The Norse god of thunder has returned to wage war and save the world—all nine realms, in fact—in Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World. With almost all of the major characters from the first movie returning,minus those from S.H.I.E.L.D., and a few new additions, this continuation of the battles of the great prince of Asgard is definitely worth taking a look at.

Remember Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of Thor Odinson? Well, he’s back and as god-like as ever. Also returning are astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the adopted brother of Thor, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård)  and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), the smart but quirky intern who isn’t afraid to use her trusty taser. Anthony Hopkins is back as Odin, King of Asgard, although he seems to run a chance of fading from the cast list in the future. Among the new characters are Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), the evil antagonist, and Ian Boothby (Jonathan Howard), Darcy’s slightly mistreated and under-appreciated intern.

In this sequel, the nine realms have been in a state of turmoil and war after Loki’s betrayal—both in the first movie and during the incident at the center of Marvel’s The Avengers. It has been up to Thor and his fellow Asgardians to bring peace. With Loki locked up in the dungeons and Asgard near peace, it would seem things might actually work out. But like all superhero movies, this is when everything goes wrong. Jane has spent the last two years trying to move on and get over Thor, even though he would return to her immediately, as he’d promised.

While everyone else is busy, an ancient evil has awoken. The Dark Elves, a race of creatures from the dawn of the Universe, have sensed the Convergence, the perfect lining up of the nine realms that occurs only once every 5,000 years. With the coming of the Convergence, the Aether, a dangerous substance, threatens to destroy the entire universe. Malekith, the malicious leader of the Dark Elves, plans to use the Aether to do just that. He wishes to turn the Universe dark again, like it was in the beginning. It’s up to Thor to stop him and save  Earth and all nine realms and everyone on them.

The return of the prince of Asgard was welcomed by many fans. The movie holds the promise of more character development, plot twists, conspiracy galore, and some  decent acting, in addition to great special effects and music. The fact that Thor is not the oaf he was before, providing words and wit as sharp as the characters’ blades, The Dark World is definitely an improvement from the first movie. Even though the movie is titled with the name of the main protagonist, it’s Hiddleston’s Loki who really takes the spotlight and the hearts of viewers.

However, not everything was quite as good. Some of the comedy was forced and some acting was over the top. The ending was not very climactic, providing viewers with a more calm and boring closure than  the rest of the movie.

While Loki held a special place for most fans of the previous movie, Malekith provokes no such sympathy; he is simply there and uncared for. Possibly one of the worst villains in any of Marvel’s movie productions, Malekith could have used more work to make viewers feel something for him.

With its special effects and thrilling excitement, and don’t forget all those wonderful plot twists, Thor: The Dark World vaults itself above the competing releases in theatres with $86 million at the box office. Not necessarily the “best Marvel movie to date,” yet not terrible. It does a pretty good job as a sequel.