Foremost, the HULK. Hulk's my favorite super hero. I loved his portrayal in Avengers but not so much in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here it looked like Hulk would be unleashed unlike anything ever before! And then there's Thor of course. I've really enjoyed both of Thor's prior solo films and feel both are vastly underappreciated and in some cases unjustly vilified. Probably my top two Avengers of the MCU are Hulk and Thor, so a movie where both of them are together and cutting loose just sounds like the perfect movie for me. And the villains! HELA and SURTUR are among my top favorite Thor villains, more so than Loki or Malekith (I like them too though).
Anyway, I have been so pumped for this movie I almost couldn't sleep the night before.
THE PLOT
Something is amiss among the Nine Realms. The power of Odin, which long held great dark forces at bay, has vanished. Thor, quelling Surtur's growing power in Muspelheim, returns to Asgard to see his father. Upon returning he discovers that Odin is missing and Loki, long thought dead, has been alive and impersonating Odin for some time. Little did Loki know that by displacing Odin he unwittingly weakened the barrier sealing Hela, the goddess of death, in Niflheim (the underworld). Hela escapes, lays waste to Asgard, and casts Thor and Loki adrift in space. Thor lands on an alien planet and is captured by the denizens living there. Thor must escape this planet and return to Asgard before Hela brings about Ragnarok, the end of all things. In order get back to Asgard, Thor will need the help of a few friends.
WHAT I LIKED
Still Thor's Movie. While I love the Hulk more than any other super hero or comic book character, I was a bit worried that with him in the film it might take away from Thor. To my relief Hulk's presence did not take away from Thor. I had a similar worry before seeing CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and was happy to find that the film was still firmly a Captain America film. Thor shines in this film and is by far the most enjoyable character in a movie filled with a ton of enjoyable characters. Tonally there is a bit of a shift towards the comedic spectrum rather than the serious approach the first two films had. It worked for me for the most part and mostly the film is still in keeping with the others. Also, I love "Super Charged" Thor. So incredibly cool.
Hella Awesome! I really liked Cate Blanchett as Hela. The costume design looked almost spot on from the comic book, seemingly jumping right from the page to the screen. She was scary, sexy, and powerful, everything Hela is in the comics and everything I've loved about her. She makes a great grand trilogy villain. And on top of that we got Surtur as well! Surtur is by far the "be all end all" of Thor villains. I was taken aback by his initial introduction but by the second appearance I was thoroughly pleased with Surtur's representation. And last but not least, Jeff Goldblum was wonderful as the Grandmaster. His performance was in keeping with Benicio Del Toro's Collector while being singularly Goldblumian. Easily one of the most enjoyable characters in the film.
Going Cosmic. There is a big section of Thor's comic book history where the story goes very cosmic. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the cosmic Marvel universe essentially within two books, The Fantastic Four and The Mighty Thor. Jack Kirby's style is all over this movie and brought to life like never before. The only thing missing was Galactus. That being said I enjoyed the retro sci-fi movie themes employed too, including the music. Remember those 70's and 80's science fiction fantasy movies that had incredibly cool posters but the film itself was nowhere near as epic as the poster? Thor: Ragnarok feels like one of those movies with the awesome poster but actually is as good as the poster suggests.
Fast Paced. The movie is 130 minutes long but it feels like 90 minutes. From start to finish the story travels at a brisk pace. The action is exciting enough and the characters are entertaining enough to create the illusion of time standing still. What I mean by that is when the film credits roll and you look at your watch you won't believe it's been over two hours. This is a big credit to the movie as few films this year have made me forget about everything else in the world and totally immerse myself in the experience.
INDIFFERENT
Planet Hulk. I was really looking forward to seeing Hulk reclaim his awesomeness in this movie, the awesomeness he had in the first Avengers but lost in the second Avengers. As it is, I'm neither blown away nor disappointed. Given, my Hulk expectations are pretty high. Hulk didn't really have the anger inside him nor the awe-inspiring power that he had in 2008's INCREDIBLE HULK or the Avengers. He was just kinda there and loving life. All the Planet Hulk references and themes were fun but again they were just kind of there. But then I am not the biggest fan of the Planet Hulk comic story to begin with. It is remarkable how seamlessly they fulfilled the Planet Hulk character roles with that of the Grandmaster, Valkyrie, and the Tournament of Champions story.
The Humor. Okay, by now you've heard me complain about Marvel's exponential increase of comedy in their films. With Thor: Ragnarok I don't hate it but I'm not over the moon for it either. I didn't think it was overdone like the Guardians of the Galaxy films but there were aspects of this movie that could've been done just as well being portrayed seriously as they were comedically. A part of me wishes this film would've been balls to the wall serious and totally metal, just like a part of me wished Doctor Strange had been a horror movie.
But the world has decreed, with an exception or two, that serious super hero movies are passe. I don't mind laughing but it feels like the MCU films are neglecting serious narratives and going a little too far towards irreverent ones. I wouldn't mind the humor so much if it were more balanced. I mean, give us "serious" movie fans a bone every now and then. Although there were a few moments in Ragnarok where they didn't undercut their serious moments with humor (that tactic is called "Bathos" and Marvel has used it a lot) but rather let the moment play out, and I appreciated that.
NITPICKS
Warriors Three. SPOILER ALERT! The Warriors Three have been in the Thor comics for a long time and have been portrayed in both the comics and films as Thor's best friends. All three die in this film. Fandral and Volstagg are killed within ten seconds of seeing them in the film by simple knives. Hogun at least puts up a fight but dies after a few minutes. No word is mentioned of them again and Thor never once questions their absence. I don't mind them dying so much as the way they were so callously handled by the filmmakers. I mean, c'mon, they could take a blast from the freakin' Destroyer and live but not a puny knife? At least give them a glorious death deserving of Norse gods. And no mention of Sif anywhere. At least Jane Foster gets a mention (in the same manner Megan Fox received in the third Transformers movie) but not a single word on Sif. Thor's two central female characters gone. I don't mind Jane Foster's absence but again it was the way in which it was handled.
Korg. This isn't so much a big deal but Korg's characterization seemed a bit too much. I know that it was the director Taika Waititi playing Korg. And he was playing Korg with Waititi's patented New Zealand humor that is on full display in his previous films. Korg is nothing like that in the comic and is a tragic character. Here I felt it was a bit redundant. Sakaar already had the humorous Grandmaster, Hulk, Valkyrie, and even Loki. Korg to me felt like one joke too many. Don't get me wrong, it's not the type of humor I'm opposed to. I really enjoy WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS and HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE. It's just seemed like Korg was too excessive and could've been better employed fulfilling a serious role, something severely lacking on the Sakaar section of the film.
THE VERDICT
Like so many of Marvel's movies nowadays I won't be able to properly judge Thor: Ragnarok until I see it a few more times. It has to do with getting past my own expectations and what I wanted the movie to be versus what the movie actually is. Doctor Strange took me a few watches to get past my disappointment over it not being a horror film. I may come to like Hulk more as opposed to my indifference now. I may also become more accepting of the humor too. Once I get past all that fanboy baggage of mine I will probably be able to enjoy the movie more. As it is I do like the movie a lot. There's just so much to absorb. As of right now...
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
I really did enjoy it and I can't wait to see it again! This year has been pretty solid as far as movies go. I have given a lot of 7 out of 10's this year, more so than previous years... but no 8's. I haven't seen an 8 in a theater in a while. That being said, there's one or two films this year that I am considering bumping to 8's... more on that later.
For more Marvel Cinematic Universe and comic book/super hero movies check out these posts below
And for more Marvel, DC, and comic book related movies check these out too!
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