The Asgardian Epiphany

I saw Thor: The Dark World last night and I can honestly say I enjoyed the hell out of it. The movie was visually gorgeous and I didn't expect to laugh nearly as much as I did.

I wasn't laughing at the movie - though it is an absolutely insane film for all the stuff that happens in it - I was laughing at the well timed humor, usually from Kat Dennings.

I agree with the biggest criticism of the film - Malekith, the villain, was kind of weak. He was cool looking and very Star Trek-esque in villiany, but yes, it wasn't the film's strong point. But after both end credits scenes rolled... (spoiler alert: I am in LOVE with Guardians of the Galaxy right now), I realized something with Thor 2.

Marvel has told us who the bad guy is in their entire franchise. It's Thanos. We get it, he's not coming for a while. But to the point, everyone else, with the exception of Loki, is filler. Killian from Iron Man 3 was more a plot device for Tony's evolution, Malekith actually advances the plots of Loki and Thanos, and Winter Soldier will no doubt advance the character evolution of Captain America.

The coming villains are important to each character, but in the overall scheme they don't matter. And that's what really occurred to me after seeing Thor.

I told a co-worker that I genuinely hadn't had that much fun at the movies in a long time. The movie felt like a comic book. It was dramatic, action-packed, funny and entertaining. This viewing also came with the knowledge of the Marvel/Netflix deal.

See the thing about the Marvel movies that I love is that they aren't trying to reinvent the genre, they are taking the genre and expanding on it, and taking everyone for a fun ride. They aren't going to win Academy Awards, but the box office will always reflect their success and there will always be those who have their issues with them. But the fact of the matter is at the end of the day, the Marvel movies are fun.

They don't take themselves too seriously, but when they do, the results have a direct effect on the character.

Call it formulaic, call it a cash-grab. I call it just a good time at the movies and that was what I got out of Thor 2.

I liked Man of Steel and I'm very middle of the road on The Dark Knight Trilogy. But those movies take themselves WAY too seriously. I think audiences are past that. The comic book film genre has evolved to the point where the fantastic rules out and being completely based in realism isn't necessarily what's going to drive audiences.

Don't get me wrong, Batman needed it after Schumacher and Superman definitely didn't hurt from having a more serious tone... but the genre has moved beyond it.

Thor: The Dark World is a lot of fun. It's a good comic book flick and it's definitely an entertaining movie - and at the end of the day that's what really matters.