Review Summary: Doesn't solve some Marvel problems, but gets a lot right in highly entertaining threequel.
It's safe to assume the Thor movies are perhaps the least popular with audiences and critics among the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Something apparently wasn't working, and many thought the franchise was in due need of a major change in pace. And, it becomes quickly apparent within the first half hour of Ragnarok that the filmmakers think the same thing. Many of the older elements from the first two Thor movies are done away with in oftentimes shocking fashion.
I personally found the first two Thor movies to be the most underrated among the Marvel films. They balanced the exciting superhero action with an old-fashioned sense of storytelling. There were also some memorable characters, such as Darcy, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Dr. Erik Selvig. Surprisingly, all three are absent here, and there's a comment early discussing that Jane and Thor have, in fact, broken up. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, another group of memorable characters, are all either glorified cameos or entirely absent as well.
But like I said, the first half of the movie does seem to have an "out with the old, in with the new" approach. I honestly am a little uncertain about this idea. Some changes seem too obvious and too quickly played out. While I get the idea of taking risks, I'm just not convinced that some of it was necessary. In the sense of the film's plot, this idea is mostly due to the appearance of the goddess of death, Hela (played by Cate Blanchett).
I have to say, I was looking forward to seeing Blanchett in this role. Her scenes in the trailers were so over-the-top and unrecognizable (as far as she is concerned) that I had my hopes up. But she doesn't carry that same attitude over into the whole movie, I'm sad to say. She's given very little depth, and she disappears for a lot of the second act too. Ultimately, she's another Marvel villain that doesn't deliver enough creatively to be more than what we've seen before.
That being said, the humor in this film still hits its mark often. Sometimes its' direct references to earlier MCU movies. Sometimes its' witty slapstick and one-liners. True, its' much more over-the-top than its' Thor predecessors, but it mostly sticks to good-natured humor (there are only a couple of instances of the grimace-worthy adult humor that Guardians of the Galaxy had in abundance). There's also a couple of surprise cameos that took me by surprise and were both hilarious also.
Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are both game once again as Thor and Loki. Bringing a more comedic side to his character, Hemsworth adds a little bit more depth to his character. Hiddleston once again shines here, with an unpredictable persona that balances well off of Hemsworth. They are joined this time by Mark Ruffalo, in a solid reprise of his character Bruce Banner/The Hulk. I thought it was an interesting idea to have the Hulk start to talk clearer.
Idris Elba returns also as Heimdall. As for other new actors, I personally wasn't a huge fan of Jeff Goldblum's character. He definitely looks like he's having fun, but his weird, color commentator-style tone is oddly uncompelling. Tessa Thompson plays Valkyrie, a female Han Solo-type character who starts off hard to like. But, I later warmed up to her, thanks to a very solid redemptive story arc. Director Taika Waititi plays the character Korg, who delivers a few solid one-liners here and there.
The music score here is very well-executed. Combining theatrics with 80's video game-ish music turned out to be a great idea for composer Mark Mothersbaugh. It amps up the level of fun the movie delivers. The visual effects are great, with a nice blend of creative elements here and there. Despite being over 2 hours, Ragnarok paces very smoothly, even with a few slower moments. And, in its appreciated slower moments, they actually deliver some much-needed development to the characters.
I also thought the ending had a twist that I didn't see coming. The way the villain is dealt with is not what you might expect. It also gives a tiny bit more emotional gravitas to the franchise. And, as far as the post-credit scenes are concerned, while both are not the best the MCU has done, one of them (in the middle of the credits) does succeed in leaving us in suspense.
Ultimately, Ragnarok breaks a little bit of ground for the MCU in places, and yet doesn't break ground at all in others. I found it to be a better film than the MCU's other two offerings this year, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2. It doesn't surpass the previous Thor movies, but I find it to be a nice companion piece to its' predecessors. It's not the best MCU film, but it is among the franchise's most entertaining and clever entries to date.
For a franchise trying to battle potential fatigue among moviegoers, that's a pretty good accomplishment.
Score: 8.5/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Thor: Ragnarok is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive material". The good news is that Ragnarok is a cleaner movie than Marvel's other two offerings this year (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming). The bad news is that there's still some content issues to navigate. The violence is the main problem here. There's some scary creatures (a lava monster at the beginning and end, and a dragon at the beginning might frighten little ones), a lot of death (mostly bloodlessly done, but a lot of impalings), and some intense action (Hulk and Thor nearly battle to the death in hand-to-hand combat, people are painfully electrocuted, someone dies by melting [with smoke covering up some of it]).
There's also about 20 uses of language (two s-words are clearly used, there's a half-dozen uses of h***, along with a couple each of a**, d****, son of a b****, "p***" and "oh my g**"), and a couple of adult jokes that might sail over kids' heads (Thor's hammer is joked about ["you let the hammer pull you up?"], and a spaceship is briefly described as a "pleasure ship" with "orgies and stuff"). Valkyrie drinks a lot (sometimes heavily), and we first meet her in a drunken stupor (she falls off of a ramp).
