Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Review

"I have been falling, for thirty minutes!"
-Loki



After Odin (Anthony Hopkins) finally dies, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) realize their older sister, Hela, the goddess of death (Cate Blanchett), has been released from her prison.  She strands them both on a planet run by the maniacal Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and takes over Asgard.  Now the brothers have to form a team to escape the Grandmaster and stop Hela.


What Works:

Thor: Ragnarok has by far the best score in the MCU.  I love the music and it adds a lot to the movie.  It feels extremely old-school and it's blast to listen to.

The entire movie feels like an old-school sci-fi film with a big budget.  It's exactly the movie I wanted it to be.  Everything on Jeff Goldblum's planet is incredible.  This is a B-movie with a big budget and and director Taika Waititi nails it.

Speaking of Taika Waititi, he plays an excellent new character in Korg.  Waititi is hysterically funny and I love the way he delivers his lines.  And he's not the only great new character.  We also get Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and the Grandmaster.  Jeff Goldblum is utterly perfect in every way and he's also amazing in the movie.  Valkyrie is also great.  It's interesting to have a fall-down-drunk as a character in the MCU and I love her interactions with Thor.

It's great that they've embraced Thor's comedic side.  He's absolutely hysterical and Hemsworth gives by far his best performance.  He has a great dynamic with literally every character, especially Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).  Listening to him try and keep Bruce calm is one of the funniest parts of the movie.

The look of the film is also incredible.  The city streets of Goldblum's planet look so cool and the use of color is amazing.  I also love the flashback scene where Valkyrie fights Hela.  It's absolutely gorgeous.


What Sucks:

The only aspect of the film I didn't love is Hela.  This has nothing to do with Cate Blanchett's performance, she is fine, but doesn't get enough to do.  She and Thor are separate for the vast majority of the film and her story simply isn't as interesting as everything happening on Jeff Goldblum's planet.  I almost wish Hela had been saved for Thor 4 and and Grandmaster had been the main villain of the movie.  I think that would have been a stronger narrative.


Verdict:

Thor: Ragnarok is an absolute blast and easily the best Thor film.  The new characters are awesome, the music and visuals are amazing, and it's by far the funniest film in the MCU.  I wish Hela had been better handled, but this movie has, without a doubt, got it going on.

 9/10: Great     

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