This week, Matthew and Pete stare directly into the Aether cyclone — a swirling red blender of pixels that somehow counts as the film’s climactic battlefield. Inside the maelstrom, Thor and Malekith throw portal-spears, lose limbs, and generally behave like two action figures who’ve been dropped into a malfunctioning screensaver.When the dust settles (literally), Malekith’s defeat arrives courtesy of Erik Selvig’s trusty space-remote, which sends a collapsing Dark Elf ship straight onto the villain’s head. It’s both absurd and somehow exactly the kind of punchline this movie keeps delivering on accident.Then we hop to Earth for a bowl of Shreddies and a whole lot of anticlimax before jumping to Asgard, where Thor turns down the crown with the kind of earnest sincerity that almost makes you forget he’s talking to Loki in an Odin wig. Family drama, abdication, unresolved royal business — it’s all here, wrapped in five minutes that try very hard to be profound while the movie around them quietly packs its bags.Only a few minutes remain before we finally escape this movie’s gravitational pull and sprint toward The Winter Soldier. Hold fast, brave listeners.If you want to hear these conversations unfold in real-time, join the Marvel Movie Minute community at trustory.fm/join, where members get early access, invitations to live stream recordings, and other bonus content.Film Sundries

• Watch this film: Apple • Amazon • Letterboxd
• Script
• Trailer #1
• Trailer #2
• Poster artwork
• Original Material
• Season 8 Music by Martin Puehringer
• Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel!

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