deal? He’s fantastic in Thor: The Dark World, of course. He’s smarmy, hilarious and just as much of a badass as his hammer-wielding sibling. Loki’s even cooler in this film than he was in The Avengers. He gets a lot more to do as well. He’s only occasionally villainous this time around, because as the trailers told us, Loki and Thor team up in this film, and it works wonderfully. The bickering brothers are a highlight, the two actors playing wonderfully off each other thanks to their years of working together. Loki is definitely a standout character in the film, but like I said, he’s not the only part.

Odin, Frigga, Jane Foster, Darcy, Sif, the Warriors Three; everyone is fantastic in this film. And this is what separates Thor: The Dark World from Man of Steel, which I didn’t like. Man of Steel was so concerned with its mythology that things like character and pacing were put on the back burner.  Even Thor’s Ian the Intern character has more personality than any of the supporting characters from the Daily Planet in Man of Steel. Although I suppose how you feel about Thor’s supporting characters depends on how much you will like what they do. I love’em all, from Darcy to Frigga, and watching them kick ass or crack wise was a real treat.

He’s an international treasure

Though like I said, Hogun really gets the shaft. He drops out of the movie in the first 10 minutes for no good reason and doesn’t get to join in on the Warriors Three’s big scene later in the film. What was up with that?

Other than Hogun, the only characters who get the short shrift are the villains, Christopher Eccleston as Malekith the Dark Elf, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as his sidekick Kurse. Both are pretty much rote villains, just being evil for evil’s sake. The plot of the film is that Jane Foster uncovers an ancient evil weapon known as the Aether, and when she does, Malekith wakes up from his thousand-year slumber to reclaim it. Thor and his allies then spend the rest of the film trying to keep the Aether out of Malekith’s hands to prevent the end of the universe. But the thing is, neither Thor nor his allies really have any personal connection to Malekith. Yes, Jane Foster is threatened because she finds the Aether, but she only finds it because that’s what the script says happens. I was actually a little miffed at how Jane Foster just kind of finds it automatically so that the movie can have a bad guy.

Malekith is just a generic bad guy, the Aether is just an evil macguffin, and Kurse is just your typical big bruiser villain that needs to get punched a lot. There’s nothing the least bit interesting about any of them. I actually kind of got a little annoyed when the movie would cut back to them instead of focusing on Thor’s reunion with Jane Foster or her visit to Asgard. Seeing Jane as the fish out of water this time around was a lot of fun, at least for me. I wish the film had featured more of it. I like Natalie Portman plenty, and she’s very good in the role of the courageous love interest. That she and her team get to play a role in the climactic battle is definitely a plus too.

Just kiss him already!

So the story itself isn’t all that interesting, other than as a place to hang all of the action and excitement. The bad guy wants to do bad things, and Thor has to stop him and save the girl. But fortunately, the script, and new director Alan Taylor, find a lot to do in between the scenes of Thor smacking people around with his hammer. Jane Foster visiting Asgard and meeting Thor’s parents is great. Thor and Loki’s escape from Asgard is phenomenally entertaining. And the final battle in the heart of London, which involves a lot of humor and teleportation, is as fun as any climactic superhero battle I’ve ever seen.

Thor: The Dark World is a wildly fun film. And it’s proof that we don’t go to superhero movies to see the villains anymore. Now we go to superhero movies because they are damn awesome!

And now, for some reason, I really want to see Beta Ray Bill in the threequel.