Whereas Mark Ruffalo’s bumbling interpretation of the character has a gravitational charm, Norton’s moping monster is void of any charisma. It’s a dull affair: Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith is (by far) Marvel’s worst villain, being a pile of prosthetics with zero personality, while Chris Hemsworth’s Thor completes one of the most unrealistic London Tube journeys in all of cinematic history.Įdward Norton’s version of the smashing Hulk often gets forgotten by Marvel fans – and for good reason. Directed by Game of Thrones’s Alan Taylor, The Dark World prioritises its VFX effects above all else. When the Thor franchise lost its director Kenneth Branagh between the first and second films, it also had to kiss goodbye to the Shakespearean theatrics that had lent it a sense of goofy charm. The result is a film without any direction that serves as a Trojan horse set-up for the Avengers. Rather than act as a straight sequel to the surprisingly successful Iron Man, Marvel Studios decided to overstuff the film with universe-building references (Black Widow, Nick Fury and SHIELD’s Agent Coulson all make appearances) and two-dimensional villains (played by Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke). 39 hidden gems to stream while self-isolating.Every Pixar film ranked from worst to best.The 30 best Disney films: From The Lion King to Frozen.