Thor: Ragnarok is the third installment in the Thor Film Series and one of the latest films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall. My expectations of how well this movie was going to go were not high at first given how boring and forgettable the previous installment was. The villains involved in the second film were particularly dull. When I saw the trailer, though, it looked amazing. And when I saw the movie, not only was it subtle, but it was filled with good action and allowed us to enjoy the characters we come to know since we got introduced to the character in the cinematic universe.
It’s nice to see Thor bit more vulnerable than simply the God figure that has been associated with the original Norse mythology. It creates better tension and even lets us relate to his predicament. It is also really refreshing to see Chris Hemsworth finally rid of that ridiculous wig. This character is just as stiff and proud as always, but then again, every group has one. Seeing him being stripped of what was the source of his power was not just tragic, but also somewhat hilarious, mostly because I want to see him trying to get out of a situation without that mighty hammer of his. He still comes off as likeable even if he is an absolute brute. Loki is as chaotic and funny as ever. People always do like a little bit of chaos, every now and then. Viewers got introduced a lot of new characters, such as the goddess of death Hela. Unlike the villain from the previous Thor movie, I thought she was not just more intimidating but possessed a real sense of power that made her more threatening and dangerous than any other foe encountered yet. Most importantly of all, the Hulk returns leaving audiences both excited yet confused. Besides that the acting has improved since the previous installments.
Spoiler alert: The story in itself is rather interesting. Thor has seen visions of the prophecy of the end of Asgard. It was up to him to prevent the end of days from coming only for something worse to arrive in its place. I may have enjoyed the acting from most of the actors, some not so much. Urban’s character just didn’t really seem that important to me. I know that Marvel was trying to make an arc of redemption for this character, but it didn’t play out well and most people don’t pay much attention to it. Not to mention some of the scenes on Earth are just quick and not really essential to any part of the story. However, I am happy to see the plot twist, which is usually reserved for the end, take place in the beginning, just so that the writers can get it over with, and not annoy audiences. I thought the planet that Thor got stranded on was rather fun and interesting to look at, though it may have been a junk planet.
The action in the film was a lot more interesting to watch. It is fitting to see Thor placed in arena to fight off countless waves of opponents. It was intense and exciting. One thing I could complain about, however, was the attempt at humor in this film. It had its ups and downs: I like the interactions with Thor and Loki, which are exactly what you’d expect from brotherlike quarrels: Punches being thrown over matters that are mostly unimportant and then just being forgotten like it never really happened. But the interactions with some of the side characters I felt were a bit more forced and not really that funny. I know some of these characters were important to the store line in the original comics, but lot of people probably would not notice. I certainly didn’t. I suppose one of the biggest disappointments that I got that was the performance by Jeff Goldblum, who seemed to stumble through most of his lines and didn’t display the emotions that made his character interesting. In a sense, Jeff Goldblum just played himself throughout the entirety of the film.
Considering the many problems with Dark World, it is nice to see that Ragnarok did improve a lot of things and made it more fun and interesting. The villain was a lot more intimidating and gave me more reason to care about what would happen to our heroes. It was fast paced, energetic, and helped blend together the comics with the original mythological Norse gods. I enjoyed my experience and apparently so did audiences. We have more than enough reasons to get excited for the next installment of The Avengers when it comes around.
