Tom Hiddleston Archives - GeeksHaveGame

July 14, 2021July 17, 2021

MARVEL’S LOKI [Season Finale]: Time Keeps On Slipping…

When Marvel announced that there would be a Loki series on Disney+ back in 2018, I was wary of what that might mean. Loki had just had an emotional death a few months prior. And while reincarnation is canonical for the Asgardians within the comics, I felt like that would be something mass audiences wouldn’t latch onto. Then, Endgame arrived and, along with the eventual first trailer, seemed to indicate that this show would instead be an introduction to and exploration of the Marvel Multiverse; but that raised a couple of much larger questions…

If that was to be the purpose of the show, could they tell a story that completely changes how we understand the cinematic universe without diminishing the meaningful, character driven story that’s been the core of the best Marvel movies? And would they take the risk of making a show that requires a Disney+ subscription pivotal to understanding the movies going forward, particularly when Disney Plus hasn’t even released in every major market yet? When all was said and done, Loki gave a resounding answer to one while leaving the other a complete mystery.

Every episode not only changed the status quo, but decontextualized what the show actually was. Endgame left us with questions — about where Loki went after grabbing the Tesseract and what would happen in the timeline where he escaped — only for the show to immediately have him captured, his timeline reset, and recruit him in the hunt for a different variant Loki. While these episodes were fun and the relationship between Loki and Agent Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, was thoroughly entertaining, it quickly became a show centered on a philosophical debate between predeterminism and free will once we discovered the lengths the TVA were willing to go to in order to protect “The Sacred Timeline”. This is where the show truly came to life.

After learning the backstory of Sylvie, the female Loki variant that the TVA’s been hunting, the show shifted to these two lost people rebelling against a tyrannical organization, stripping people of their free will to ensure the desired timeline remains in tact. Together, they overcome their flaws and insecurities to tear the TVA apart piece by piece until.. they finally arrive to meet the one behind it all: He Who Remains. This is where the show becomes an absolute masterpiece as they completely turn everything on its head once again. Up to this point we’ve seen people being stripped of their free will and once learning of that, fighting to regain it. Then we meet He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, who reveals to Sylvie and Loki that their entire quest for free will was also predetermined, but they now have the opportunity to regain their free will…for a price.

While the first five episodes presented free will as something desirable that everyone yearns for, Kang (not the Conqueror but also not named as Immortus) reveals that by giving everyone free will they will open the door for infinite Kang the Conquerors and the unimaginable devastation that they’ll bring with them and instead offers them the opportunity to take his place and continue his life’s work.

The question then becomes: Is free will worth it if it costs countless lives in countless realities in countless universes in countless timelines? This is where the lived experiences and the true natures of Loki and Sylvie put them into conflict. Loki, the adopted son of a conqueror — and a would-be conqueror in his own right — backed by a much more terrifying tyrant, understands the truth in Kang’s words about deposing a dictator. He’s essentially being confronted by the same reality he posed to the people of Earth back in Germany when he said, “It’s the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power. You were made to be ruled.”

No matter how much he’s changed and how selfless he’s becoming, Loki can’t escape the belief that someone must rule and that true freedom is a burden and not a gift, only now he’s willing to accept being ruled rather than being burdened by the glorious purpose of ruling. Sylvie, the child who was torn away from her world before it was destroyed and spent her entire life surrounded by death and destruction, unable to trust anybody, and determined to get revenge and take back control of her life, is unable to trust a word that comes out of the mouth of the man who brought all of this upon her and, even if she did, would never continue the subjugation of the timeline. They’re left on opposite sides of a lose-lose scenario, while Kang gleefully awaits the outcome.

If a lot of this sounds familiar, it’s because this scenario isn’t completely original. We’ve witnessed elements of this in The Matrix Reloaded, Snowpiercer, Willy Wonka, and even Star Wars. However, this episode truly stands apart because of the combination of masterful storytelling and acting.

Jonathan Majors, who plays Kang, really does ham this performance up in a way that could come off as way too silly if not for the fact that there’s an underlying menace to his performance and the callous way he presents the existential horrors facing Loki and Sylvie. This is clearly a Kang who may have gone a little crazy from the eons of isolation, but there’s a clear menace underneath it all that makes it all the more chilling when he delivers the line, “If you think I’m evil, just wait until you meet my variants.” He’s equally entertaining and threatening in a way that’s almost as unsettling as the information he’s delivering and the options he’s presenting.

However, in order for the episode to truly work, Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino had to shine as bright, given that the final episode was almost entirely a philosophical conversation (a bold move), and they absolutely did. Once their conflict came to a head and they began to fight, there was emotion behind every swing of the blade on both sides: Sylvie showing her desperation to finally make someone pay for everything she’s gone through and toppling the tyrannical organization that’s put her through this while being genuinely being confused as to why Loki isn’t showing the same resolve; and, Loki being absolutely terrified of the consequences that could arise from killing Kang and trying to prevent Sylvie from making a cataclysmic mistake while also wanting to show her that he cares.

There’s a tragic note every time Hiddleston speaks Sylvie’s name and resolute defiance in every word Di Martino utters when Loki tries to stop her. When they finally kiss, moments before the end, it’s both satisfying and tragic because there’s genuine emotion behind it; their paths have diverged so far in the past few moments that there’s no hope for something beyond that kiss for them at the moment. Sylvie then sends Loki back to the TVA and kills Kang as he laughs and tells her, “See you soon,” leaving her looking confused and lost. Then we get the massive reveal to end the season of Loki not being recognized by anybody in the TVA, including Mobius, and turning around to see, in a Planet of the Apes style twist, a statue of Kang above the the agency, signifying that Kang isn’t coming, he’s arrived.

While those three were absolutely terrific, they weren’t the only ones. Owen Wilson was probably the best part of the first two episodes and there were outstanding moments from Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer (the head judge of the TVA), Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15 (a hunter who’s converted to Loki’s side), Sasha Lane as Hunter C-20 (a hunter who was enchanted by Sylvie), and Richard E. Grant as Classic Loki. There’s just so much to love about this series (there’s also a variant Loki who’s an alligator!), I didn’t even get to my favorite single moment of it: when Classic Loki shows his immense sorcery to conjure an illusion that allows Loki and Sylvie to reach He Who Remains.

That same episode also included possibly the greatest easter eggs in the MCU to date: the Thanos-copter and Throgg the Frog of Thunder in a glass jar. For all of those reasons, without a doubt, this is my favorite of the Disney+ Marvel shows so far. However, regarding the two questions I posed earlier, this show definitely redefines the universe as a whole while never relegating its titular character to the background, but it doesn’t really answer the question of whether this show will be required viewing to understand the movies. If Kang is simply presented as a time traveling conqueror, will there be any confusion as to how any of this happened from people who may not have watched this show or will there be enough to understand what’s happening without necessarily knowing the whole story? Only time will tell in that regard.

The only question that interests me at the moment is: Does the implosion of the predetermined status quo actually give the MCU’s greatest heroes a chance to prevent the damage that Kang can cause, or is he truly the inevitability that Thanos only claimed to be? 5/5 Loki Bibles.

-Kevin Palma

October 19, 2017

THOR – RAGNAROK [Review]: Ragnarok ‘n Roll.

“Dynast” Dana Keels
IG/Twitter @hatandwand

According to Norse Mythology the Ragnarok is the final battle between the gods and the forces of evil, a battle in which the gods are destined to lose. You’d think our third Thor film would be in for a pretty bleak time.

Yeah, uh, not at all.

Thor: Ragnarok is by far one of the lightest, and quite possibly the funniest Marvel film to date. It’s fun as.. hell.

The film opens with our Asgardian hero being held captive by a fiery demon in the pits of a hellish world. And right away we’re treated to Chris Hemsworth’s underrated comedic timing, which quickly sets the tone we can expect for the rest of the 2-hour runtime. The action pretty much plays out like the cover of an Iron Maiden album, in the best possible way (usually to the inclusion of some Led Zeppelin). The performances from the rest of the cast are terrific. Tom Hiddleston brings his usual blend of humor and menace to Loki, and Sir Anthony Hopkins brings his gravitas to a fading Odin, which results in an extremely poignant scene amongst the Father and his sons. Another of the standouts is Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who joins forces with our heroes and also loves her booze a little too much.

