Thor: Ragnarok separates itself from the previous two movies in the trilogy and truly stands out as easily one of the best movies produced by Marvel Studios. As evident in the first and second movies in the series, Thor had been taking a darker approach rather than the usual Marvel movies, however, this was completely undone with the third installment. The different tone and approach in this movie absolutely saved the trilogy and highlighted that Marvel movies are perhaps best told with the element of comedy.
So what made the movie so good? Well, the first thing they did correctly and this truly saved the trilogy was hiring the most unexpected director, Taika Waititi. Waititi is able to something no other director has been able to do for a Thor movie. We all know the movie was hilarious, but Waititi allows us to discover a new Thor as he was no longer just God of Thunder or the Almighty Thor. No, this movie allowed for some serious development and I loved it. Thor losing his hammer was always a shock to us all when we first saw it and if I'm being honest, I was a little worried but I loved that this movie didn't focus on him just being Thor. We saw that even without the hammer, Thor is still a buff badass. However, what's done so wonderfully in this movie is that now when Thor is without his hammer, we see him truly embrace his powers. Thor is quite simply more powerful than ever and it was awesome seeing them uncovering Thor's true powers.
utilizes one of the best relationships in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor and Loki are honestly one of the most entertaining aspects in this movie. However, what makes their brotherly relationship so satisfying in this movie is that Loki really seems to have settled to being a somewhat decent brother. For the first half of the movie, Loki is still rather deceiving, however, the development of his character was astonishing and quite frankly amusing. I've always wanted Loki to be a better brother for Thor so that we can see them teaming up and that's exactly what we got here. Small things like Thor finally becoming aware of his brother's tricks allows for some much-needed depth which demonstrates how far their relationship has gone. Chris Hemsworth along with Tom Hiddleston have outdone themselves with some great emotional moments, while ensuring they don't stray too far away from the comedy in the movie.
Now when anyone talks about this movie, you can't go without mentioning the Big Green Guy, Hulk. Quite frankly, not once did I feel like the humor or relationship between Thor and Hulk was forced. Giving Hulk a voice and finally allowing his progression in speaking to shine was a great decision for this movie as it allows us to explore his humanity. Giving him a voice grants the audience to realize the emotions Hulk has trapped in him. He gets sad, angry and at times even feels insecure, this truly allows you to care for the character more so than you ever did before. Thor and Hulk are extraordinary together, their dynamic is genuine and the relationship never felt like it was being pushed down our throats. The gladiator fight between the two was simply perfect, the CGI was well executed and the fight introduces to us Thor going bizarre with lightning. This is a completely different Hulk from previous movies his been in and that is definitely a good thing as he is more enjoyable to watch and finally taps into his humanity.
Everybody loves Korg! And he sure as hell deserves all the love in the world! Funnily enough, Korg is actually played by none other than Waititi, which is fitting considering it's his own character. The Kiwi accent, the weird jokes and the playful attitude makes him simply one of the best character in the entire MCU. He is wonderful, in all that happens in
Thor: Ragnarok, it would not be the same without Korg. The loveable rock creature stole the scene almost every time he was shown and the fact is, he fit perfectly into the tone of this movie. In a way he really reminded me of Groot and I definitely would love to see how the two teams, The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy react to Korg.
With every movie though, there are always going to be flaws and honestly, the biggest flaws were the villain, Hela and the story itself. That's not to say the story in the movie was bad, it just wasn't appealing or anything too interesting. Hela is revealed to be the older sister of Thor and Loki, and believes she's the rightful heir to Asgard. Now, that's all well and good but the story is told before with Loki. The villain just wasn't original and to be honest, a lot of the time her dialogue was quite cliche and she didn't feel as threatening as she could've or should've been. For example, Michael Keaton in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' almost always made scenes he's in intense. I just didn't feel like Hela was much of a threat and the fact that her motivations are basically Loki 2.0 didn't help her case. That's not to say that Hela was a horrible villain, just that she didn't fix up Marvel's issue of not being able to create a threatening villain.
However, overall this was a great movie and a definite win for Marvel. Sure the story wasn't the best, nor the villain but the character development, relationships and the packed action was just great. The humor didn't feel forced and I love what Waititi was able to do for Thor and honestly saving the trilogy. All in all, I gave the movie a solid 8.2 out of 10, and is placed in my top three Marvel movies!