Thor Ragnarok Movie Review

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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"