Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok

I said I'd watch Thor: Ragnarok and I did. Boom. Trust earned.


If you're 98% of people you loved Thor: Ragnarok, which you have every right to do, thanks to my permission. But I thought it was just okay. Boom. Trust lost.

The key word I kept hearing from people who saw it was "fun." This makes sense, since fun has been Marvel's number one selling point since the first Iron Man film. It's what makes them not only different but better than the DC Films (a very unique, smart, and special opinion that only I have). Marvel is built on a foundation of fun. A fundation.

A phrase I kept hearing from people who saw it was "It's the best Thor movie." Some people went as far as to say it was the best Marvel film ever, but that's usually just what happens whenever a new Marvel movie comes out. For instance, I briefly thought Iron Man 3 was the best Iron Man movie. I was wrong. The people who say Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor movie are right, but only because that's an obvious and easy thing to say, like saying "the first Iron Man movie is the best Iron Man movie", or "Citizen Kane is the best Citizen Kane movie." It's not exactly a high bar for quality.

I won't do a beat-by-beat plot synopsis of Thor: Ragnarok, I'll just do a simple breakdown of what I liked and didn't like.

Spoilers ahead.

What I liked:

1. It's often genuinely funny.

Taika Waititi is a wonderful filmmaker from New Zealand who made gems like What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, as well as several episodes of Flight of the Conchords. His style of comedy very much falls in line with that of Flight of the Conchords, and while it's not as prevalent in Thor: Ragnarok as I would've liked, it's definitely still there. A rock creature named Korg, who is voiced by Waititi himself, naturally provides the most authentic New Zealand-style humor, but it comes through the other main characters as well.

There are two particular moments of humor that stuck out to me as funny but also completely bizarre and not fitting with the rest of the Marvel films' tone (but kind of in a good way): a direct parody (not a reference, a full-on parody) of Sherlock in order to introduce Benedict Cumberbatch's cameo as Doctor Strange, and surprise cameos from Liam Hemsworth, Sam Neill, and Matt Damon as Asgardian thespians recreating the previous events from Thor's story, a la Game of Thrones. Liam Hemsworth obviously makes sense as he's Chris Hemsworth's brother, and Sam Neill makes sense because he's worked with Waititi before in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but there is no verifiable reason for Matt Damon to be dressed up as Loki other than the fact that him being in movies is a twist now.

There honestly could've been a wider variety of humor than what was ultimately in the finished project, but I'll come back to that.

2. The supporting cast.

I specify "supporting" because we already know what we like about the main guys. Thor is grand and arrogant but also aware of how weird he is in comparison to the other Avengers, Bruce Banner is awkward and uncomfortable but adorable, and Loki is wily and cunning but also a total wiener.

The new characters are all pretty great. Jeff Goldblum is the Jeffest and Goldblumiest he's ever been as the Grand Master, Tessa Thompson (who I never recognized but it turns out she was in Selma and Creed, both films that I saw and liked) is a ton of fun as a tough bounty hunter with a drinking problem (that gets dropped in the third act but I'll talk about it later), and Cate Blanchett is probably the coolest villain Marvel has ever had (which essentially has the same weight as saying "this is the best Thor movie").

3. Cate Blanchett

It's a little funny to me that Hela (Cate Blanchett) is Thor and Loki's sister, as she seems more like their crazy aunt or something, and on paper she's basically just every bland Marvel villain ever, so it's entirely Cate Blanchett's fault that this character is so much fun to watch. I'll also give props to the costume people, because her latex suit and antler helmet also make her interesting and memorable from a visual standpoint. Watching Cate Blanchett chew the scenery from every possible angle, whether she's being intimidating, or sexy, or intimidatingly sexy, or sexily intimidating, is entertaining whether you know that she's a massively talented two-time Oscar-winner or not.

Okay, those are the main things I liked.

What I didn't like:

1. Lots of missed opportunities.

Red Letter Media, the best channel on YouTube, correctly pointed out that this movie keeps coming across interesting concepts and then never fully committing to them. The gladiator aspect is hardly touched, there isn't near enough Jeff Goldblum, there's that fantastic Disney dark ride intro to Jeff Goldblum that never comes back, etc. While I agree with them, that's not something that I fully recognized until after watching their review. What I recognized on my own is that most of the film's comedy comes in the form of banter between characters, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, and either way it ultimately throws off the pacing and causes the film to drag because there's so much of it. A scene that could've been cut down to a few clever lines keeps going and going because they want to leave in all of the actors' improvisations. I think it would've been nice to see some more visual humor, as it would've given the film a lot more variety, and its huge budget would mean the possibilities for visual humor would have been endless. They could've been more creative with their creatures and environments and could've taken the story in a new and fresh direction instead of having it ultimately become every Marvel movie ever in the third act.

2. The third act.

For as weird was this big budget Marvel movie was, it still came down to just beating up a bunch of bad guys. This is why I so appreciated Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; they came up with clever and fresh ways to defeat their villain.

Cate Blanchett is excellently built up as an all-powerful being from her very first action: destroying Thor's hammer. So when all they do to defeat her is resurrect an even more all-powerful being to crush her, it's pretty anti-climactic. Cate Blanchett deserves better.

It also drops some seemingly important pieces from the story. Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) has a well-established drinking problem (the very first time we see her she passes out from drinking) and in the third act it's just never brought up again. Like they just forgot. Then there's the Hulk.

Bruce explains to Thor that he's been trapped in Hulk-mode for so long on this planet that if he turns into the Hulk again he might never turn back. So when he realizes he has to turn into the Hulk in the climactic battle scene, he just tells Valkyrie she's about to see the Hulk, jumps out the ship, falls onto the ground as Bruce (which was very funny) and then turns into the Hulk. Not only is it not a huge emotional moment for Bruce, it's instead a funny and embarrassing moment. This is a trademark issue all the Marvel films have, of refusing to be too genuine or emotional and instead going for comedy, but the Guardians of the Galaxy films have proven that it's definitely possible to have both, so Ragnarok should've taken a page out of their book in this moment.

It was a little disappointing to see the film keep skirting around deep emotions and new and interesting concepts in favor of stuff we've already seen before.

So overall it was fun, funny, and had some cool additional characters, but it also drags, isn't very satisfying as an actual story, and doesn't really go into any unexplored territory.

But how about that singing Jeff Goldblum happy birthday fireworks button?