Looking at Loki, Special Edition

Review of the Film
Thor: The Dark World (Part One)

By Wolfen Moondaughter
December 2, 2013

Welcome to this special edition of my column! Yes, I know, by the time you read this, you'll probably have already seen the film -- I'm writing it in the weeks just after the release, but it won't go live for a few weeks more. Still, some of you might not have seen it, so just in case, I'll start off with a general review and warn when I'm about to get really spoilery.

First, a summary. Loki is imprisoned, and Thor is handling the strife that arose with the destruction of the Bifrost. Elsewhere, the dark elves are making plans for the Convergence, a celestial event that would, with the help of a substance known as the Aether, allow them to return the universe to its original darkness, thus restoring it to the state the elves prefer. When Jane, Thor's Earthling love, becomes infected with the Aether, the elves invade Asgard, prompting Thor to defy an uncooperative Odin and free Loki, whose help he needs ....

There's a lot more happening on Earth than I expected -- probably a good third of the movie at least, when I wanted barely any Earth at all. Clocking in at under two hours, the movie could have easily used another twenty minutes. Also, there were a couple of scenes in the trailers that were not in the film (actually, one looks to be a different version of a scene that was in the film, and which was also shown in trailers), a point I find quite vexing.

Otherwise, I enjoyed this film about equally with the first one -- which is good, because I really enjoyed that one -- but it wasn't what I was expecting, and thus it left me a bit disappointed in a few ways. If, from the trailers and early buzz, you're expecting an epic road trip through the nine realms, with Loki and the Warriors Three and Sif all adventuring with Thor and Jane, you won't find much of that.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston), wasn't in it more than 45 minutes, every second of which being my absolute favourite aspect of the film. That 45 minutes or so felt like only 15 or 20, but he could have been in the whole thing, and it probably wouldn't have been enough for me. That's not to say I didn't also love Thor, who was actually more enjoyable this time out, with how he's matured. Chris Hemsworth has made me love the character, whom I never did care for (and to be honest, still don't much care for most of the time) in the comics. I wouldn't want to cut any Thor scenes to get more Loki -- a lot of the best moments were of them together!

The Warriors Three seemed even less present than Loki, with barely any lines (and not even really in on the road trip part of the story), unless you count them being in the backgrounds. Fandral, you may have heard, has been recast. As much as I loved Joshua Dallas, I love Zachary Levi just as much in the role, and I desperately wish we'd gotten more of him in particular of the Three. (Also, I appreciate that he's apparently very dedicated to the character, apparently insisting that they dye his hair blond rather than just leave it brown, since that's how the character is in the comics.) Sif, happily, had a little more screentime than the Warriors -- although a good hunk of that was a matter of subtly reminding us of how she loves Thor. Even a strong woman must pine after a man, apparently (although Jane does so even more -- but at least Thor pines for her pretty badly in return). I'm happy with the screentime and level of activity that Heimdall (Idris Elba) gets, which is more than in the previous film (and more than the Warriors Three combined, I'd wager), especially given how awesomely ass-kicking he is!

Odin (Anthony Hopkins) underwent a bit of character assassination compared to how he was in the previous film, but I can't complain too much since that furthered both Thor and Loki's characterization nicely. Frigga (Rene Russo) had some fantastic moments, adding another badass female character to the series. I like Jane (Natalie Portman), and she had some great humourous parts and some moments to shine, but she also was a damsel quite a bit (which I guess is to be expected when everyone else is super-powered). I would have preferred she had been kept out of the story altogether, if it would have meant we'd have gotten the full-film questing adventure I'd been hoping for. On the flipside, though, there's Darcy (Kat Dennings); she was active in the film for a shocking amount, far more than the Warriors, and yet I can't say there's any moment of hers I would trim (other than dumping the earth stuff entirely). She added a truckload of levity -- very nearly almost as much as Loki!

The leader of the dark elves (the film's enemy force), Malekith (played by Christopher Eccleston, one of my favourite Doctors on Doctor Who and whose talent was wasted on this role), was surprisingly sympathetic for a character we didn't really get to know, just observe. Even so, this isn't a film like Spider-Man, where the villain is equally developed with the hero. We know very little about Malekith or his people by the end. This isn't terrible, exactly, as Malekith's true purpose is to serve as the mirror which Odin, Loki, and Thor are held up to, as well as to give the heroes a task for the purpose of character development. The real story is a struggle within family, not good versus evil or a crisis. As such, when the big climax comes, while it involves some impressive visuals, and the fight leading up to the final moment is great fun, it still feels a bit tacked-on; I had a hard time getting emotionally invested in it.

