Review: Thor Ragnarok
Thor Ragnarok is the third installment in the Thor series and newest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Plot:
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor's quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization.
-source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501632/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl
Director Taika Waititi gives this movie a unique comedic touch that perfectly utilizes the funny nature and acting skills of all actors involved. He also shows his comedic skills in front of the camera in the smaller role of Korg, an alien pit fighter.
The comedy is clearly the greatest strength of the movie. The movie is just flatout funny and made me laugh throughout its entirety. Especially Chris Hemsworth shows what a great comedic talent he possess and the banter between Thor and Hulk is just fantastic. Also it has Jeff Goldblum being Jeff Goldblum.
The second big plus of the movie is the look and sound. Sakaar, the planet Thor is stranded on is bright and colorful, an orgasmic explosion of neon that puts Guardians of the Galaxy to shame, while the music the 80s rock synthesizer greatness.
As a crass contrast to the enjoyable, colorful und and funny Sakaar, Asgard is pretty boring, and uninspired.
Hela as a villain is sadly not much more than your run of the mill throwaway baddy. Cate Blanchett is great, but the material she had to work with sadly isn't. After the initial introduction and establishing her a super powerful killing machine, there is basically no more character development. Her sidekick Skurge (Karl Urban) is just as blant.
Since the entire 2nd act of the movie is basically 2 storylines told in parallel I was hoping that the third act would bring them together in a way that lets the strong elements survive and get rid the weak point.
The movie succeeds in that mostly. The final confrontation, which in happening in several stages with different combinations of participants, feels satisfying and finally gets personal and almost emotional. Instead of CGI Effects hitting each other without any consequence, there are characters with a personal feud and emotional investment in the fights. And thus, the end feels dramatic and earned.
With the exception of the Asgard story in the 2nd act and the rather weak villain, Thor Ragnarok is a full success, mostly due to the great script and direction. I would really like to see more Taika in the MCU.
My Rating 8/10
