Thor: Ragnarok Review

"I'm not a queen, or a monster... I'm the god of death!"

Thor: Ragnarok is the third entry into the Thor franchise, and the latest entry into the ever expanding and highly popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor: Ragnarok was directed by Taika Waititi, and stars the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Hopkins and Karl Urban (what a cast!). The film follows Thor as he teams up with Loki, The Hulk and Valkyrie to try to stop Hela from bringing about Ragnarok (the end of Asgard as we know it!), will they succeed.... well I can't spoil that for you! 

The Thor Franchise has been one of hit and miss, whilst the films have been entertaining and have achieved great success in terms of box office returns, neither the first film 'Thor' or 'Thor: The Dark World' have lived up to previous Marvel films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is this about to change with Thor: Ragnarok?..... well I am happy to announce that Thor: Ragnarok is without a doubt the best Thor film to date and is easily the standout Marvel film of the year! (Sorry Guardians and Spider-Man it's true!) Thor: Ragnarok is definitely one of the quirkiest and out there films that Marvel as released and that is saying something when compared with the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 and Vol 2, and this is down to Taika Waititi, whose direction and take on this film is spot on. This film manages to balance the right level of comedy to make it truly funny and not just scripted comedy that falls flat or feels forced in any way, with great apocalyptic action set pieces and moments of character development to truly bring about a film that stands above most Marvel films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Credit is due to the fantastic performances in the film, Chris Hemsworth gives his strongest performance as Thor, and whilst characters such as Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) all have their moments to shine, and trust me they certainly do! (hearing Hulk finally talk is incredible...no pun intended!), it is Taika Wititi's own performance as the gladiator Korg who truly steals the show and every scene that he is in, and will definitely become a fan favourite character in the cosmic side of the MCU. Another standout element is the visual style of this film, in terms of the film's production design. The MCU is not known for having a bright or colourful sense of visual style except for both Guardians of the Galaxy films, but Thor: Ragnarok goes even bolder and in most cases brighter than Guardians of the Galaxy, and really makes the film much more unique and allows it to standout from the masses of films that Marvel are making and releasing in its Cinematic Universe. 

Whilst I truly loved this film, I only really have a very small issue with it, and that is with its main villain Hela portrayed by Cate Blanchett. Blanchett does give a good performance as Hela, and comes across threatening and powerful, but for me I would of just liked a bit more back story of the character to of been shown to really fear her, which would of created a more three dimensional villain. Whilst Hela is an interesting and worthy villain to challenge Thor, and certainly does have some incredibly unique and visually interesting powers and abilities, the film seems to reduce her to a state where she is only really used to fill the stereotypical bad guy stereotype, and not to be remembered as truly stand out villain that she could of been. The film also on occasion (very rarely) struggles to match its tone throughout the entire film, there are times when the film cuts from a highly comedic sequence to a really serious sequence involving Hela for example. Whilst most of the times this works well, on occasion the shift in tones so suddenly can through you out of the film for a second and makes the audience not take seriously what is happening or the apocalyptic events that are taking place. 

Overall I absolutely loved this film and would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the Marvel Comics and especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film really does not disappoint and is easily the best Thor film and without a doubt will be in a lot of people's top Marvel films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Remember it's a Marvel film stay for those post credit sequences for future teases for what's to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Verdict: 4 and a 1/2 stars