I have been fascinated with superhero movies since the day I watched the original “

” in 2002. Tobey Maguire proved to me that an ordinary guy could become a hero with the bite of a spider. However, as time progressed, Marvel Comics astounded me more and more with each of their superhero additions to the world of films.

I was thoroughly impressed by “Thor,” which came to the movie screens in 2011. And even in 2012 when “The Avengers” was released, Thor managed to hold onto his character. But Nov. 8 when the second addition to the film series of “Thor” was released titled “

,” I was intrigued to see how it measured up to the first installment.

Of course the majority of the cast remained the same; 

, who played Thor, obviously, and

, once again playing the role of infamous Loki, stole the limelight once again with the addition of

playing the role of the enemy invader, Malekith. In this film, an old conflict is revived between Asgard, Thor’s home planet, and the Dark Elf Malekith who once fought Thor’s grandfather, Bor, for control over the Nine Realms. Malekith has been in a deep sleep since the ancient weapon, the Aether, was safeguarded by Bor in a stone column. However, when the Aether is revived, Malekith is awakened and is prepared to regain control of this powerful weapon. I’ll leave how the weapon is uncovered a secret, but it is the basis for Thor’s great involvement in the fight against Malekith. Now that Malekith is up, he plans to destroy the universe using the Aether, when the alignment of the Nine Realms, called the Convergence, occurs. Thor and his gang, including his father, Odin (

), his mother, Frigga (

), Volstagg (

), Heimdall (

), as well as the crew back on Earth, Dr. Erik Selvig (

), Darcy Lewis (

) and Thor’s love, Jane Foster (

), work their hardest to stop this vengeance from becoming reality.

What made this movie great is ultimately the conflict between Thor and his imprisoned brother Loki. For those who have seen the recent Marvel massive superhero movie, “The Avengers,” you know that Loki was taken into captivity and returned to Asgard with Thor because of his attempt to subjugate planet Earth. Now that he is back on his homeland, he is stuck in the Asgardian prison. However, when Thor gets stuck on his mission to save Asgard from Malekith and the Aether, he must come to Loki for assistance. There is a lot at stake when Thor seeks out help from his imprisoned brother; Loki could betray Thor once again and ruin the entire mission, or he could be the key to saving the entire planet. It is the setup for a perfect conflict.

This movie kept my attention throughout the entire two-hour showing. The violence remained captivating, the love interest was there, the plot was very followable and throughout the entire movie there were points when evil looks like it’s going to come out on top. However, as in any good superhero movie, the good triumphs all.

People think it’s strange that a girl would be so enthralled with movies filled with violence, action and sometimes even gore, but that stuff is what excites me. I love a good action movie where I don’t know what’s going to happen next and I’m sitting on the edge of my seat wondering if the good guy is actually going to overcome evil again. This movie definitely marked off every requirement that I have for a good-quality superhero movie.

Thor: The Dark World