
After
a decent origin film and a passable sequel, Thor Ragnarok was poised to
be the best in the trilogy and the first Trilogy Cap (a term I used to
describe the third film of a trilogy) in a very long time to be better
than the first two. But does it live up to the hype? Can Thor Ragnarok
deliver?
In a word, yes. Thor Ragnarok is easily
the best film centered around the titular Norse god of thunder, and in
my opinion, the best movie FEATURING him. That includes both Avengers
films, Dr. Strange, and the first two Thor movies. It’s a fun, exciting
thrill ride.
But the movie isn’t flawless by any
stretch. The second act seems to drag on for a little too long and some
of the jokes fell flat. The introduction of Hela to the army of Asgard
was notably guilty of a forced joke that I really felt should’ve been
omitted as it undermined the entire sequence and broke the tone and pace
of an otherwise well executed scene.
That’s not to
say all the jokes fell flat. Many of them - especially those involving
Taika Waititi’s Korg - were well placed and funny. I laughed my head off
when, after Thor and Loki had just finished a heartfelt conversation
and Loki evaporated away, Korg charged into the scene shouting in his
very timid voice, “piss off, ghost!”
Plot structure
was also set up quite nicely, with planting and payoff peppered
expertly throughout and one my favorite scenes getting an awesome
callback later in the film. In fact, in terms of basic structure, this
movie is nearly flawless.
So what about the
characters?
Well, Chris Hemsworth played Thor better than ever, adding a
sense of witty machismo and arrogance that he honestly should’ve had
all the way back in the first movie. He really shines here and I was
thrilled to see his thunder really break out in a big way. Good stuff.
Hulk
was hilarious, but at the noticeable expense of feeling especially
dangerous or powerful to me. He’s no longer an unbridled rage monster.
Now he’s a really strong toddler. That’s both good and bad.
I
already mentioned Korg, who was probably my favorite character
throughout. Everything he did and said was hilarious and reminded me of
the folks I met on my honeymoon in New Zealand. Perfect.
Hela
may be the best Marvel villain we’ve seen yet. She’s both tragic and
dangerous. She’s everything you could ask for in a Thor villain and I
really hope to see her again.
I’ve never
understood the appeal of Loki. I don’t think he was particularly
compelling in Thor or in The Avengers, and this movie did little to
resolve that for me. He seemed necessary here, but bland.
Sif
was a no show. I mention this because the other Warriors Three all make
appearances, but she doesn’t, making this an especially noticeable
absence. It was quite distracting and left me feeling robbed of that
extra layer of depth. Not that she’s particularly great as a character.
It just seemed like they forgot to add her in. And given the fact that a
relationship between her and Thor was briefly hinted at in previous
films, and the fact that Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster was also gone, it
just seemed like a mistake.
Finally, The
Grandmaster. I didn’t care for him. He was jokey and kind of boring. He
got one good chuckle out of me, but that’s it. I wasn’t impressed.
And the Action?
The
action scenes were awesome. Totally amazing from start to finish. And
this movie has the best opening scene of any Marvel movie to date. Pure
epic goodness. But there were more than a few glaring moments of badly
done CGI. It wasn’t as bad as the horrendous character modeling in Dr.
Strange, but it did distract me several times. And watching a big budget
movie that suddenly becomes a glorified video game cutscene is
disappointing.
And other than some poorly done
cgi, the movie looked brilliant. I really enjoyed it. And I’m excited to
see it again. It’s definitely a theater movie, so see it.
Now I just have to wait two more weeks until Justice League steals all my money at the box office!
That’s it for now! See ya!
Robby
THOR RAGNAROK is a "GOOD MOVIE"
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