This universe is populated with enough characters to keep the jokes moving from location to location, where our cast stabs at the chance to match wits with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange (who I enjoyed a lot more in this film than his own), Mark Ruffalo‘s Hulk, Idris Elba’s Heimdall, Karl Urban’s Skurge, Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster — who bears a striking resemblance to Guardians of the Galaxy’s The Collector (portrayed by Benecio Del Toro) — and a host of other alien creatures and figures that populate the universe. Crazy of all, Director Taika Waititi suits up as rock alien, Korg, whose line delivery steals scenes.. in his own movie.

Finally, Moody has a date for himself on Friday.

Cate Blanchett does a fine job as Hela with what the script has given her. But again, due to the screenplay from Eric Pearson and Marvel Comic vets, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost (X-Force), her character remains the general villainess archetype that we’ve seen before; not dissimilar to Angelina Jolie in Maleficent or Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman. Now would be a good time to start giving our female villains just as much care in the writing department as we do our male antagonists. Then again, Marvel never has been too strong with their villains in the first place.

Thor: Ragnarok is just as much a Hulk film as it is a Thor film. A decent portion of the film is dedicated to explaining what happened to Banner after the events of Age of Ultron. And Ruffalo brings the humor in Incredible doses. Seriously, the cast is that funny together and it’s great to see Hulk get some of the spotlight he’s deserved. If he never gets his own solo flick, this is it.

First time Hollywood director Waititi (Boy, What We Do in the Shadows) brings his caffeinated pinball energy to what was becoming a stilted formula and injects it with new life, bringing it to new and weirder territories. I mean, he hired Goldblum and he’s Korg g-o-dammit.

Its a good thing that Ragnarok is hilarious and the performances are fantastic, because the story itself is as bare bones and formulaic of a story the Marvel formula is known for. The sequel’s sequel will likely have a hard time holding interest in its plot, instead, steering True Believers on the next bit of humor or heavy metal action that’s bound to pop up. But to their credit, it’s fantastic.. no.. Mighty that the MCU has finally realized how preposterous of a character Thor and the rest of the Asgardians are. Here they’ve gone the Full Monty (Python), utilizing/relegating this mythological side of the Marvel Universe to pure comedic effect.

Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok strikes down the Mjolnir in theaters everywhere November 2nd.

March 9, 2017March 9, 2017

KONG – SKULL ISLAND [Face-Off Review]: Down with the King!

GEEK – The King is back, and he’s bigger than ever! Well, in physical size that is. Kong: Skull Island brings us the return of cinema’s most iconic ape in a way that we really haven’t seen before. In this latest outing the narrative of the original 1933 King Kong film, that was later remade in 1973 and then in 2005, is ditched for a Jurassic Park-meets-Apocalypse Now Vietnam-era survival horror adventure story.

This time, company man Bill Randa (John Goodman) and scientist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) piggyback on a geological expedition of the island representing Monarch, a company that specializes in seeking out massive unidentified terrestrial organisms with the help of a US Army escort led by Preston Packard (Nick Fury’s Samuel L. Jackson), James Conrad – a tracker played by Tom Hiddleston (Loki), and Mason Weaver–a wartime photographer Brie Larsen (a future Carol Danvers). Their expedition expectedly goes horribly wrong immediately and most of the survivors fight to get off the island, while a select few decide they want to destroy Kong. It’s a simple enough premise, but leaves a lot of room for some pretty satisfying monster encounters.

If 2014’s Godzilla was supposed to be a slow orchestrated build that led to a symphonic climax, Kong: Skull Island is its big budget, spiritual B-movie, rock n’ roll brother. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts isn’t afraid to immediately lay on some Sam Raimi-esque camp with his approach to visually telling the story. The way some of the monster attack sequences play out have a entertaining kinetic appeal to them. The stylization of the film also heavily contrasts modern day blockbuster sensibilities. The colors are bright and vivid and the diegetic music adds some personality to the characters.

“We’re all pretty Marvelous now, ain’t we!”

The song choices are pretty much run of the mill 70s, Vietnam War standards, but they pepper the movie with bursts of energy. The film really earns the bulk of its charm in its portrayal of the larger than life creature characters. Not only does the action take place in stable wide shots with fewer cuts than normal, but Vogt-Roberts’ aesthetic choices on where to plant the camera make for some thrilling visual beats. If only that inclination to go for the more creative choice was applied to the main characters themselves, but I’ll let the Divine One himself tell you about that…

3.5/5 Skulls Bibles.