As for the issue of 2D versus 3D ... I love 3D, love even when it's just a subtle matter of more depth to the picture behind the screen rather than pronounced screenbreaking, so I will nearly always favour it. That being said, while I noticed enough of a difference to prefer it here, this isn't a film that needs to be seen that way. Even in the aerial fight scenes, it's not that big of a deal. If you have any problems at all viewing 3D, like double-vision or headaches, it likely won't be worth it for you.

Spoiler time! I'm about to dissect some details, then will move on to squeeing about bits I loved.

The film begins with Odin telling us about how the dark elves and the war Asgard had with them, with the Asgardians led by Odin's father, Bor. We see dark elves called The Kursed who sacrifice themselves for their cause by using these seed-things that give them great power but will kill them. Bor apparently later claimed that the elves were all destroyed, but their leader, Malekith, left some of his people to die so he and the rest could get to safety. The dark elves all wear these masks with eyes that remind a bit of Cybermen (also from Doctor Who). Appropriate, as they seem to have a bit of a hive mentality (not that they are all linked telepathically, but that they put the needs of their community as a whole before any individual, with individual lives holding next to no import).

There's a few key things to note here, as they will become important later. The first is that we are getting the war through Odin's perspective, and he's an unreliable narrator on two counts: one is that he wasn't there during that war, and the other is that his perspective is coloured by bias. We're told that Malekith and his people are evil, with parallels insinuated between Light / Dark and Good / Evil. And hey, if you just focus on the fact that they want to destroy everything as we know it, yes, we have reason to see it that way, especially after we're told that he sacrifices some of his own people in order to escape. But if you don't listen to Odin, it becomes increasingly evident over the course of the film that, as I said, his people willingly give themselves for the good of their society, and everything Malekith does is for that whole. He's not out for personal power; he wants to make the universe the home it once was, someplace more livable for the dark elves. His right-hand man, Algrim, even says that Malekith has made a sacrifice himself. There's a very touching scene where Malekith is sending an entirely willing Algrim off to his doom: they touch foreheads in farewell. We never see Odin do anything like this with any of his men. (Even Loki speaking with the men he was mentally controlling in The Avengers, Hawkeye and Selvig, seemed to show them a warmer, more respectful and companionable demeanor! Of course, it might be a matter of seeing them as extensions of himself, even if he wasn't actually in their heads constantly ....)

To the dark elves, everyone who is of the Light is a usurper, and the coming of Light was a natural disaster. The purpose of the masks seems to be two-fold: first, to trick the audience into seeing them as inhuman and, like the Cybermen, unfeeling, stone-faced beings. They are Other, to be feared and hated. Secondly, to symbolise how they are of one mind (even if they aren't telepathic). Even Malekith wears the same mask, with nothing to distinguish him from the rest. This is arguably a matter of two species who cannot coexist, rather than a war of good and evil.

It's interesting how this film, like the first, features an entire race at odds with Asgard, as ancient enemies. It makes one wonder in retrospect just how complete Odin's story is at the start of the last film, if there are reasons for the Jotuns' actions besides a cruel nature. And yet, when Thor talked about wanting to teach the Jotuns a lesson, Odin chided him for it, and was upset when Thor broke the hard-won peace with a race that seems, from Odin's perspective, as bad as the dark elves. Curious.

I've already talked at length about the next scene, where Loki is brought before Odin, who then passes judgement on him, a bit already in the Looking at Loki edition in our Features section. I concentrated on Loki in that; here, I'll concentrate on Odin.

