THOR: RAGNAROK REVIEWED
“Thor: Ragnarok” has the worst first act of a Marvel film. I don’t blame Ragnarok for that, as it was necessary to tidy up the loose ends from The Dark World and get the plot going. But, so much time was spent fixing past mistakes and trying to explain away Loki’s latest schemes. Then, Hela shows up and nothing matters. Now, the rest of the film starts. While it looks pretty and sports great humor, it feels so disingenuous.
Everything is a joke and Thor is overpowered. Laughs are had, as Thor gets bounced around by Doc Strange to resolve his daddy issues. Then, he gets to meet his long lost Goth sister and see his home destroyed. But, we’ve got to work in Planet Hulk somehow. I did like how the MCU treats Sakaar. It’s an odd planet where Jeff Goldblum reigns supreme. The Hulk gets resolved quickly, as Banner’s persona has been suppressed due to Sakaar’s harsh environment.
Eventually, Mark Ruffalo shows up when he gets manly emotional over Black Widow’s video from Age of Ultron. What follows is some questionable edits that eventually get the main cast to Asgard, as they watch it continue to fall. There are some great homages to the Walt Simonson run, but I still don’t dig how they handled the complete Surtur arc. It’s smart to have Thor kickstart Ragnarok, but the entire plan isn’t established to completion. It’s petty, but it hurt my brain.
End credits are pretty cool, as OH MY SHIT! Thanos’s classic Sanctuary ship shows up. If you’re a Jim Starlin nerd, that’s a huge deal. Now, let’s talk about the problems. Somewhere between the forced humor and bizarre edits, I wonder what was going on. This is still a Taika Waititi film, but it seems like he got talked into adding on more material. The movie is stuffed, yet plays short. Honestly, I’m shocked that it’s as long as it was.
Does the film get better as it plays? Sure. But, it the pacing is all over the place and tone is never quite established. Thor vs. Surtur should be played WAY bigger. Hela is too overpowered and her use of Skurge feels dumb. That lingering sense of dumb is what hurts and helps so much of the movie. While I ultimately enjoyed it, I can’t even jokingly put it among the Top 5 Marvel films. The best I can say is that it’s better than “Iron Man 2”.
FILM STATS
- 2 hrs and 10 mins
- PG-13
- Marvel/Disney