"Thor: Ragnarok" Movie Review

The Marvel cinematic universe is now 17 movies deep over the span of 20 years. The film franchise has done nothing short of revolutionize the movie industry, and many wonder how much longer that the production company, Disney, can sustain its level of popularity at the movies.

The most recent film up to the proverbial bat was Thor’s third solo outing, “Thor: Ragnarok.” While many were not sure how the god of thunder was going to fare after the sequel “Thor: The Dark World”, I have the pleasure of saying that the fans have nothing to worry about. Thor is back and better than ever in his latest outing, and it is one rip-roaring ride.

This was director Taika Waititi’s first time at the helm of a Marvel movie, and he took the franchise in a very different direction.

The first two Thor films were serious films that were full of emotion, exposition and gravitas. However, “Ragnarok” is a film that is much more on the funny side of films, and it really does justice to the Marvel Universe. Waititi allowed the actors to show their humor all throughout the movie, and it had me in stitches for nearly the entire time.

The performances were also exactly what one would expect from actors of this caliber. Chris Hemsworth still fits the part of Thor like a glove, and Tom Hiddleston has another masterful turn as the mischievous Loki.

Newcomers Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson also fit right into the cast, and they all made me feel like I was in the middle of the action. Blanchett’s role as the villainous Hela was chilling, and it was much better than some of the other Marvel movie evildoers (ex: Topher Grace as Venom in Spider-Man 3).

However, the comedy highlights always came whenever Goldblum was on screen as the Grandmaster. Goldblum has seen a career resurgence as of late, and it feels like he has never left the screen.

The story of “Thor: Ragnarok” develops quite nicely, and it rarely felt like it dragged on. I was laughing throughout the whole movie, yet the film was still packed with enough action to feel like a tried and true Marvel movie.

In fact, the only major risk the movie takes is its large presence of comedy; the rest of the film feels very much like a formulaic Marvel movie that plays it safe where it needs to while also furthering the story. This would be a bad thing if the jokes were dry and fell flat, but luckily the laughs just kept on coming.

At the parts where the movie did slow down, it was not long before Waititi was able to regain control and bring in the next big set piece.

“Thor-Ragnarok” feels both like a welcome change to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a familiar bout between the heros and the villains. However, this threequel is light-years better than Thor’s last adventure. The entire theater was doubled over with laughter during the comedy and holding on with white knuckles during the action.

Waititi delivered exactly the jump start that Marvel and Disney needed before we see the next Avengers movie. I cannot wait to see more of this in the future. ✪8.5/10