Marvel's Thor: The Dark World is about what you'd expect: action, adventure, and a lot of hammer takedowns. This time around, the thought-to-be-extinct Dark Elves, an evil race that tried to destroy the universe long ago, are back. Thor's girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has become infected with Elixir, the last thing the Elves need to transform the whole universe into dark matter and finish off the Asgardians and Earthlings once and for all. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must make an unusual alliance with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and go against his father's orders to try and stop them (and to save his girlfriend, too).

The first 45 minutes were slow. Most of it was setting up the plot and force-feeding viewers exposition and boring dialogue, especially with Thor's excuses as to why he has been busy not being with Jane, and Jane's everyday life without Thor. Thor's conversation with Odin (his dad, the king of the Asgardians) about him inheriting the throne and what to do with Loki were rather uninteresting as well. Only die-hard Thor fans can keep up with the dozens of worlds and characters with impossible-to-remember names. After that, however, it got much better. The storyline became interesting when Thor teamed up with Loki. Also, there was more action when the Dark Elves and Thor finally butted heads, and there were some plot twists (predictable plot twists, but plot twists nonetheless).

In addition to an okay plot, the special effects were fantastic. I expected good animation and computer-generated elements, and Marvel delivered. The alien worlds looked realistic, and the Dark Elves' ships were an awesome blend of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. The costumes were extravagant, too, with Thor’s dramatic flowing cape and such.

The characters, however, were sub-par. Despite Jane supposedly having 3 degrees and being an astrophysicist, she didn't act like it. When sucked into an alien world, she didn't question or experiment with anything, and acted rather unintelligent, especially when she touched the Elixir. There was one instance of her asking the Asgardians about their technology, but she didn't seem to know what she was talking about, and the whole scene seemed to be trying to convince the audience that she is smart by throwing out words like "quantum field generator."

The others weren't much better. Chris Hemsworth played the part of Thor rather stiffly, but it wasn't necessarily his fault. The obnoxious and unrealistic script featuring awkward conversations between Thor and Jane made it hard to take the characters seriously. Tom Hiddleston played Loki excellently, however. He was fluid and cunning, playing his part spectacularly, especially when he and Thor teamed up escaping Asgard.

Between a mediocre plot, high-budget special effects, and lots of head-busting action, Thor: The Dark World was like just about every other Marvel movie. While the bust-em-up scenes fed my craving for some good old-fashioned violence, the characters were hard to stand, and I’ve seen Marvel make better. C+