The latest addition to the Thor franchise and Marvel Universe, Thor: Ragnarok is a fun and exciting superhero film that is definitely worth your money. While there are multiple problems and dull moments, the heart of this film is very hilarious and action-packed. Past these problems, however, Waititi has definitely delivered one of the best Marvel films in the past few years.
I'll start with the good parts of this film, because there were, indeed, many of them. My personal favorite aspect would have to be the addition of Hulk into the film. This has definitely assisted the Marvel universe in explaining what Thor and Hulk were up to during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Fans were left in suspense for a while, and it was very refreshing to see what they were doing while Cap and Iron Man were busy having a "whose-dick-is-bigger" tussle. The best part of this film was the inclusion of Hulk, as he made the film as great as it was. Hulk is now capable of speaking almost full sentences, and that character development was really important in developing him throughout. The relationship that was built between Ruffalo and Hemsworth's characters is so important to this film, because it delivered the comedy that we needed. In the initial two Thor films, and the two Avengers films, Thor has been the stoic and brave ancient warrior that was honestly only included for his strength and firepower. He has not changed personality-wise through those four films, but this one was critical in developing the character that we needed. Thor was very sarcastic and had a strong sense of a dry humor, which made his character actually watchable. And the dynamic between him and Hulk prospered due to these character changes.
A few other aspects that I really enjoyed were the performances of Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and especially Jeff Goldblum's villainous Grandmaster. I was not expecting Goldblum's character to be so evil, but the Grandmaster was a devious battle-creator who exploited Hulk so infamously. Then again, Jeff Goldblum tends to play the same character in a lot of his films: the dry yet somehow handsome character that you cannot love nor hate. While it seems confusing, you have to get a grip of his acting to really understand him. Either way, he had a great performance alongside Hulk and Thor. Other smaller parts that I loved were the inclusion of the character Korg and the color used in the film. Korg, actually voiced and motion-captured by the director, was absolutely adorable and in my opinion, provided the most memorable moments. And the color used in the film was more than any of the other Thor films, and it did very well. Along with the humor, it provided me more of an intergalactic Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, and that worked so well. And the appearance of Doctor Strange excited me a lot, because it was so unexpected and handled quite well.
The few problems with this film vary in size, but are present nonetheless. The main problem was the villain Hela's arc and the majority of the plot of the film. Hela, through the marketing, was made out to be one of the biggest baddies in the Marvel universe. However, she did not play the best part in the film. The best parts were with Hulk on the Grandmaster's planet, and honestly I forgot that Hela was a threat at times. She took over Asgard, but the main story seemed to focus on Thor's revival with Hulk. Which is why I believe that the heart of this film belongs to Planet Hulk. If Marvel would have made a Planet Hulk film and had an appearance by Thor, I feel like that would have worked with the tone much better. As threatening and exciting as Ragnarok is, 80% of the plot was focused on Hulk, which it did good in that sense.
Thor: Ragnarok is a funny and great adventure to take part in, and critical in developing the overall story of the Marvel universe, leading up to Infinity War. It had some problems, however, with the generic "take-over-the-land" villain and its confusion on what the focus of the plot was. Regardless, this is a fun movie and was great to see more development in two of the least-publicized Avengers.
My Rating: ★★★½
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