The SPOILER FREE SHH Member's Thor: Ragnarok Review Thread

[Finarfiniel]

I guess it's time to write down some general thoughts about this film.

I really loved Ragnarok. How it was so much a Taika Waititi film with fresh and original ideas and tone, at the same time as being one of the superhero movies that draws the most from the comics in terms of ideas, visuals and detail. It's a great achievement to succeed with both at the same time.

In a Waititi film the characters are at the forefront and there's no difference here. He also said from the start that if the film is called Thor then Thor has to be the best character and he truly delivered on that. Here Thor is a very compelling protagonist that stands in the center of both the plot and the relationships, and I'm fully behind him even when he's up against a villain I love (and I have a tendency to root for villains now and then). He's heroic and more powerful than we've ever seen him before.

With the supporting cast we have a lot of standouts. Loki continues his arc with Thor which was very compelling to me, Hulk has gotten a completely new dimension to him, Valkyrie is a great badass addition and Korg is a real scene stealer (and I'm oddly fond of the silent Miek). I also really enjoy Heimdall's role in this.

When it comes to the antagonists Hela is played fantastically well by Cate Blanchett, just as expected. She's always a commanding presence and does everything from the vampy queen aspect to the badass, stone cold killer perfectly. The Grandmaster goes deliciously full Goldblum and just adds a great and quirky touch to finish off the tone of the planet that he rules. As for Skurge, he has a small but very satisfying arc.

Then there's the visuals. Asgard looks the best it's ever done with it's old fantasy feel, mixed with some cosmic sci-fi aspects. But as that's mainly building on what we've seen it's of course Sakaar that's the standout location in this regard. It's a wonderful and colorful place with so much that just screams Jack Kirby, and it's a great concept to build a world out of trash. Muspelheim has an interesting take with being a dyson sphere, but it's not really something that stands out as much as the other places.

The action is just fantastic and it's probably my favorite representation of top tier power action in superhero films. Again Thor is the main star and he has some incredible sequences both with and without Mjolnir, and it's done differently depending on which. But while Thor is the center everyone get to participate with cool things, and unsurprisingly Hulk and Valkyrie are the other two standouts among the protagonists, while Hela is great on the other side.

Regarding the tone it's often very comedic, and I love Taika's humor, but I also think that when it's really needed things get to be serious and even dark. Overall I think the balance works very well, with some snags on the way. The pacing of the film is very brisk, which often works but in the first act there are parts where it doesn't flow perfectly and some things are perhaps going by a little too quickly to get on to the story. I don't have any big issues here but there are some.

Adding to the tone is a great score that I really liked when listening to it before seeing the film, but I think it works even better in the film. The mix of a classic orchestral score and attitude of the 80s synth music works very well to set the tone of the places and scenes and strongly differentiate them from each other. The callback to the score of the first Thor was such a wonderful choice that really elevated a powerful moment.

Another thing that really made me happy were all the Easter eggs, cameos and general pulls from the comics. The film is full of them without it ever feeling forced or unnatural (although Stan Lee cameos almost always become a pretty meta moment). I'm sure there's lots of things I missed on my first viewing as well.

I'm sorry if this was rambling and not formulated in the best way, but I just wrote this on the fly as the thoughts came to me and I haven't reread what I've put down. As I said in the beginning I love this film and it's definitely in the top tier of MCU films on my list.

Quoting this whole thing because it is both awesome and 100% true.

So glad you loved it, Mjolnir! t:

 

[Mjölnir]

Sounds great Mjolnir! Thanks for sharing your non-spoiler review.

Surfer

Quoting this whole thing because it is both awesome and 100% true.

So glad you loved it, Mjolnir! t:

 

[First Avenger]

Yep,great review Mjölnir!

 

[psylockolussus]

8. As a film, its really well made and fun. Much better than Tdw and I liked this more than Logan and Homecoming. Though it didn't have an impact on me.

 

[Gieferg]

After a little disappointment with GoTG2 (good movie, but should've been better), THIS is what I call FUN. From beginning to the end, Ragnarok delivers. There are some minor problems (Urban's character is pointless, some SFX are rather weak), but this is still a winner. Second best MCU movie after only Winter Soldier. And the music... well, the score is... a bit weird, but Led Zeppelin rocks, and great Thor's theme from first movie returns.

9/10

 

[Surfer]

After a little disappointment with GoTG2 (good movie, but should've been better), THIS is what I call FUN. From beginning to the end, Ragnarok delivers. There are some minor problems (Urban's character is pointless, some SFX are rather weak), but this is still a winner. Second best MCU movie after only Winter Soldier. And the music... well, the score is... a bit weird, but Led Zeppelin rocks, and great Thor's theme from first movie returns.

9/10

Nice! Glad to hear you had a good time and that you felt it was one of the best MCU movies. I have been hearing that a lot, so really looking forward to seeing it when it hits the states.

Oh, and Led Zeppelin always rocks!

Surfer

 

[vini]

The only reviews that actually matter are the ones on RottenTomatoes. Just saying.

 

[RoastBeast]

The ones that matter to me are in here.

 

[TheVileOne]

My official spoiler-free review of Thor: Ragnarok.

 

[Consona]

Trailers got me really excited but the movie itself was rather boring.

Story/script were quite weak, humor was ok but nothing that would rofl me, another wasted villain. I like Thor but his films are amongst the weakest in MCU.

2/5

 

[Zyraquis]

Liked it a lot. Strongest superhero film I’ve seen so far this year. Strong characters, main and side both. Very good villain compared to say all three forgettable villains in that pretty overpraised summer hit. A tad weak at the beginning but overall very enjoyable and will gladly see again. Longer more specific review in spoiler review thread.

