THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)

• feature film
• rated PG-13
• released 11/4/2013
• sequel to 2011's Thor
• directed by Alan Taylor
• a Marvel Studios production
• cameos from the comics: Captain America (kind-of) and *spoiler The Collector

CAST (boldface denotes a character directly lifted from comic or source material)

Thor  (Chris Hemsworth)

Jane Foster  (Natalie Portman)

Loki  (Tom Hiddleston)

Odin  (Anthony Hopkins)

Malekith  (Christopher Eccleston)

Sif  (Jaimie Alexander)

Fandral  (Zachary Levi)

Volstagg  (Ray Stevenson)

Hogun  (Tadanobu Asano)

Heimdall  (Idris Elba)

Frigga  (Rene Russo)

Algrim / Kurse  (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)

Darcy Lewis  (Kat Dennings)

Erik Selvig  (Stellan Skarsgård)

My impressions:

What can I say? I dug it. Marvel Studios continues (as of this writing) to be the ideal stewards of their characters in any medium. Hemsworth continues to personify a hearty yet thoughtful hero and Hiddleston steals the show once more (with help, no doubt, from the dialogue doctoring of Joss Whedon).

My only complaints are small (which is saying something, as I'm a notorious fanboy nitpicker - working on it, though!). Though the villain, Malekith, is a welcome inclusion from the comics, and is played here by the excellent Christopher Eccleston, he isn't very well developed and not given much to do other than glower and shout. His motivation? Essentially, he's a Dark Elf and he wants to make everything dark. Yup.

And, sadly, our favorite Thunder God is denied his helmet once again.