Odin points out to Loki that Loki has killed people. Loki doesn't get why that's a problem, figuring that those were just mortals and he's a god. Odin snaps that they are not gods, that they too live and die. This, at least, is in keeping with Odin as we knew him in the first film: the one who saved humanity from the Jotuns, who saved a baby Jotun, and who was reluctant to go to war again. But he doesn't stay this way. Note that Odin doesn't bring up Jotunheim specifically, only the "mortals"; perhaps he doesn't mind so much after all that Loki killed the frost giants, even if he does accuse Loki of bringing death and destruction wherever he goes? Later, I get the impression that his concern is more about what happened after Thor destroyed the Bifrost to stop Loki. At any rate, to the statement of living and dying like mortals, Loki smirks at what seems an absurd comparison to him, saying flippantly, "Give or take 5000 years!" Odin's not happy with that sentiment, despite agreeing with it later.

Loki says he was claiming his birthright; Odin reminds him that his birthright was to die, abandoned on a cold stone, and that if not for Odin, Loki wouldn't even be standing there right then to hate him. In his own (admittedly understandable) anger, Odin seems to forget that he told Loki (apparently repeatedly, according to Loki later; we saw it ourselves once, in the first film) that Loki would be a king, raised him to believe it was his birthright, so Loki didn't exactly make that up, even if he went about claiming it in a horrible fashion.

I know Loki's done great wrong, but the hurt look on his face in reaction to his father saying he should have left him to die is gutting -- especially if Loki really doesn't understand what he did wrong. The way Loki says "If I am for the axe, then swing it!", followed by "It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just ... I don't love them," seems more to me than just a matter of Loki making light of the conversation and saying he's sick of listening to Odin. It hints that other interactions with his father in the past might have been equally as unpleasant -- possibly without Loki actually having done something to warrant it. I also have to wonder if being beheaded was what Loki truly expected to happen -- or maybe even wanted on some level, fearing that what everyone said about him might be true.

Loki's face when Odin declares that he shall spend the rest of his life in the dungeons, never to see Frigga again, is also heart-wrenching. For a moment, when Loki asks "What of Thor?", I wonder if he's asking if he is forbidden to see Thor again as well -- and perhaps part of him is asking that, but what he then presents is outrage at the idea that the "witless" Thor should end up on the throne.

The whole sequence nicely parallels Odin's banishment of Thor in the first film. Also, for Loki, it's a bit of deja-vu, since he was abandoned by Laufey once, and now Odin is doing the same (don't credit him with the kindness of Loki's cell and continued survival when that's Frigga's doing -- unless Odin is just using her as an excuse so as not to seem weak).

Later, Odin suggests that Thor forget about Jane. When Jane goes missing from Heimdall's special sight, Thor finds her and brings her back to Asgard because something is very wrong with her. Odin flips out over Thor not listening and looking for her, and especially over Thor bringing her to Asgard. Odin insists that, as she's mortal (as if he hadn't pointed out to Loki that Asgardians die, just as humans do), she means nothing to them who are so long-lived, that her problems are hers, and she must go back to Asgard that instant. He even says that bringing her to Asgard is like bringing a goat to a banquet! It's a complete turnaround from his earlier attitude about humans. Maybe he just wants to save Thor the heartbreak of her dying in what's practically a blink to them, but Odin's a real jerk to her, not just Thor, and he's trying to take Thor's choice away from him. (Funny that Odin feels that Jane has no place in Asgard, but Odin saw nothing wrong in sending Thor to her world for his banishment.)

A short while later, Odin tells Thor about the Aether, the dark elves, and Malekith. When Thor asks if the dark elves are still around, Odin, sounding proud, says that his father had destroyed them all, refusing to consider the possibility that the story isn't true. While I don't fault Odin for wanting the dark elves gone, this is a chilling difference between the man who tried to teach his sons to value peace, intended to put Loki on Jotunheim's throne to further ensure that peace (rather than destroy the Jotuns or treat them as conquered), and who chided Loki (gently, even!) for trying to destroy Jotunheim. True, we'd seen a glimpse of the Odin of the comics, who would often fly into great rages, in the first film, when he'd banished Thor, but he's much more like that version in this film, his wisdom -- and sanity -- becoming increasingly questionable. (Understand, I am not hating on Odin. In fact, if I'm going to pity Loki for his madness, I must do the same for Odin.)