NERD – Thanks to “Brother” Myke for taking care of all the important story aspects of the film, so now we can really grab a hold of this one and rip into it like Kong chewing down on his calamari dinner. You look at the cast of this movie with the pop culture staple of Hiddleston (Thor),veteran Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane), a frickin’ Oscar winner in Larson (Room) AND the powerhouse that is Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and it is within reason to expect some damn great performances.

As expected, there was no lack of talent from this group, but the problem is: where was the clay for these people to mold a solid character out of?! Goodman’s performance is reminiscent to what he did in Cloverfield, creating a character with a strange and quietly enigmatic, haunted soul, driven to get to the island; but after we get there, is terribly lost in the chaos and mystery of the action around him. The fact that his character should be going out of his mind with ecstatic enthusiasm–for finally getting to the destination he has been spending his life trying to land on–is barely even touched on.

Larson, it seems, was brought on to be the requisite female lead in a Kong movie, as she spends most of the film staring in awe at every single thing on the island. She’s not given much of a voice; instead, she is made to join Hiddleston at the hip and follow where he goes. While she gets more to do by the 3rd act, the script just eliminates the ambitious journalist and tries to turn her into Lara Croft. I’m trying to figure out what Hiddleston is doing in this film, considering he just came from his outstanding job on The Night Manager. He just doesn’t bring any more weight to the role than some actor they could’ve got from the CW Network. It’s almost all action and no real character development.

With Jackson, his focus on having blinders on (in wanting to take out Kong–and that nothing else matters), not only lacks practicality but foolishness as revealed later. That leaves us with one Hank Marlow (Reily), the only full rounded character as well as the voice of reason. He makes you laugh so much but also adds a lot of heart win his desire to get back to the America he hasn’t seen in decades.

What would happen if they took away their capes and spandex.

Without giving away too much, the island is full of many dangerous, larger-than-life creatures. The constant danger makes for great pacing as you never get too relaxed, knowing that something could come out of the jungle at any time. The special effects not only for Kong but for everything in the film are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The fact that you can look at these creatures and see every scale, hair follicle, and drop of drool coming of their teeth is nothing short of wonderful joy for us and terror for those on the screen.

Then, lest we not forget that this is an animal kingdom and Kong has to defend his rule of the island. Yup! There are many instances of intense fights between these super-sized beasts. All the love that you had as a kid watching monster movies comes back in a huge fist-cleching rush that makes you shout “Get’em Kong!” Although I’m bummed that so many of the talented actors in a film better suited for a summer popcorn release, I can’t deny that the overall rollercoaster ride of Skull Island that is not be missed on the big screen.

4/5 Skull Bibles.

October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

CRIMSON PEAK [Review]: Alice in Lokiland.

Gilded Age ingénue, Edith Cushing (Alice in Wonderland‘s Mia Wasikowska), endeavours to execute literary tales of gothic grandeur. After a ghastly greeting by her mother’s apparition, she delivers an ominous omen. With heartstrings torn between the love for her childhood confidant, Dr. Alan McMichael (Sons of Anarchy‘s Charlie Hunnam), and the tempestuous titillations of the darkly dashing mystery man, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Loki a.k.a. Tom Hiddleston), Edith enlists her inner adventuress and adjourns to England. It is there, that she will again encounter the echoes of her past, alongside the unforeseen agony asylumed within the carnal prison they call, Crimson Peak…

The Golgothan genius of Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) goes American Gilded Age with a bit of the ole Victorian English spit polish, drizzled right down the horror vacui chute of no return in his latest cinematic installment of mystery and mayhem. Crimson Peak (2015) drives us deeply into an illuminated urbanity set within the industrialized East Coast of a late 19th Century United States, like a silver stake searching for Nosferatu’s pulsating black heart.

Dan Lauststen’s (Silent Hill, Brotherhood of the Wolf) mastery of the camera lens, delivers del Toro’s gothically-mad vision with steampunkian-precision– despite the fact that the High Definition Video medium often does a disservice to this dastardly tale, due to the crisply registered surface of its digital nature. My eyes were longing for a more traditional, filmic veneer, layered atop the lush phantasmagoria gushing about in this jaunt of jouissance.

Had only this Gilded Nightmare of Innocence Lost been rendered in actual film stock, bleeding the lush and organic smudges, scratches, grains, and burns inherent within that phenomenal medium, this del Toroian tale would have been far more frightening, as the visceral qualities it portends would have boiled more cauldronly before our gaping eye holes.

crimson-peak-tom-hiddleston1-1748x984 — They left me out of Age of Ultron for…THIS!

