This week on Marvel Movie Minute, we dive into minutes 61 through 65 of Thor: The Dark World, otherwise known as “the part where Loki absolutely steals the damn show.” We open with Loki cracking a joke and—spoiler alert—we close with Loki cracking a joke. Along the way, he shape-shifts into Captain America (complete with Chris Evans doing a hilarious self-parody), earns a slap from Jane that actually lands with more moral weight than most of Odin’s speeches, and generally needles Thor in the way only a mischievous brother can.And let’s be honest: these five minutes work because they’re fun. Yes, the plan makes no sense, but Loki’s dry wit papers over the cracks like duct tape on a leaky boat. We get Sif threatening Loki with a sword (which, apparently, the internet has decided is erotically charged—thank you, Matthew), we get a ragtag “Ocean’s Eleven but make it Norse” jailbreak that somehow doesn’t fall apart under its own nonsense, and we even get some ethical musings about whether knocking out Asgardian guards is morally better than killing them. (Spoiler: it is. Probably.)Of course, Odin shows up to deliver his usual brand of Shakespearean thunder without any real substance behind it. Anthony Hopkins can bellow “by any means necessary” all he likes, but we don’t really buy that Odin would send troops to kill Thor. Still, the visuals mostly land—the transformations are cleverly staged behind columns, the alien skiff adds a nice visual break from the endless golden halls, and while the green-screen seams are showing more than we’d like, the overall scale keeps the escape feeling weighty.In short, these five minutes may not be the smartest heist Marvel ever staged, but they’re five perfectly fine minutes of Loki-driven fun. And sometimes, that’s enough.Film Sundries

• Watch this film: Apple • Amazon • Letterboxd
• Script
• Trailer #1
• Trailer #2
• Poster artwork
• Original Material
• Season 8 Music by Martin Puehringer
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