Judging by first impressions of Marvel’s newest movie poster, Thor: The Dark World looked like another cliché and typical comic book action movie. Fortunately, this movie is far from that. The movie has a generally simplistic plot with a very clear antagonist, and yet still has a myriad of visuals, a lot of humor, plus creative action scenes for all ages to enjoy.

Thor‘s sequel has a strong ensemble cast with an unpredictable plot. The story revolves around Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) as Thor’s love interest, who is infected by a dark, liquid-like super weapon called the Aether.

Meanwhile, Thor keeps tabs on his traitorous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleson) on his journey to rid Foster of the evil goo, spreading in the Dark World. Midway through the movie, Malakith (Chris Eccoleston), the main villain, is introduced. He plans to use the weapon of the evil goo to conquer all nine of the diverse god-like realms. This action packed film revolves around Thor’s journey to take down this dark elf, while also curing Foster of the Aether.

Audiences everywhere should appreciate the action and stunning special effects. In the first thirty minutes or so, the visual effects already proved to be state-of-the-art while the audience travels through the city of Azguard. The gatekeeper, Heimdall, played by Idris Embal, has an especially interesting presence because of his glowing eyes, subtle gestures, and the willingness to sacrifice everything to help Thor. As guardian of the Rainbow Bridge, his calmer attitude adds a nice contrast to the rest of the seemingly ambitious characters.

But, it was their interactions and humor that made the movie even better. Loki provides contrast between his imprudent stronger, older brother while he remains the more intellectual, witty and clever character. Hemsworth’s character seems to be less on the “brighter side”. Loki’s comical dialogue and his ability to relieve the audience from nerve-racking scenes make the movie much more entertaining to watch. He gives the audience false misconceptions to what would actually happen in a scene. Most of his antics add amusing twists in the movie revolved mostly around action.

Foster’s human research team also supplies audiences with a range of wild personalities. Dr. Eric Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) comically gets himself into a situation in which he gets locked up in a psych ward for his crazy methods of research.

Unfortunately, the climatic reunion between Thor and Foster was lacking in emotion. Thor expressed his concern for her well-being often at the end of the prequel and in The Avengers. Yet, in The Dark World, Thor has minimal interactions with Foster and is very focused on destroying his enemy, Malekith. Unfortunately, this dark elf is pretty much a one-dimensional villain, unlike other famous villains in comic book related films.

This sequel is a much better improvement than its predecessor as shown through its advancements in visuals. The clever screenplay keeps the audience chuckling in between the fast paced skirmishes and resolves with an explosive and unpredictable conclusion.