Despite all of its ravenously insatiable surface, and del Toro’s attention to delivering a Crimson Peak world in astonishing detail, he largely fails in subverting the gothic horror genre he allegedly intended to tatter. The foundation supporting this monstrosity lacks any significant spine, and the hollow bones beneath it all are brittle fallen leaves crumbled into powder and dust. We are given the ages-old haunted house horror story set-up that many of us love as children this time of year; yet those nostalgic tales of what-goes-bump-in-the-night, coupled with all of the horror porn of our sinfully digital present have largely desensitized us to such degree, that few will find themselves horrified in any way here.

Had del Toro and co-writer Matt Robbins (Mimic) gone back to the graveyard to resurrect the best of Hitchcockian terror, had they unearthed the essence of the psychological tropes that true master had employed in his oeuvre of masterpieces (ranging from such visions as The Birds, Psycho, Rear Window, or Vertigo), then perhaps Crimson Peak might actual send some ghastly shivers into the movie seat.

3 (out of 5) Grave Robber Barons. — 3 (out of 5) **Grave Robber Barons.**

February 6, 2014February 6, 2014

LOKI / WOLVERINE / PUNISHER #1 [Reviews]: Public Enemies #1

Continuing the All-New NOW! agenda from Marvel this week is an assortment of #1’s. Your friendly Apostle picked three out of the “jumping-on point” hat, comics that were ironically all good guys-turned-bad-turned-good-turned-who-cares-read-em-because! Since they all vary in quality, let’s see which comic is worth the pull, shall we?

LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD #1

The Lord of Lies has finally landed his own series. With obvious help from a certain actor who played the silver-tongued god wondrously on the silverscreen, welcome Loki: Agent of Asgard. This is a comic series that promises to be selfish, feature sword fights, espionage, maybe a casino heist or two, definitely an otter, more speed dating than Moody on a Wednesday night and one hellish dragon battle. This, all within the next couple months — at least according to current Mighty Avengers scribe Al Ewing (Judge Dredd) and beautifully delineated by Lee Garbett (X-O Manowar, Dark Mists).

At first, I wasn’t to hip on Marvel’s idea of another attempt on a Loki book, as our Monsignor will attest, but after reading this and the prequel in the stand-alone All-New Marvel #1, Ewing has made me into a Loki believer. It’s nice to finally see a revitalized adult version of the character, as opposed to Kid Loki — despite the high quality of Kieron Gillen’s Young Avengers and Journey Into Mystery. And unlike another morally ambiguous book, Black Widow, Loki focuses not only on dealing with his tarnished past, but in having it erased from our memories. But, as the final page shows, the pointy horned past is damn difficult to erase.

With Loki recently hitting upon a rainbow-tracked, hyper-speed train since Thor: The Dark World, some may first look upon this series as a bit of a force. But that’s OK– because the God of Evil likes it that way. And much like his underdog “heroic villain,” Ewing provides an exceptional experience for All-New readers while packing an ending and little hints of past comic glory that, hell, intense diehard fans of Walt Simonson’s run can enjoy.

(Flip to the next page for more reviews!)

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November 5, 2013December 26, 2013

THOR: THE DARK WORLD [Review]: Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.

First, the good news: The Dark World is the Thor movie longtime fans of the character and comic have imagined since children, as each of the Nine Realms suitably mimics those majestic pages from the fantastical mind of Jack Kirby. More than half of the movie takes place in a wondrously rainbow-lit Asgard, with bits and pieces of Svartalfheim (i.e. The Dark Elf World) — both in past and present. Hard to believe, but you won’t have to worry so much about New York or Los Angeles being blown up for once; no, the evil invasion takes place with our cheery ol’ chaps in the slippery backend of London.

The particular location adds to both the vibe and humor of the movie. Rain. No pants. Dry. You’ll see.

thor-the-dark-world-11 — I ought to consider a helmet.

The bad news? Film critics are doing their damnedest to batter the Odinson with as many Fisher Price hammers as possible. You see, they’re sick and fed up with comic movies, with these.. super heroes, with Marvel, DC, and with anything else resembling the “mindless, formulaic, and mechanical” bankable actioneer. I guess I don’t blame them (other than the dastardly review that claimed there wasn’t enough Loki? Were you that delusional, mate?); but, then again, these tried-and-true tropes are typically all the more reason to fight another day. With The Dark World, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds plenty of motivation with a looming 5000-year annual convergence of planets and a charmingly malevolent brother locked in their own parents cell.

