Thor: Ragnarok is a 2017 action/comedy film directed by Taika Waititi, and is the sequel to 2011’s Thor and 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, and is the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Anthony Hopkins. After the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor must find his way back to Asgard after being stranded on the planet Sakaar without his hammer. With Hela’s eyes on the throne of Asgard and the impending threat of Ragnarok, Thor must stop at nothing to get home.
What a polarizing film from the Thor trilogy of films. Although commonly known as the lesser of the three trilogy films that have currently taken place in the MCU, Ragnarok does a pretty damn good job at making itself stand out above the rest. Although my “score” might not reflect my words, Ragnarok is one of the best films the MCU has ever seen, and the most lighthearted comic book film since 2016’s Deadpool. But although this film has a lot of praise, it still has some flaws. Granted more minor than most, it still held back from this film making my top 5 MCU films to date.
So Ragnarok does a lot of things right, and the casting and acting in this film is as professional as you can get. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are such a great duo, and really do a great job at providing a sense of history between their characters. They constantly joke around like brothers would, and their relationship between each other feels very genuine. Cate Blanchett was terrific as Hela, and my god this woman does not age. There were some scenes where her body movement seemed a little over-the-top like Delevingne’s performance in Suicide Squad, but other than that tiny issue, this woman nailed her role. Tessa Thompson was also great in her respective role, and I really hope they incorporate her character into future MCU films. Although I feel like I’m just going through role call at this point, Goldblum, Elba, and Ruffalo were also great, with Hulk’s character arc being expanded in a fun and interesting new way. The surprise character of the film was actually Taika Waititi’s (the director) character, Korg. Holy shit.. this guy is great. Honest to god, Korg is my favorite MCU character.
But although the casting and acting is great, Ragnarok still struggles with some issues in its story. Although I classified this film as an action/comedy, it really doesn’t know what genre it’s supposed to fit in. The marketing from the film’s original announcement took a turn from super dark to very colorful, and it makes me wonder what this film could have been if it took itself more seriously. See, that’s one of the biggest issues with Ragnarok as it never feels like any of the characters are in real harm. People get beat up pretty bad to the point where you almost question if they injuries are sustainable or if it’s just a joke. Although there are some serious scenes in this film, its lighthearted behavior really pulls out the depth in both the characters and the plot.
Ragnarok was also iffy for me when it came to its visuals. There were some moments that blew me away, but then there were others that just took me right out of the film. Although the color pallet was gorgeous, the misuse (or lack of) practical effects left me questioning what they really spent their budget on. Although the film states that they worked with ILM, I have a hard time believing that since Doctor Strange had better effects and came out a year prior with a much smaller budget. There were also some very drastic changes from the trailer to big screen which proves that a lot of green screens were used over practical effects, and even some minor things like Odin’s eye patch and Thor’s tracking beacon were just horrible add-ons, and were poorly animated. On the flip side there were a couple of scenes that had some beautiful transitions, and it was nice to see the Thor series take a more colorful direction compared to it’s previous darker installments.
Kinda making my way back to story, Ragnarok takes a very different approach to its structure, and has a hard time keeping the audience engaged at certain points because of it. What I’m eluding to is that the pacing in this film isn’t horrible, it’s just.. different. Although I felt the movie had a reasonable runtime, it felt like a lot of the film was cut out. The pacing felt a little rushed at times, and didn’t really explain how certain events happened, as they kind of just expected the viewers to brush it off. I want to see how characters made their way up the hierarchy in Sakaar, I want to see what Odin was doing on Earth, these are all things that could have been resolved in a simple 10 minutes of extra screen time, but the film just brushes it off. The film also brushes off some major characters by just killing them off like flies, and Ragnarok loses a lot of its weight in sympathy towards these characters because of that. Although it was cool to see Cumberbatch return to his role, he was basically in the film for a minute, and that minute was just a rehash at the end credit scene from Doctor Strange. Marvel, if you’re gonna cast someone with that big of a role.. use them! Make this like another Civil War and add them to the roster!
In closing, Thor: Ragnarok is probably one of the most polarizing films in MCU to date. It is full of fun, whit, and color, and provides people with a great time to be had in the cinema. Although it has some serious scenes, Ragnarok never really takes itself too seriously, and because of that it suffers to provide any real weight to the MCU. Just like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and unlike Civil War, Ragnarok doesn’t really provide much to the ongoing Avengers arc, nor does it setup 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War either. Ragnarok proves that a simple shift in color and tone can drastically change a series, and this was definitely a film that the Thor series really needed. In the end I decided to give Thor: Ragnarok a “Good” on theVade Review Bar. Although my review might seem a little harsh, this is a critic’s perspective on the matter. That being said, Ragnarok has been one of the best times I’ve had in the theater in a long long time.
