Continuity has never been the strong suit of the Marvel franchises. The Avengers didn’t even try to explain how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) made it to earth after the gateway from Asgard had been destroyed, and Thor’s girlfriend Jane (Natalie Portman) barely figured into the story at all. So it’s small surprise that Thor: The Dark World has plot holes big enough for Thor to walk through. But who cares about story when you have a mega-ripped blonde Nordic hippie flexing his biceps every 15 seconds? Still, it’s too bad the director, Alan Taylor, gives us only a few seconds of the shirtless God of Thunder, but it was enough to make the women and some of the gay men at the screening sigh. You’ll probably sigh at the pointless dialogue, muddled story andmurky look that puts this Thor somewhere between Lord of the Rings and the Green Lantern. This is far from the best from Marvel.
One-and-a-half shars. Now playing in wide release.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 8, 2013.