Thor: Ragnarok Movie Review
Thor: Ragnarok – Keep the Ticket
Thor: Ragnarok is the third Thor movie, but it is the 17th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The last two movies in the line of Thor movies have been two of the least critically acclaimed MCU movies, with Thor receiving a 77% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com and Thor: The Dark World receiving a 66% fresh rating. Those days are behind the character of Thor, however, as this is by far the best Thor movie to date, currently sitting at a 92% fresh rating. I really enjoyed it, but let me break down the movie more for you.
To begin, the writing of both plot and characters finally reaches levels which we have come to expect from MCU films at this point, specifically the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. This means most every main character has charisma and gives you a reason to be invested in them. There is enough space given to the supporting characters that it feels like an ensemble movie, not just a movie about Thor. At times, this makes it more enjoyable, yet at other times, it disappointed me.
There are scenes I felt should have just focused on Thor and how he felt during different events that happen in the movie, but, more often than not, the scene would be interrupted by another character, or Thor himself making a joke. This leads to the movie’s biggest drawback – the comedy was too much comedy, even though I felt Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Mark Ruffalo gave their best performances yet as Thor, Loki, and Hulk, respectively.
The character writing and dialogue swung too far in the direction of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 at times. That means it ceased to feel like a Thor movie and caused laughter at times that were either inappropriate for what was happening on screen or that caused people to miss what was said next because they were still laughing.
Aside from the writing of the characters, the plot had some pacing issues. There were more than a few moments that I felt either needed to be more drawn out, sped up a little, or even felt that they got cut short at an awkward time.
As far as how the movie looks and makes me feel, there’s little to no negatives. It looks fantastic and I felt throughout the movie how it was probably trying to make me feel, aside from at the end when a joke totally ruins an emotional scene and then I was jarred out of being “in” that moment.
All-in-all, Thor: Ragnarok‘s quality is at the level we have come to expect from the MCU, but it swings so far toward Guardians of the Galaxy-level comedy that it no longer feels like a Thor movie at times, even the character of Thor doesn’t feel like Thor at times. It feels as though the filmmakers just wanted to cram as many jokes in as possible, ruining certain moments, similar to how I felt watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. All that being said, however, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Thor: Ragnarok and will have to Keep the Ticket.
