Let me just start by saying that this movie (Thor: Ragnarok) ragnaROCKS. In the past several years, Marvel has been better than ever, and this movie continues the trend. Judging by the previous two Thor movies, you would think that Thor: Ragnarok would be a bland look at the God-like avenger considering the dull landscapes, and serious tone of the first films. However, director Taika Waititi managed to capture the spirit of Marvel Comics, and Thor himself in a totally unique and interesting way.
Visually, Thor: Ragnarok is stunning. The best way to describe this movie is “80’s album cover: The Movie.” Many of the characters, and worlds that Thor finds himself exploring throughout the film are not only vivid in color, but highly detailed, and stimulating in terms of design. While lately Marvel movies have been upping the game in terms of comedy, Thor: Ragnarok’s comedic timing takes the cake. Thor has always been one of the more serious avengers, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him channel his inner comedian. Also, Jeff Goldblum’s character was hilarious. It felt like the director might have just forgotten to give Goldblum a script and let him improvise. On top of that, it was almost like they used his very first take (in the best possible way). He added a very Goldblum-esque charm to the movie that can’t be described. It needs to be witnessed.
This may be bold to say, but I would argue that not only is this the best of the Thor movies… this is also the best Hulk movie that Marvel has to offer. The Incredible Hulk had a very comedic role in this movie, and managed to have an entire character arc occur as opposed to his usual shallow story line. Bruce Banner remained in his Hulk form for two years, and learned to speak in this form. Giving the Hulk the ability to speak was one of Marvel’s better ideas, because it allowed for a deeper expansion of the Hulk as a character.
This film was spectacular. The only negative critique that I am able to give about Thor: Ragnarok is that “Thunderstruck” by ACDC was on playing when the crowd was chanting thunder at Thor. That is the only thing that holds me back from giving this film a complete 10/10.