Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston Director: Alan Taylor

    SUPERHERO sequel “Thor: The Dark World” is a gloriously entertaining film that delivers spectacle, action, a daft elf villain, some smart 3D moments and — most importantly — a whole lot of fun as it weaves its tale of derring-do on various worlds, before ending up back on Earth for a no-holds-barred action climax.

    It is to the credit of director Alan Taylor and an strikingly strong group of actors — who take it all appropriately seriously but also make the most of some very amusing moments — that “Thor: The Dark World” delivers its epic entertainment. Yes it may all be rather familiar — dark villain plans to unleash a universe destroying weapon — but the film moves at a brisk pace and weaves gods and Earthlings together beautifully.

    The film had its world premiere in Britain and opened in some international spots Oct. 30, prior to U.S. and Asian releases Friday.

    Only a modest chunk of the film is set on Earth this time, with the majority of the drama and action taking place in Asgard (as well as a few other fantasy realms), as compared to Kenneth Branagh’s original “Thor,” which deposited the Norse god on Earth for most of its second half and lost its momentum and sense of excitement. This time around the special effects are there for the action as much as the sweeping fantasy worlds, with Chris Hemsworth having really grown into the role and delivering a nicely nuanced performance … as well as a resolutely muscular one.

    A prologue details an ancient battle between the Dark Elves and the heroic Asgardians, led by Odin’s father, for control of a deadly force called the “Aether” with the Asgardian’s foiling a plan to detonate the Aether and leaving the Dark Elves’ leader Malekith (a heavily made-up though still distinctive Christopher Eccleston) to escape to a centuries-long slumber.

    Centuries later while Thor is busy restoring peace up in Asgard and the nine realms, his lady love Jane Foster (a nicely feisty Natalie Portman) is searching for her hammer-throwing hunk in London and somehow (in a rather haphazardly plotted and rather clunky sequence) accidentally becomes the host for the Aether, which causes Malekith to awake and make her something of a living weapon while on Earth.

    Up in Asgard she is tended by doctors and taken under the wing of Odin’s wife Frigga (a nicely developed role for Rene Russo, who had little to do in the original), but at the same time draws an attack by Malekith and his Elvish hordes. With Asgard devastated, Thor is forced to release his evil half-brother Loki (the excellent Tom Hiddleston, whose performance has been a highlight of the two “Thor” films as well as “Avengers”) and try to stop Malekith from destroying the worlds.

    The sequences back on Earth are defined by a more playful sense of humor than the more goings-on in Asgard, with Kat Dennings as Jane’s assistant Darcy using her trademark hilarious withering line delivery to good effect, and Stellan Skarsgard as Jane’s boss Dr. Erik Selvig going off the deep-end with his character’s naked prance around Stonehenge. Naturally enough, though, they end up helping to save the day as the Dark Elves arrive in Greenwich in London (landing right in the middle of the Royal Naval College) to try and activate the full deadly force of the Aether.

    The film all fits together rather nicely. Asgard is beautifully imagined and costumed and “Thor: The Dark World” really hits its stride when it comes to Thor and Loki realizing that they will have to work together to try and get the better of Malekith. Their characters slightly bend and waver as they dwell on the bond between them and naturally there are twists aplenty as they go to battle.

    The delightful moments of genuine humor, though, are what give the film its edge and quality. From Thor politely hanging up his hammer on a coat hook when he walks into Selvig’s flat through to him having to take the underground from Charing Cross back to Greenwich mid-battle (though in a clear mistake he is told it is only three stops to Greenwich, when any Londoner knows it is far more) the humor balances the action and keeps it from being yet another monotonous superhero romp.

    The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies)