Thor Ragnarok Review

Thor Ragnarok is the third Thor movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is about the goddess of death, Hela, reemerging to take over Asgard. Meanwhile, Thor loses his hammer and has to round up a bunch of different characters he meets along the way to help him take back his kingdom.

Honestly, I never really thought much of the Thor movies. Thor 1 wasn’t the best but had a great villain (Loki) and a cool Shakespearean inspired story that helped us get introduced to the more cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. Thor: The Dark World, on the other hand, I thought was more bland. It had some clever action scenes and it was cool to see Thor and Loki on an adventure together for the first time, but the overall plot and villain were garbage.

Ragnarok basically throws all of that out the window and reinvents the character, which I think was a great way to make Thor stand out more from his fellow Avengers. He was always the least interesting of them to me, but this film gave him the depth and charisma his character deserves. I’m actually more excited to see this version of Thor interact with the other heroes now.

Firstly, Ragnarok’s visuals were spectacular. Gone are the dark grey and bluish color schemes that covered the first two films. Now the universe is bursting with a bright neon design that makes everything more fun to look at, like an never ending fireworks show. I swear at times some of the scenes in this look like a damn painting. Even comparing the posters of each movie side by side makes it evident that Ragnarok is doing something totally different than what we’re used to.

The tone has also changed significantly. This sequel is now a straight up comedy, which works because it makes the film feel more energetic (something the last movies needed). This may actually be the funniest Marvel movie, in my opinion, thanks to director Taika Watiti, who’s done some great indie comedy films in the past. 99% of all the jokes land, so yeah it was a fun time.

Now let’s talk characters. Thor 3 has brought us some of the best supporting characters in the Marvel Universe thus far. First off, everything with the Hulk was really well done. Since Banner has been in Hulk form for 2 years, the Hulk has been growing his own personality, which we usually never get to see in the brief moments he appears in the Avengers movies. He also gets to come to terms with what’s happened since we last saw him in Avengers: Age of Ultron, leading to more dramatic moments of self-reflection that really richen his character. On another note, the Hulk vs Thor gladiator match blew my mind. That was basically worth the price of admission alone.

Korg (the big rock dude) and Miek were hilarious and are probably going to be new fan favorites like Groot and Rocket Raccoon. Jeff Goldblum as the Grand Master was insanely entertaining to watch with all his weird Goldblumisms (fans of his will know what I mean). I really hope we get a scene with him and his brother, the Collector (as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy), at some point in the future. I could basically say the same things about Valkyrie too. She was a great addition to Thor’s team and props to her for having one of the more emotional scenes in the movie. Loki, as usual, was great. He’s literally been the thing that’s kept the Thor franchise alive for this long so no complaints there.

Now, we all know that Marvel has always had a problem with having good and or memorable villains. Usually they just lack development and are simply there for the hero to fight at the end. Hela, thankfully, is better than your average Marvel villain thanks to her backstory, but still isn't as involved as she could’ve been. This is mainly because she never really interacts with our heroes until the end of the movie. Though, I have to applaud this film for not ending like every other superhero story. I won’t spoil anything but the final resolution was a unique spin on something that could’ve ended in the way we’d all expect.

However, there is a big glaring issue that unfortunately encompasses the whole film for me. It's the tone. Yes, I know that’s the whole reason this film is succeeding compared to its predecessors, but there can be too much of a good thing. There are a lot of moments in Thor Ragnarok that would have been more emotional if they had just embraced the drama a little bit. Like someone will die and rather than addressing it, the movie will just cut back to someone making more jokes.

It’s odd because there are some plot lines from the previous films that are either dropped or twisted into a gag to keep the audience laughing. I get that they are taking the Thor franchise in a new direction, but I think they went overboard with throwing out what has already been established to get to this point. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was basically a comedy as well, but was able to let the drama sink in at points, resulting in a more emotionally satisfying finale. Thor 3 had better written jokes, in my opinion, but other than some great character work, that’s about it. In a way, this movie felt like it moved too fast for it’s own good. It felt like it was missing a second act honestly. Like just as the movie started going, we were already at the finale. I was like “please don’t tell me this is already the final battle…..damn it definitely is.”

But hey, I’m not saying this movie is a piece of sh**, I still had a great time with it. It’s probably one of my favorite Marvel movies (definitely top 10), but other than the brilliantly realized characters, I don’t see a lot else sticking with me story-wise. Thor Ragnarok is still a must watch, though, and in my opinion, the best Marvel film of 2017. Feel free to comment your thoughts on the film or anything else Marvel.

The Verdict: 8