Time to shine up that trusty uru-clad Mjolnir.

Fans of Thor and the Avengers shouldn’t tire of the sequel’s briskly paced action sequences either, as new director Alan Taylor delivers his “Game of Thrones” setpiece expertise. The fights are far more frantic — with plenty of that classic comic humor this time (courtesy of current Superior Spider-Man Team Up scribe Chris Yost and company). And although I wish that magnetic opening bout wasn’t already spoiled in the trailers, it apparently didn’t matter to the majority of the Hollywood preview audience who still responded to the God of Thunder’s initial arrival. The new “stiffening” of Thor might also be confused for his newly matured comfort, as the running gag of a man out-of-place — besides a lil’ funny UK wink or two — no longer feels necessary. Taylor certainly builds off the first film, sharply alternating from dark material to light…sort of akin to flipping the pages of a Marvel comic book. Whaddya know!

movies-thor-the-dark-world-03 — Oh Hel, it beats my performance in Prometheus.

Malekith the Accursed, as the film’s primary villain is nothing special; but other than Magneto, Galactus and Thanos (and the sometimes so bad he’s good Dr. Doom), are really any of the Marvel villains? You know Thor isn’t going to lose at the end, so there’s no point in delving too much into the inconsequential origin. Someone fucked with his people, so he intends to fuck back. And, the man (played by the frightening prosthetics of Christopher Eccleston) has a damn Darth Vader inflection! That baritone was enough to get me glued. Malekith — a foe you can read more about in the current Thor comic written by Jason Aaron — intends to seize the Aether, which is neither about the Nas diss track to Jay-Z or the Phoenix Force. It’s yet another ancient piece of “utter chaos and destruction!” that will go alongside the Tesseract (see: Avengers) quite nicely. Either way, you know this Mcguffin is Hela expensive. You probably couldn’t find one at a Con, unless you stumbled and slipped upon it at the food court.

Once this laser spaghetti show touches London — and more importantly touches Thor’s shorty, Jane Foster (played again by the impossibly hot Natalie Portman) — all Hellheim breaks loose. This is when Thor 2 gets real good, real fast. In order to retaliate for the partial destruction of Asgard (read: Siege, the 2010 Marvel event), the Odinson must use the help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston, who, at this point, is completely aware he steals every scene) to get to the Accursed who’s more than ready to call it a Dark Night. Before some tense moments of untruth and humility between the two, Thor gets a riveting hand from the Warriors Three. Kudos to Zachary Levi’s Fandral for badassness in particular. And if you weren’t sure of Jaimie Alexander and all of those recent Wonder Woman rumors lately, her Lady Sif is a practical audition for the part — and I approve. She’s got the look. More than anything, watching Loki and Thor interact like grade school brats bitching over the last creamsicle in the freezer offers the film’s funniest moments and much-needed emotional beat.

Still, Thor: The Dark World may not have been required viewing without Taylor’s brilliance during the film’s climactic last stand. Before the director gets to his answer for those Man of Steel cynics in mind, we enter the sporadic earth humor of our favorite astrophysicists — and their not-so-lonely interns. A lot of their scientific, often clumsy, mumbo-jumbo is needed for the Dark Elves end game, of course, and thankfully, the director uses camera science to swiftly avoid the same chaos that led to the aforementioned superfilm’s cynical sorrow (I loved M.O.S., but I’m speaking for the 98% of you). If nothing else, Taylor stages one of the coolest fight scenes in superhero movie history.

Call it: Ultimate Convergence.

The sequence’s whimsical editing physically displaces any possible wanton destruction, all the while keeping the audience both red-bellied and off the edge of their red seats. For the majority of Dark World, Taylor does an apt job at doing two things at once. There’s always movement in the near perfect marriage of fantasy and science fiction we shall call Thor: The Dark World. It’s up to you, then, to witness quite possibly the best Stan Lee — and fellow Avenger — cameo ever, and catch the pair of awesome end credit scenes. Go. This weekend. For Asgard!

Marvel Studio’s Thor: The Dark World in theaters nationwide this Friday.