“Thor: The Dark World” sails high in first at the box office, earning $85.7 million after only it’s first week in theaters.

Chris Hemsworth reprised his role as The Mighty Thor in this darker and somewhat grittier sequel wherein Asgard is set upon by a new and alarming threat when Malakith, leader of the Dark Elves vows vengeance upon the Gods for thwarting his chance to rule the universe and cast it  back into the darkness from whence it was born.

Thor: The Dark World has all the makings of a hard-hitting, non-stop action-adventure story, but for the fact that it relies too highly upon moments of slapstick humor that are more fitting for an Abbott and Costello movie.

Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster, the beautiful astrophysicist who captures the heart of the god of thunder.  Following Foster into danger once more is Darcy Lewis, a sarcastic hipster chick who interns for Jane Foster and though she is meant to deliver comedic relief, she really only comes off as annoying and the film would do just fine without her.

“Thor: The Dark World” suffers from too many jokes, whether its a whacky scientist who runs around without trousers or a supposedly silver-tongued intern whipping wise-cracks while really contributing nothing to the plot.  The humor is just exhausting and after the fourth time seeing the same punch line regurgitated, I found myself asking, “why is this funny?”

Christopher Eccleston makes for a formidable challenge as Thor’s nemesis, Malakith, who seeks destroy Asgard once and for all.  Eccleston is evil, menacing, and viciously cold – the perfect villain to challenge the Mighty Thor.  I would have liked this film much more if there was more of Malakith and less Darcy.

Anthony Hopkins is Odin, king of the Gods and father of Thor.  As great as actor as he is, Hopkins is really just a talking head, like in the first Thor, who says a lot and does very little, leaving all the hard work to Thor.

Flashy special effects, tense action sequences, and zany quips leave me hanging on what exactly “Thor: The Dark World” is trying to do.  Should I be on the edge of my seat?  Are my sides splitting from the hilarity of it all?  I don’t know. I’m not against the occasional joke in an action flick, but this one seems to rely too much on humor to pad out the action, otherwise, we’d have a really good movie.

“Thor: The Dark World” is in theaters now, but it’s just another Redbox or Netflix pick in my opinion.