Thor: Ragnarok

Set after the events of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Thor returns to Asgard after he sees a vision of his home in danger. He goes on a quest to find Infinity Stones, which may hold the key to saving his world. While desperately searching, a powerful goddess named Hela, invades Asgard as she attempts to exterminate civilization. The God Of Thunder teams up with Loki, Valkyrie, & Hulk, who must work together in order prevent Hela’s doomsday from coming true. The Premise I’m referring to is none other than Thor: Ragnarok.

Thor’s third solo movie has been earning a bunch of praise from critics and fans alike. Does the new installment currently holds up to the hype prior to its release? Well let’s find out as I reveal what’s good and what’s bad about the latest seed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (MCU for short)

The following review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS. Feel free to read all about it.

Electrifying & Dud Elements

Electrifying: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Hopkins & Benedict Cumberbatch, all did a spectacular job for their respective performances.

Fun Fact: Karl Urban worked with Chris Hemsworth and Idris Elba in the 2009 Star Trek reboot series. Chris played Kirk’s father and Karl played Dr. McCoy. Benedict played Khan in Star Trek: Into Darkness. Idris played Krall in Star Trek: Beyond.

The Main Plot is based on a comic book storyline called Ragnarok, which is also about Thor attempting to prevent an apocalypse from coming true.

Cate’s character Hela, The Main Villain of the movie, has a special connection to Odin which sets the plot forward in motion.

Thor’s new partnership with Valkyrie isn’t a romance to shove it in your face as in his forced relationship with Jane in the first movie. Thor & Hulk’s new bromance is gonna make Tony Stark very jealous.

I think the best way to describe the third entry’s genre is a mix between Gladiator (an Epic Historical Action Drama) and Flash Gordon. (a Cult Classic Sci-Fi Adventure film)

Besides The Main Plot, Hulk’s gladiatorial outfit is taken straight out of a storyline called Planet Hulk. It’s basically about Hulk participating in Gladiator matches set in space.

Action Sequences were excellent. Filled with epic fight scenes, guns, lasers, lightning, punches, and the battle between Thor & Hulk at Grandmaster’s Colosseum.

Unlike the previous solo films with Thor, this one has more Comedy, filled with laughable moments that made me chuckled.

Visual Effects look very impressive. Bringing environmental locations to life such as Asgard, Sakaar, Grandmaster’s Colosseum, etc.

Cinematography felt new and improved. Unlike Thor’s big screen debut, there aren’t any Dutch Angles present throughout. Marvel has finally learned to take feedback from the problem with Dutch Angles.

Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” appears in the actual movie, rather than the trailer itself. Immigrant Song perfectly fits the nature of Norse Mythology.

Sam Neil makes a cameo appearance alongside an Oscar winner who played a secret agent since 2002. By the way in almost anything Marvel related, Stan Lee makes a cameo yet again. I’ll give this pro Bonus Points for a Jurassic Park reunion between Jeff & Sam.

The Revengers consisting of Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, & Hulk, is the closest thing to have an actual Fantastic Four team up depicted in a good way, this shows why Fox is very incompetent on why Fantastic Four’s 2005/2015 films were colossal disasters.

There’s a Mid-Credits Scene which sets up the next installment, and an After Credits Scene with one of the main characters’ fate revealed.

Dud: A fight scene with a giant wolf brought back unpleasant flashbacks of Ang Lee’s Hulk. You know that one cringeworthy fight scene with Hulk fighting gamma dogs that felt like a Tom & Jerry cartoon? It was played for drama. Which felt like an unintentional comedy.

The Final Verdict: A-

In my opinion, Thor: Ragnarok is a massive improvement to Thor’s solo movies. I’m gonna be honest, this movie isn’t on the Apex level as Logan, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, and Wonder Woman. It’s not a bad film, I’m just saying that Raganork kept me entertained. Marvel has made another home run. If you’re not busy during the weekend, I implore you to go out and see this movie right now! Trust me, you’ll have an awesome time and it’s definitely worth your hard earned cash! I can’t wait The Avengers: Infinity War, this when everything has finally come together. Will need to be extra patient.