OVERALL: *sigh* Love. I love the Marvel movie universe and loved this movie.

POINTS: It’s Thor! With Asgardians and Dark Elves and humans and OMG Darcy!!! I’ve seen it twice in one week and will see it again. It is a happy place movie. Just fun. My soul smiles. I must download to my iPod and tablet for future watching. Hooray!!!!

PITFALLS: Could have been longer. No, seriously. I don’t think that Alan Taylor has the same feel for characters that Kenneth Branagh does and did for the first Thor movie. Taylor does have a feel for rich Medieval realism and that shows in this movie. Asgard is not just a golden place; it is rich, colorful, majestic, and lived in. However in Branagh’s Thor we see and feel the characters. We have more time with the characters – and I don’t mean minutes, I mean seconds. Yes the scenes are a bit longer in Thor and that gives the first Thor a better character driven sense and makes the movie flow better. Thor: The Dark World suffers from some quick and disjointed scene jumps. Taylor seems more obsessed with special effects and fights than with characters. Please remember action movie makers: Your movie will work if the audience loves your characters! So let us be with those peeps we love, ok?

FEMALE CHARACTER(S): Jane! Darcy! Sif! Frigga! A variety to choose from for full enjoyment. 🙂 Sure there could always be more, but these four can bring a smile to anyone’s face. The fandom loves them.

Dr. Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, is our brainy heroine who can take up the screen along with Thor. Hey, Natalie Portman may be half of Chris Hemsworth size, but she is a star for obvious reasons. Her charisma just comes off the screen. Plus Natalie is a brilliant woman and her understanding of science helps her pull off this role. I look forward to watching her for a very very long time.  Darcy Lewis, played by Kat Dennings, brings fabulous comic relief. Her role was expanded from the last movie thanks to fan love, and delivers great insight into the plot, the characters, and just makes us all smile. I could always have more Darcy. Perhaps there will be some Marvel Movie One-Shots with her. Please.

CULTURAL PITFALL(S): Ok, I was bugged and Hogun, the Asian of the Warriors Three, was barely in this movie. I like color and human diversity so not seeing Hogun, played by Tadanobu Asano, on screen with his friends bugged me. Now perhaps there were contractual issues, like Mr. Asano was too busy, so if that is the case, then I’m not too mad. If they just wanted to get rid of the Asian actor, well, let’s not go there, ok?

HIGH POINT(S): * [SPOILER ALERT] * 1.) How Thor finally wins in the end fight scene. OMG. Sheer brilliance! 2.) Jane trying to draft Thor’s body away from falling debris, finally giving up, and then protecting him with her own body. This is both wonderful because it tells you so much about Jane and how she feels about Thor – she will protect him! And considering she is less than half his size, that makes the scene extra endearing. I feel the same way about my hubby, BTW, though I am larger than Jane. 3.) Darcy Lewis. Give me Darcy and lots of her. Kat Dennings makes me smile. LOVE her kiss with the Intern at the end. 3.) Chris Hemsworth. Sir I salute you. I don’t know how you can embody a superhero/God without a trace of self-doubt and make it so real. Well done. I am glad you got this role. You are fabulous and deserve all the good fame and fortune coming to you. Thank you for making Thor a believable, warm, relatable character. 4.) Loki played by Tom Hiddleston. In the first Thor movie when Loki stepped out of the shadows and sat next to his brother Thor I thought to myself “Wow. That guy is good. He’s going to be a big star.” I love being right.  Tom Hiddleston is a talented actor who brought great depth and life to Loki. I personally despise Loki, but I do understand the rabid fandom. 5.) There will be a Thor 3!!! YAY!!!! 6.) The end of the movie. My only thought: “Oh crap.” 🙂 END * [SPOILER ALERT] *

Easter Egg. Like all Marvel movies, you MUST stay through the entire creates for the “Easter Egg” scene at the very end. Yes, the very very end of the movie. Don’t be a dunce and miss this. Just stay. * [SPOILER ALERT] * Now in Thor: The Dark World the Easter Egg scene is Thor coming to Earth and landing on Jane’s balcony. She runs to him and they kiss like they mean it. YAY!!! And of course they meant it: Natalie Portman couldn’t make it so Chris Hemsworth wife, Elsa Pataky, played Jane. Lovely kiss from a lovely couple. 🙂 I may despise rom coms but I love real life love and those two have it. 🙂 END * [SPOILER ALERT] *

BECHDEL TEST (Website): 3 of 3. Hooray!! I’m not surprised either. Jane and Darcy alone have great interactions and Frigga and Jane have some wonderful moments as well.

IMDB: Thor: The Dark World (2013)

OFFICIAL MOVIE WEBSITE:  Thor: The Dark World

DVD/BLU-RAY WORTHY: Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LION PAW PRINTS:  3 of 5.

In Addition: I bought my good buddy a cardboard stand-up of Thor. (She wants to be him when she grows-up.) You can follow cardboard stand-up Thor’s adventures here: flat-thor.tumblr.com. Yeah, we have fun.