The Art of Thor the Dark World is a major improvement over "The Art of Thor the Movie", which had far too many pages of abstract designs for Jotunheim, and too few of the main characters and Asgard. TDW has more visually stimulating settings, and the Dark Elves are also more interesting than Jotuns. And here, the text enhances and expands upon the art in a meaningful way.
The book is laid out in a logical progression that mostly mirrors the film's narrative. All of the main characters have an updated look, but rather than just running through them all at once, they are covered as it relates to the story and settings. The movie opens with backstory narrative of the Dark Elves, and the Art book opens (after the introduction) with an overview of the Book of Yggdrasil, and how its design was based on illuminated texts. The film then jumps to our hero, Sif and the Warriors Three, engaged in battle. Thus, the book runs through their costume updates, as well as the development of Vanaheim, the look of its people and of the Marauders who are attacking them. The prose helps put the images in perspective by explaining the artists/filmmakers choices, and even how they tie back to the comic source. One of my favorite pages in this section is the evolution of Mjolnir, with a picture of each incarnation from the three films laid side by side. This made it much easier to see the subtle, but effective, differences.
The book then devotes a hefty section to the development of the Dark Elves, their technology and ships. It was time well spent. I thought the ships in the film were visually stunning and very creative, and it was interesting to see how they evolved and from where the artists drew inspiration. The editor discusses how Malekith was necessarily adapted from his comic book look and how the elves' masks came to be. When Jane comes to Asgard, the book follows her there. Most of the rest of the book is dedicated to Asgard's updated look. Alan Taylor had a specific vision to ground Asgard in reality, while still showing their advanced technology. The book goes through each of the major sets of Asgard, such as the Throne Room, Hall of Science, Medina, Frigga's chambers and the dungeons. The section then highlights the changes to characters as they relate to Asgard: Jane, Heimdall, Odin, Frigga and Loki.
The book closes with a very brief mention of the marketing for the film. Again, I feel Marvel should either expand on this or do a book specifically about the marketing for these films since it is so interesting.
The exterior covers mimic the design imagery of the Book of Yggdrasil and the book comes enclosed in slipcase, with full color wrap-around imagery. The front of the slipcase has Thor from the teaser poster, and the back has Loki as seen on his character poster in the destroyed throne room. Overall, this book is incredibly well done and quite beautiful. Highly recommended.
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Blank pages
I love the art book but when I received the item it was opened and there are at least 10 blank pages in the book. It looks like several pages didn’t print! So sad since I was looking forward to this book.
Top reviews from other countries
J. McDonald 🏴
Marvel's Thor: The Dark World - The Art of the Movie.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2020