The Alabama football team has been boring to watch lately. For the past several years, they have absolutely demolished some other teams and have won a handful of national championships, but ultimately they are a boring squad. 

Thor is a lot like that Alabama team, pounding opponents into oblivion with seeming ease and with almost no effort.

There are no stakes whatsoever in “Thor: The Dark World.” What makes superheroes interesting is that they are flawed individuals with weaknesses. Even Superman has kryptonite, but Thor, well, most of his weakness lies in his emotions. 

If I cared at all about Jane Foster, then this movie might be more interesting. Portman’s Jane Foster is seemingly no damsel in distress, but like Lois Lane, we are simply told that she is smart and we as an audience are supposed to love her because the hero likes her.

The plot is weak. The Aether is a boring McGuffin, it is a substance that Malekith the Dark Elf is after and there is also a plot involving “the convergence” of all the realms that happens once every 5,000 years. Based on the post-credits scene, it will obviously tie in to Marvel’s upcoming “Guardians of the Galaxy” and Avengers sequel, but it does not have enough substance on its own.

The villain and plot are so generic that I cannot understand the need for these solo films if their stories are so boring. Other than Loki, has there been even a semi-interesting villain in any of the Marvel movies? 

There is your solution right there, Marvel: use more Loki. He has far more charisma and is much more multi-dimensional that all the other characters introduced in Thor’s world, so use him more often.

The rest of the characters are one-note, boring, and a waste of all the talent involved. Odin and Heimdall are still short-changed in this outing and if you somewhat enjoyed Kat Denning’s Darcy, be prepared to find her quipping dialogue tiresome by movie’s end.

This is far and away the least interesting Marvel movie released, and that is taking into account I recently re-watched “Iron Man 2.”

Grade: C+

Director: Alan Taylor

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings

Rating: PG-13