Wednesday comes upon us, and the call to travel to another world comes with it- a colour world of heroes and villains... the Marvel Cinematic Universe... Odin is dead, releasing his daughter Hela from her long confinement.  She begins her conquest of Asgard, and sweeps across the planet swiftly and viciously. It is up to Thor to stop her, but he's stranded on a gladiator planet across the cosmos without his hammer.  His only hope of defeating Hela lies within an ancient prophecy about the end of Asgard... Of the Thor movies to date, " Thor: Ragnarok " is by one of the strongest ones story-wise.  It's grounded more in the characters, and moves along at a quicker pace than the others.  I loved the shift in tone from the strong operatic one in " Dark World ", to the slightly more modern and vibrant one of "Ragnarok".  A really marvelous blend of action, drama, and humour that elevated this movie about the standard fare. This movie also give...

Time once again to traipse along the MCU timeline, with this week's sojourn taking us to 2013's " Thor: The Dark World ". Eons after their defeat at the hands of Odin, the Dark Elves have returned to the Nine Realms- wishing to unleash the power of one of the Infinity Stones upon the Realms, and return them to the darkness from which they sprang. All that stands between them and the unwitting host of the stone, Jane Foster- is Thor and Loki... " Thor: The Dark World " is considered one of the weaker Thor movies.  I would say that it's equal to the first one in terms of strength.  The story is grand and operatic- which is extremely fitting given that the story centers around Norse gods.  I found it interesting, if not completely engaging.  I did find myself contemplating my cheesy poofs a few times during it.  It's certainly more complex than the first movie, but not as fun as as the third one. I loved the development of the characters of T...

Centuries before we had comics, we had mythology- stories that created the super human stereotypes that are used by many comic book characters today. So it was only natural that the gods and goddesses of old would wind up being translated into the modern medium.  The Norse god Thor was one such god.  And not only that, he then got translated into movie form as part of the MCU's 2011 "Thor"... Arrogant, cocky, and headstrong, Thor breaks a treaty between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants.  As punishment, he is banished to Midgard- a planet inhabited by primitive creatures with potential for greatness... humans.  Soon after his arrival, Thor becomes embroiled in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, the king Odin... I must confess that I was never a fan of Thor in the comics- though I do enjoy the old Norse stories about him.  I wasn't expecting a lot when I sat down to watch " Thor ", but wound up enjoying it. The story is simple, but well writ...

Shawn here, you know, the superhero movie fanboy?...not.  Ok, well maybe a little. Am I bias?  When it comes to my opinion, absolutely. Watched Thor: The Dark World last night.  I didn't mind the first one as it was a great intro movie. Obviously, The Avengers carried more of this story, with Loki as the bad guy.  The Avengers movie was very well balanced. So that had me looking forward to seeing Thor 2.