Thor: Ragnarok Reviewed
When the newest Thor movie was announced, I had a lukewarm reaction. While Marvel has made some of the best blockbuster movies to come out over the past decade, the Thor series has been bland at best. Sure I would watch the first movie any time it came on FX, but the only redeeming part of the two prior movies was Loki (the Dark Elves? Come on guys). But thanks to the success of Guardians of the Galaxy the Marvel studio figured out it was okay to get silly. Thank Odin they did, because Thor: Ragnarok was a fun movie.
As you may remember, the last time we saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was in Age of Ultron. He missed all the fighting in Civil War because he was looking for the Infinity Stones, but to no avail. Then Thor's sister, Hela, (Cate Blanchett) shows up and wants to rule Asgard. She essentially kicks both Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thor’s asses and sends them to the planet Sakaar. While on Sakaar, Thor gets captured and forced to fight in a gladiator battle to the death against their toughest opponent.
Director Taika Waititi deserves a lot of the credit for taking the Norse Thunder God and not making his story so stiff. All the previous Thor movies were basically a story of good vs. evil and done to advance the overall plot of the Marvel movie series. While Ragnarok does do a bunch to set up for the upcoming Infinity Wars during the middle parts of the movie, the story is there to entertain.
A big part of that came from the decision to finally let Chris Hemsworth be Chris Hemsworth. He has leading man good looks and with those looks come a lot of parts where he plays an honest, noble protagonist, but that leads to the character being milquetoast. In Ragnarok they let the goofy parts of his personality come out. From the opening scene, we see the Hemsworth we saw in Ghostbusters and the Vacation reboots. His awkward stylings add to a lot to the jokes in the movie.
As you may remember, the last time we saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was in Age of Ultron. He missed all the fighting in Civil War because he was looking for the Infinity Stones, but to no avail. Then Thor's sister, Hela, (Cate Blanchett) shows up and wants to rule Asgard. She essentially kicks both Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thor’s asses and sends them to the planet Sakaar. While on Sakaar, Thor gets captured and forced to fight in a gladiator battle to the death against their toughest opponent.
Director Taika Waititi deserves a lot of the credit for taking the Norse Thunder God and not making his story so stiff. All the previous Thor movies were basically a story of good vs. evil and done to advance the overall plot of the Marvel movie series. While Ragnarok does do a bunch to set up for the upcoming Infinity Wars during the middle parts of the movie, the story is there to entertain.
A big part of that came from the decision to finally let Chris Hemsworth be Chris Hemsworth. He has leading man good looks and with those looks come a lot of parts where he plays an honest, noble protagonist, but that leads to the character being milquetoast. In Ragnarok they let the goofy parts of his personality come out. From the opening scene, we see the Hemsworth we saw in Ghostbusters and the Vacation reboots. His awkward stylings add to a lot to the jokes in the movie.
But he's not the only one. Hulk was one of the best parts of the Avenger movies and in this movie they let Hulk speak in full sentences, which makes him even more delightful. They also cast Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster so that he could do his thing – and he is peak Goldblum. Also great in the movie is director Taika Waititi, who plays Korg the rock monster. Not only is his character there to guide Thor through the gladiator games, but he is another piece of comic relief - and my favorite character in the movie.
This is the best Thor movie of the three, but is it the funniest Marvel movie? The edge probably still goes to Guardians of the Galaxy because it came out of nowhere. This time, from the trailers Marvel let us know we were getting something sillier, and they delivered.
This should go without saying, but in order to enjoy this movie, you have to like superhero movies. While the movie is funny and has good fighting scenes - if you don't like the Marvel series then no matter how weird Goldblum gets you will still be left counting the minutes. For fans of the Marvel Universe let’s count our blessings that they decided to stop taking Thor so seriously. Strip away all the jokes and this would be a convoluted mess, but thanks to the colors, comedy, and the CGI Thor: Ragnarok is a good time at the movies.
This is the best Thor movie of the three, but is it the funniest Marvel movie? The edge probably still goes to Guardians of the Galaxy because it came out of nowhere. This time, from the trailers Marvel let us know we were getting something sillier, and they delivered.
This should go without saying, but in order to enjoy this movie, you have to like superhero movies. While the movie is funny and has good fighting scenes - if you don't like the Marvel series then no matter how weird Goldblum gets you will still be left counting the minutes. For fans of the Marvel Universe let’s count our blessings that they decided to stop taking Thor so seriously. Strip away all the jokes and this would be a convoluted mess, but thanks to the colors, comedy, and the CGI Thor: Ragnarok is a good time at the movies.
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