Thor: The Dark World [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Alan Taylor

Overview

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to do battle with Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), the vengeful leader of a primordial race that seeks to destroy the Nine Realms, in this big-budget comic-book adventure set after the events of Marvel's The Avengers. With even Odin (Anthony Hopkins) unable to protect Asgard from the approaching darkness, the god of thunder reunites with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save the world from certain destruction. Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsg?rd, Idris Elba, and Tadanobu Asano co-star.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/17/2017
UPC:	0786936854916
Original Release:	0000
Language:	English
Sales rank:	20,259

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Chris Hemsworth	Thor
Natalie Portman	Jane Foster
Tom Hiddleston	Loki
Stellan Skarsg?rd	Dr. Erik Selvig
Idris Elba	Heimdall
Christopher Eccleston	Malekith
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	Algrim the Strong/Kurse
Kat Dennings	Darcy
Ray Stevenson	Volstagg
Zachary Levi	Fandral
Anthony Hopkins	Odin
Jaimie Alexander	Sif
Rene Russo	Frigga
Tadanobu Asano	Hogun
Alice Krige	Eir
Claire Brown	Volstagg's Wife
Clive Russell	Tyr
Jonathan Howard	Ian Boothby
Ramone Morgan	John
Obada Alassadi	Navid
Imaan Chentouf	Maddie
Henry Calcutt	Volstagg's Child #1
Ava Estella Caton	Volstagg's Child #2
Abbie McCann	Volstagg's Child #3
Thomas Arnold	Desk Officer
Sam Swainsbury	Stonehenge TV News Reporter
Connor Donaghey	Sad Child
Royce Pierreson	Student
Annabel Norbury	Woman on Platform
Sophie Cosson	Wench #1
Chris O'Dowd	Richard
Justin Edwards	Police Officer #1
Gruffudd Glyn	Police Officer #2
Richard Brake	Einherjar Lietenant
Stan Lee	Himself
Steve Scott	Himself
Brett Tucker	Einherjar Guard
Talulah Riley	Nurse
Richard Wharton	Asylum Patient
Carter Burwell	Composer
Brian Tyler	Composer

Technical Credits

Christopher Yost

Christopher Markus

Stephen McFeely

Larry Lieber

Jack Kirby

Don Payne

Christopher Yost	Screenwriter
Christopher Markus	Screenwriter
Stephen McFeely	Screenwriter
Kevin Feige	Producer
Alan Fine	Executive Producer
Louis D'Esposito	Executive Producer
Stan Lee	Executive Producer
Nigel Gostelow	Executive Producer
Victoria Alonso	Executive Producer
Craig Kyle	Executive Producer
Sarah Halley Finn	Casting
Ruheene Masand	Production Manager
Arni Hansson	Production Manager
Steve Dent	Stunts
Larry Lieber	Screenwriter
Jack Kirby	Screenwriter
Beverly Abbott	Special Effects
David Acord	Sound Effects
James Ashwill	Sound Effects
Kevin Bolen	Sound Effects
Kenneth Branagh	Producer
Gordon Alexander	Stunts
Don Payne	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Tony Stark may be brilliant, but Thor of Asgard earns his rightful status as Marvel's mightiest Avenger by smashing through the Shakespearean stuffiness of Kenneth Branagh's misguided origin story to deliver a genuinely satisfying sequel. Sweeping, smartly paced, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, Thor: The Dark World feels much more in tune with the playful tone of The Avengers than its own predecessor, thanks in large part to dedicated performances by a supremely talented cast and director Alan Taylor's talent for seamlessly blending awe-inspiring action with lighthearted comedy. Having recently defended Earth from a massive interdimensional threat as part of the Avengers, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns home to restore the balance of peace to the Nine Realms as his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is sentenced to an eternity in an Asgard prison. Meanwhile in London, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is doing her best to move on when her eager assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) discovers an anomaly that defies the laws of physics. Upon further investigation, Jane is transported to the place where Odin's father Bor had once hidden a powerful, formless weapon -- known as the Aether -- after defeating the Dark Elves and preventing their malevolent leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) from using it to spread darkness throughout the universe. Now infected with the Aether, Jane soon reunites with Thor, who transports her back to Asgard in the hope of healing her. But he's already too late, because Malekith has awoken from his centuries-long slumber and knows that Jane is the key to his plot. With an important cosmic event known as the Convergence drawing near, Malekith wants to use the Aether to accomplish what Bor had once prevented. Using his evil assistant Algrim (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) to gain access to Asgard, Malekith launches an all-out invasion of the kingdom in a determined bid to recover his weapon. But Thor has other plans, and with the help of his allies on Asgard and Earth, he must destroy the Aether and make sure that Malekith is defeated once and for all. In 2011's Thor, Kenneth Branagh endeavored to instill an air of nobility in a film genre typically known for featuring chiseled heroes in spandex suits. But despite his best efforts, the movie suffered from lackluster action, a muddled script, and awkward attempts at comic relief. Two short years and one wildly popular blockbuster (The Avengers) later, however, prolific television director Alan Taylor (Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Deadwood) and screenwriters Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely prove that you can teach an old god new tricks with a crowd-pleaser that succeeds at widening the scope of the first film while simultaneously giving the sibling-rivalry subplot real gravity. Somewhat unexpectedly, the massive melee that kicks off Thor: The Dark World feels more like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy than anything out of the Marvel universe. It's a smart move that not only plunges the audience right into the action, but also offers Taylor the chance to immediately display his comfort working on a larger canvas. And as the movie returns to Asgard, the writers shift their focus to the seismic tensions between Thor and his renegade sibling Loki, allowing the charismatic Hiddleston to once again steal virtually every scene he appears in. If the writers can be accused of making any misstep, it's the fact that they once again fall back on the tiresome world-destroying-weapon-and-the-villain-who-covets-it scenario. Although, to be fair, Eccleston is genuinely chilling in the role of Malekith, and Taylor keeps the action moving at a satisfying pace that distracts from the comic-book clichés of the plot. His efforts are perfectly complimented by top-notch costume design by Wendy Partridge (Blade II, Hellboy), who outfits the Dark Elves in some eerily unsettling armor, and a rousing score by Brian Tyler, whose compositions summon an appropriate sense of majesty without ever growing overbearing. From Anthony Hopkins to Zachary Levi, the cast of Thor: The Dark World all perform admirably in their roles, nailing the jokes and heroics with equal conviction (special mention goes to Stellan Skarsgård and his tighty whiteys for providing the film with some of its best comic beats). It all adds up to one of the rare sequels that surpasses the original in just about every way imaginable.