Later, when Thor points out the danger that they're in and offers a plan to get them out of it, Odin refuses to try it. When Thor asks how many Asgardian lives Odin is willing to throw away defending against an enemy they can't even see, Odin snarls, "As many as are needed!" Yes, Odin is grieving, but so is Thor, and you don't see Thor treating their people as expendable, or even calling for a murderous rampage against the elves. So how exactly is Odin different from Malekith, whom he'd essentially called evil for sacrificing his people's lives? Odin's answer is that he will win. I would add that Malekith's people don't seem to value their own lives as individuals at all, but I'm betting Asgardians do.

So perhaps Loki isn't having a problem not seeing a difference between his and Odin's methods of rule after all -- maybe there isn't really one. Perhaps Odin is being hypocritical -- or at least as blind to his own actions as Loki seems to be.

For that matter, how is Odin, who is willing to throw his own people away like cannon fodder, so much nobler than Loki, who also just purposefully killed those who were enemies to him (even if the definition of enemy was often stretched), he rest being collateral damage rather than deaths out of malice? Why is Odin cool with Bor committing genocide, but not Loki, when both were acts of war, yet Loki's tactic had seemingly better success (unless some Jotuns did manage to survive?) and spared countless Asgardian lives (or would have, if not for Thor destroying the Bifrost and thus starting wars elsewhere)? Yes, Loki helped rekindle the war in the first place, but Laufey didn't have to take him up on his offer, still chose to break the treaty. Yes, Loki had selfish reasons for destroying Jotunheim, but that doesn't mean he wasn't also hoping to protect Asgard. (And if Odin didn't want him to see all Jotuns as monsters and act accordingly, perhaps Odin should have worked harder to make his people stop talking about them as such, at least around Loki and Thor. For that matter, I wonder what Odin old his people about how he got Loki -- surely they knew he wasn't Frigga's child?)

But I won't deny that, in order to obtain his objectives, Loki does spend lives -- like that of the guard whom the Jotuns killed when breaking into the vault in the first film. Maybe he had more faith in that guard's ability to defend himself than proved warranted, but that still doesn't change that Loki endangered the man for a prank (even if the intent was to keep a potentially bad ruler, who may have endangered many more lives, off the throne). Of interesting note: Thor and Odin did not remark on the dead guard at all when discussing the situation, much less check to see if he might still be alive -- Odin even said "All is well"!

Let's move on to Loki's encounter with Frigga. We learn that she's seen to it that Loki's cell is furnished and that he has reading material. An ungrateful Loki wonders testily whether Odin and Thor share her concern for him. Though it's clear that she still loves him, she also isn't pandering to him, letting him know that she disapproves of his actions and feels he does indeed deserve to be punished. When Odin had confronted him about whether Loki truly felt the gravity of his actions, Loki's retort that he was just doing what Odin had done seemed as much an effort to point out Odin's hypocrisy as a matter of defending himself. Here, when he snaps that he was just trying to "give truth to the lie [he] was told since birth, that [he is] a king", it felt more guileless, a raw remark made out of frustration and anger, convincing me all the more that he actually believes it -- or at the very least, that he has convinced himself of it. If there's anyone he might have a hard time lying to, it's Frigga, who is as close to him as Thor is to Odin -- probably even more so.

There's support of the theory that Loki cannot easily lie to her a few moments later. Frigga starts to argue the point Loki claims about Odin having killed more than Loki, calling Odin "your father," and Loki screams that Odin is not his father. She asks if she, then, is not his mother. Loki's put in an awkward position there. His statement that Odin is not his father, which allows him to disown Odin as Odin has basically disowned him, is based on the fact that Odin is not his biological father. By that standard, Frigga is not his mother. He's visibly stricken by the realisation, appearing regretful of his words. I don't think there's any malice intended as he, after visibly steeling himself, says no, she isn't. Perhaps there's even a bit of self-recrimination, there, a feeling that it would be a slight on her if he were to claim her as his mother, since he is a Jotun, a monster. The very next moment, he seems grieved, like he's about to cry, as he reaches out to her. Ironically, despite an arguable effort here to be honest about who he is, she tells him that he is observant of everyone but himself.

He lays his hands in hers; as he does, they pass through hers, and she fades away, revealing to us that she's not really there. Apparently the movie storybook has a scene after this (I've only seen a mention of the excerpt), in which Thor confronts Frigga, asking something to the effect of why she still dotes on Loki. As the film has no such sequence, I was left wondering if she'd actually visited at all, or if Loki had conjured her, partially out of loneliness and partially as an act of self-recrimination. Assuming it really is her, it's unclear whether Frigga is going behind Odin's back to astrally visit Loki in his cell, or if the fact that she's not physically there means it doesn't count as "seeing" her.

