Thor: Ragnarok is the brand new superhero blockbuster. It is the 3^rd movie in the Thor franchise and the 17^th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It stars Chris Hemsworth as the title character Thor; and also stars Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins. It is also directed by new MCU comer Taika Waititi. This film is getting crazy good reviews as it currently stands at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes so let’s dive in.

Thor: Ragnarok takes place 4 years after Thor: The Dark World and 2 years after Avengers: Age of Ultron. It finds Thor and Loki taking on Hela (aka The Goddess of Death) who means to take over Asgard. They come across Hulk in space and they all team up to take her down. So like I said earlier, Thor: Ragnarok is getting universally great reviews. Am I part of that group? Not exactly. Ragnarok is a good movie but it’s not as good as some people are making it out to be. We’ll get into the negatives later but being an optimist we’ll start with the positives.

Everyone part of the main cast gives good performances. This is Hemsworth’s 5^th time returning as Thor and he is good once again. In this one, Hemsworth gets to show off his comedic chops a lot more and he’s good at it. As some of the other standouts, Hiddleston is fantastic as Loki once again and Goldblum’s new character The Grandmaster is absolutely amazing. He’s just a weird asshole and it’s funny whenever he’s on screen. Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie is also a cool supporting character. As for the villain, I really liked what Cate Blanchett did in the role as Hela. She also has a cool connection to Thor, Loki, and Odin and that raises the stakes in the movie.

As for other things I liked about the movie, the action is great as it always is in a Marvel movie. The highlight of the movie of course is the gladiator battle between Hulk and Thor. For lack of better words, they beat the shit out of each other and it is glorious. Thor also a lot of great fight scenes throughout the movie and the climax of the movie doesn’t disappoints. And yes of course, this is the funniest Thor movie. While the previous Thor movies had elements of comedy, this one approaches Guardians of the Galaxy levels.

However, this is not a perfect movie and I had a few issues. First off as I mentioned earlier, I talked about what I liked what Blanchett did with Hela. But Hela herself isn’t that great of a villain. She is separated from Thor and Hulk for a lot of the movie so never felt like the true threat she should be. The other thing I didn’t like about this movie was the tone. Once again, I said earlier that one of the strengths of the movie was the comedy but it also works as a negative. It feels like a parody at some points and I shouldn’t feel that in a Thor movie. I like Thor as a character but at times, it felt like I was watching Chris Hemsworth and not Thor. My final complaint are the stakes in the movie. For those who don’t know this (not a spoiler) Ragnarok is basically the apocalypse of Asgard and being that this movie is a comedy, it doesn’t take the serious moments that seriously. People do die in this movie and some deaths don’t feel rewarded and just rushed over.

In conclusion, Thor: Ragnarok isn’t the best Marvel movie or even the best Thor movie; but it a ton of fun. Thor and Loki are great in the film once again and Thor and Hulk’s buddy relationship is the highlight of the movie. The comedy and the action are also some highlights and this movie is another win for Marvel. Black Panther is up next then the glory that Avengers: Infinity War is just 6 months away. So close!

Rating: B/85%

Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)