by Thom Yee

Thor: The Dark World images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Looking at the core Avengers, my favourite by far is Hawkeye, though that’s entirely for his comicbook interpretation rather than what little they gave him to do in the film.  Second would be Captain America largely because of the strength of Ed Brubaker’s run on the title (much of which directly inspired the upcoming Winter Soldier) and because they got the character so right in The First Avenger.  Thor is a distant third after those two, and yet for me, his film reigns supreme in the entire Marvel Studios pantheon thus far.  I was incredibly impressed by Thor, much moreso than what I had expected, and I came out of the theatre with a true sense of the character and his world.

As with all things supehero, though, when it came time for the sequel, I felt a bit of trepidation, unsure that a new director would be able to effectively re-capture what I liked so much in the first.  When that first teaser hit, if nothing else, the thing that most excited me about Thor:  The Dark World was the suggestion of a world even bigger than the one we’ve seen and seen hinted at in all of the films so far.  What finally really made me excited though was just the image of Thor being thrown back by a punch from the film’s villain, Malekith: Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

I kind of feel like I owe you guys an explanation.  At the beginning of our Iron Man 3 simul-review from this past summer, I put forward the following as my list of Marvel Studios movies (best to worst):

1. Thor
2. Captain America
3. The Avengers
4. The Incredible Hulk
5. Iron Man 2
6. Iron Man

I put my list forward knowing full well that very few would agree with it.  First, I should say that, as a comic fan and from as impartial a place as I can come from, I think all the Marvel Studios movies are generally strong, even while acknowledging that none of them are my absolute favourite superhero movie.  I liked them all, have no major complaints so far, and I find the overall consistency of the movies almost astonishing; not a Green Lantern among them.

I put my list forward knowing full well that it might seem contrarian and designed to go against the grain of conventional wisdom.  Thor as the best of the Marvel Studios movies?  That’s not a popular sentiment.  It’s rated relatively well among them, but it’s still well behind the obvious favourites (Iron Man and The Avengers).

I put my list forward knowing full well that, at some point, I would probably have to defend my position.  That point, that day, just before we enter into the Dark World, is today.

Continue reading →