Thor: Ragnarok review: The perfect turnaround

This is how the Thor trilogy should have played from the beginning. Thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok.

WARNING: Contains spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok. Do not read unless you’ve seen it or don’t mind.

I had my doubts. Let me tell you… Thor: Ragnarok vastly exceeded my expectations.

While I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall, I’ve never been that interested in the Thor films. (That’s not to say that I haven’t seen them, because I have seen them.) But, alas, along came Taika Waititi. Yes, I have him to thank.

I didn’t expect this film to be repeatedly and exceptionally funny, and it caught me off guard. I can’t recall the last time I laughed so much at a film. I hesitate to call it the funniest film I’ve ever seen, but I was still chuckling at this film after I left the screening.

Though the setup is clunky, the payoff is strong: the separate stories blend together into one organic whole. The characters, the dialogue — they all just work seamlessly, and the plot works in all the right ways while still being delightfully bamboozling.

Of course, I still miss Darcy and Sif, and I don’t want Thor to be with anyone else but Jane — but surprisingly, without them, the film worked remarkably well as a cohesive whole. And I actually don’t mind if Thor and Valkyrie become a couple — Jane is still his endgame. (In my head.) Chris Hemsworth finally looks as if he is having fun in his own film, and shines with each joke he lands. This version of Thor, which is very close to Chris in personality and in energy, absolutely grounded the character, adding more depth to him. In the end, this was the best portrayal of Thor that I’ve ever seen. And Valkyrie — personally, Valkyrie is the most badass female act since the Captain America: The Winter Soldier version of Natasha. She was as beautiful as she was dangerous. I can’t wait to see more of her in Avengers: Infinity War. Tessa Thompson was the right cast choice for Valkyrie.

With Loki, Thor: Ragnarok finally does justice to his character. Tom Hiddleston has always brought a certain humor and charm to Loki, and that didn’t change in the threequel. He may be still mischievous and sometimes frustrating (pretty sure he took the Tesseract — that silly, silly, bad Loki), but he has finally grown into a person who can receive love and express love. During a press junket for the film, Tom addressed Loki’s growth, saying that the film is “about the development of the relationship between Thor and Loki as brothers.” If that was the tagline, I’d love it.

I used to prefer Edward Norton as the Hulk, but Mark Ruffalo seems to have finally left an imprint on me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mark, as an actor and as an individual — I just never connected with him as the Hulk until now. It seems as if Marvel Studios is finally striving to keep the character close to his comic book counterpart, and his added humor makes him the more intriguing. If only his love life was just as promising.

While Cate Blanchett’s Hela and Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster were perfect additions to the cast, I was happy to see some familiar faces: Heimdall, the Warriors Three (though they were all slaughtered), and even Stephen Strange. There was even a fun cameo from Luke Hemsworth, Chris’ real life brother — the best cameo, though, belongs to Matt Damon. By far. Ever. I’m still rolling and laughing.

More from Bam Smack Pow

Along the lines of Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Thor: Ragnarok is a stand-alone romp, heavy on laughs and silliness and accentuated by the brilliance and energy of its delivery. And as far as films performing above expectations, this film just climbed its way to the top. So thank you, Taika, and a job well, well done.

Home/Comics