Thor Ragnarok review, Saving Asgard one laugh at a time

Back in 2011, we were given a Thor film that didn’t feel whole as he spent the majority of the film without any powers. It was still entertaining but wasn’t quite the film fans were hoping for. Thor: The Dark World was no better as it felt like filler film to just put another Infinity Stone into mix. Thor: Ragnarok, I am happy to report, is the best Thor film, but that isn’t really saying much. Where the story in this entry isn’t the main focus, it is by far the funniest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and is most certainly in my top ten films in that series. Taika Waititi has injected a completely new form of comedy into this film that shines above the rest. MCU movies have always been funny, but no other film has made me laugh as hard as I did in Thor: Ragnarok.

"Don't forget to smile for the action shot!"

With Thor’s last entry being in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it feels like an absolute age since we’ve seen the God of Thunder. His adventures take him all over the cosmos until he finds himself on Sakaar which, to his surprise, is where Hulk has been for the past 2 years! Learning Hela the Goddess of Death of out to attack Asgard and possibly bring about Ragnarok, Thor must assemble a small team of his own to stop her from destroying his home. With help from Bruce Banner and his Hulk counterpart, Thor also recruits series newcomer Valkyrie along with his villainous brother, and long-time MCU favourite, Loki to end Hela’s evil plans. This is as much as I will say so I don’t find myself in spoiler territory, but you might be thinking by reading this that the plot is far too basic and isn’t really deserving of its praise. However, the story doesn’t play a massive part in this entry to the MCU and that is a very good thing. By disrupting the standard formula that these films seem to continually follow, director Taika Waititi has created an excellent film by favouring humour and action instead of plot. It still feeds nicely into Avengers: Infinity War next year which is all we really need at this point. What enhances the comedy is the combination of eccentric and colourful new characters as well as developing existing characters in ways we didn’t think their character arcs would go. The team Thor assembles features a long-time series villain in Loki, an unpredictable and untameable Hulk as well as a newcomer in Valkyrie, a legendary warrior who is only on Sakaar so that she might drink herself to death.

As deadly as she is stylish.

A role designed for Glodblum,
and his beautiful voice.

I’ve touched upon this already, but I feel I really need to say that this is an exceptionally funny film. I laughed the whole way through with every joke sticking the landing. This is I think the result of creating a completely new form of Marvel film. Waititi’s choice to make this a comedy over an action film was a great move and this is solidified by bringing in new faces. These new faces create a new sense of the MCU being so much bigger than anyone could possibly imagine. Keep an eye out for a hilarious pile of rocks going by the name of Korg. Voiced by the director, he is the real reason I laughed as hard as I did, more so than seeing the logics of Thor and Hulk collide. Bringing in the legendary Jeff Goldblum also adds to this new sense of comedy as he brings an extra flavour of eccentricity to the world that might have been touched upon with Benicio Del Toro’s ‘The Collector’, but is fully rounded in Goldblum’s ‘The Grandmaster’. Tessa Thompson is also a fine addition to the cast, with her character Valkyrie being a main part of the story and should hopefully feature more in future films. Being far more than just a powerful warrior, she is a fine addition to the MCU’s group of female characters and I really hope to see her alongside Black Widow in future films as their shared dynamic would really mix things up. Franchise regulars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo are not overshadowed as the stories of Thor, Loki and Banner/Hulk are new and innovative enough that they all have their respective moments.

It saddens me that we're still waiting for a truly great
female MCU villain.

On the other hand, it pains me to say that this is not a perfect film. I saddens me to say that the last film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for 2017 has a bad villain. With Ego and The Vulture, I thought we were on a roll with great Marvel villains but Hela is just not given much to do. Cate Blanchett is a terrific actress and it is just a shame Hela, being the Goddess Death, isn’t that menacing. It might have looked pretty cool whilst she was killing Asgardians, and she had the odd good line, but when she was fighting our heroes, I never felt a sense of dread as this whole concept of her being a omnipotent and malevolent being was never hit home. The same can be said for Karl Urban’s Skurge. Urban is a competent actor and Skurge felt very underused and could have just been replaced by an un-named character. Adding to this, the beginning of the film felt incredibly rushed and for a film devoted to saving Asgard from Ragnarok, the film spends less time on that than it does on the hilarity and madness of Sakaar. Where that doesn’t kill the film entirely, it would have been nicer to see a bit more of Doctor Steven Strange. With his post credits scene in Doctor Strange with Thor, I thought we’d at least get a good action scene with Doctor Strange’s magical ability combined with Thor’s god-like strength. We do get a few laughs in his short amount of screen time, but I, like a lot of other Marvel fans just can’t wait for Infinity War to come soon enough! BRING ON MAY 2018 ALREADY!

To finish, Thor: Ragnarok is a great film full of jokes that have a very consistent hit rate. Taika Waititi has already said he’d love to make more Marvel movies and that means more laughs so you’ll find no complaints here. Also, and I know this goes without saying, but stay to watch the post credits scenes! You won’t be trolled like we all were in Homecoming! It feels good to now have 3 MCU films a year…

8/10

I can now officially publish Jacob’s favourite MCU films. Starting from worst to best we have:

17. The Incredible Hulk

16. Iron Man 3

15. Thor: The Dark World

14. Iron Man 2

13. Thor

12. Doctor Strange

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron

10. Ant Man

9. Iron Man

8. Captain America: The First Avenger

7. & 6. Joint entry! Thor: Ragnarok and Spiderman: Homecoming. You might call this cheating, but it’s my list so…

5. Avengers Assemble

4. Captain America: Civil War

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Having already compared my list to the lists of friends, I love hearing about other's preferences to the MCU films so don't hesitate to tell me what you think what your favourite films are!