Algrim, now Kursed, infiltrates the dungeon by pretending to be a captive of a battle; he gets free of his cell and sets other prisoners free, creating chaos. When he gets to Loki, though, after pausing a moment, he passes Loki by. Loki tells him to take a certain stairwell; I can see a few reasons Loki would do this. The first is a bit of revenge on Odin and Thor. The second is a love of chaos. The third is that, if Asgard is successfully overtaken, he would be in good with whoever was now in command, and likely set free. Unfortunately for him, this leads to Algrim helping his people gain entry to Asgard -- and later killing Frigga.

I love how well Frigga holds her own in battle, and I love that she dies protecting the one Thor loves, but it's too bad Jane had to hide and wasn't given a chance to defend herself. I kind of feel like Jane was thrown under the bus to make Frigga look awesome. (For that matter, Odin as he was in the previous film was arguably thrown under the bus to make Thor and Loki both look better.)

Loki is reading when a guard tells him of Frigga's death. (I wonder who thought to tell him?) He gives a simple nod of acknowledgement. After the guard leaves, though, he stands -- and then destroys everything in the cell with a burst of power. Apparently, we have Hiddleston to thank for this -- he suggested the entire sequence, as there was nothing to that effect in the script already.

In fact, we may have Hiddleston to thank for Loki's role in the movie and a huge part of the plot. I had come across an interview a while back where he said his ultimate hope for the character was that he would redeem himself and fight side-by-side with Thor again. Apparently he said as much to the producer, Kevin Feige, that Loki had already been the villain twice and, if he was going to be in this third installment, he needed to do something new. (Well, okay, Loki isn't exactly redeemed, not with the reveal at the end, but he is doing better this time out.)

So I wonder -- is Loki's destruction just like Thor's enraged table-flipping in the first film, just venting frustration on whatever's at hand? Or is it that he is destroying the reminders of his mother? Or is it that he feels he doesn't deserve those comforts, maybe having guessed that he is at least partially responsible for her death? (I wonder if Thor blames himself at all for Frigga's death because he brought Jane to Asgard?)

When Thor comes up with a plan that requires sneaking out of Asgard, he turns to Loki, the only one who knows any way out other than those controlled by Odin. Half-mocking, half bitter, the still-incarcerated Loki asks if Thor has finally come to visit to gloat and mock. Thor tells Loki not to keep up the illusion anymore -- and so the whole cell changes from how we saw it before Loki flipped, when it was all nice and neat, into an even worse mess than last we saw it. Loki, now coatless and barefoot, is revealed to be actually sitting at the back of the cell, looking like he's on drugs and has been in a fight. Hiddleston revealed that the costume, which had been elegant the moment before, is (officially!!) meant to reflect Loki's self-hatred and despair. So if no other opinion can be truly trusted about Loki's emotional states and motives, we can at least now trust that it's canon that he loved Frigga -- and hated himself to a pretty big degree.

Loki asks if Frigga suffered (and of course I'm eating the angst up). Thor says that he did not come down there to share grief, and for a moment I'm saddened -- but then he says he came to offer a far greater sacrament, revealing that he needs Loki's help. He offers a chance at revenge, adding the caveat that Loki will be returned to his cell when it's over. Loki questions Thor coming to him; Thor says that Frigga trusted Loki, but adds that Loki is no longer protected by any hope in Thor that the brother he knew is still in Loki somewhere. If Loki betrays him, Thor will kill him. Despite the promise of re-imprisonment and the threat of death, Loki simply asks, "When do we start?"

And here I'll leave you, until next week!

For the Love of Loki — My review of the first Thor live-action film (at Pink Raygun), with heavy Loki-centric commentary.
Thor; Tales of Asgard — My review of the animated film, with some commentary on Loki.
The Avengers — My review of the film, with some commentary on Loki.
Marvel.com

Looking at Loki, Special Edition

Review of the FilmThor: The Dark World (Part One)

Review of the Film
Thor: The Dark World (Part One)