9.4/10

Critics reviews matter for marketing and potential audience draw, but nothing to me personally. Many critics tend to box themselves into certain confines (may well be taught in film studies courses, which I slept through and quit) so they can “come off” as professional. Given I only pay to see movies in theater with heavy doses of effects (sci fi yay! Superhero yay yay!), and long dialogues, strechted out silent “deep, emotive” scenes shot with soft lenses put me to sleep, I would flee from a good number of critics’ top choices even someone pays me to watch. I probably would pay them more to not watch.

 

[jel-leigh-bean]

Just got back from seeing the movie. Best Thor movie, hands down.

What can I saw except WOW. It was so much fun, I had a smile on my face the entire time. And I have never seen such epic visuals. The action scenes were the best ones in the MCU in my opinion.

I do think that the movie felt rushed, especially in the beginning. I would have liked to linger on some of the character moments for longer. The whole thing was over so fast that I'm having trouble processing it.

Right now I rate it 8/10, but that might improve after seeing it again (tomorrow!). I'll post a more detailed spoilery review then.

 

[zlucamanz]

thor: ragnarok pretty alright 7/10 without any peak scene best thor movie by far.

i think no useless earth-human support character was pretty good move.

 

[BigThor]

I just got back from seeing it smh....

 

[Web-Head]

I really enjoyed Thor:Ragnarok. It was nice to see certain characters again and Thor was more BA in this than any other of his previous appearances.

Hela was a really solid villain but a bit underused and Hulk was a ton of fun t:

Fell in love with Valkyrie though and hope to see her pop up in the MCU again soon!

 

[BigThor]

I'm shaking my head because I couldn't watch this 10 times in a row.

 

[JtheDreamer]

Need more non-spoiler reviews!

 

[nickelette424]

Just saw the movie tonight. Based on reviews I was expected more knee slapping humor. But while I wasn't busting out laughing the whole time, I did have a continuous smile on my face. I love this movie.

The first two Thor films are my least favorite in the MCU, so I'm really glad I get to add a Thor film to my list of favorites. I absolutely loved this version of Hulk, Thor of course, Korg and Valkyrie. This film also a lot more heart than it's been given credit for.

9/10

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Well this and Winter Soldier are the two perfect Marvel movies in my book.

That was ridiculously good. Going again tomorrow to try and catch all the stuff I missed because the audience was laughing. Probably miss it again for the same reason of course.

Someone needs to post "dialog from Thor 3 drowned out by audience laughter". I may have to go during the week on an afternoon with an empty theater to catch it all.

Perfect casting. Every character is amazing. Finally the Hulk is onscreen!!

Wow...good luck to anyone trying find something criticize with this one.

 

[BigThor]

Well this and Winter Soldier are the two perfect Marvel movies in my book.

That was ridiculously good. Going again tomorrow to try and catch all the stuff I missed because the audience was laughing. Probably miss it again for the same reason of course.

Someone needs to post "dialog from Thor 3 drowned out by audience laughter". I may have to go during the week on an afternoon with an empty theater to catch it all.

Perfect casting. Every character is amazing. Finally the Hulk is onscreen!!

Wow...good luck to anyone trying find something criticize with this one.

They already are, "too much humor, not serious enough, not enough screentime for Hela".

 

[MarvelFan]

Just come back watched it...

Here is my review...

Thor Ragnarok (or Mighty Thor: Battle Royale in here) perhaps is the only MCU movie i have seen that I instantly laughed when i watch it. There is a lot of humor here for a movie which title's meaning is "The End of The World", and I must say I enjoyed and loved every second of it.

I have not seen any footage of trailer except for the first teaser trailer, because I want to keep surpised when i see it, and I did! There is a lot of highlight and good comic book moment in action and also character interaction (I love it the most when Thor and Hulk talked in Hulk's room) , I also love the opening scene and the final battle while the rock song from the first teaser trailer has been played.

And i can not say how much I love Marvel Studios used a theme from Patrick Doyle theme from Thor 1 near the end of the film that happned to be my favorite moment of the entire movie. I feel when i watched that scene and thinking back the Thor's journey from Thor 1 up until that point, I feel that Thor has reached a full circle of his journey from his arrogant, reckless young prince in th beginning of Thor 1 to reach that special moment in the end. I JUST loved it, and reminded me of why Thor is my favorite character in Marvel.

I also love how Hela, Valkyrie and Grandmaster has been handled...a special note for Hela, Cate Blanchett is really is just so good, even though she is a big name actress in hollywood, she is not backed down when she played a comic book character (who is known for her campiness looked), she owned and commanded every scene she is in. I just love her in this.

I like to talk about Chris Hemsworth performance in here, here he is not playing Thor like he played in the previous movies, in here, Hemsworth instead has bring his charm, his personality, his comedic timing into Thor. I just glad that Hemsworth has finally has a movie where he can have fun and most importantly, where he can shine in every way in his own movie without being overshadowed by his co-lead like in his previous 2 Thor movies and 2 Avengers movies.

Now, as Marvel fan, especially Thor fan, I understand why some fans expressed some backlash againts this movie. As fellow Thor fan, I understand the feeling of some fan who wanted more serious and dramatic tone like can be seen from the recent Jason Aaron story, or Kieron Gillen story, and wayback to JMS's run. Deep down, i also dream one day that Thor movie can draw inspired by those story like i mentioned above.

Also, I follow the news of this movie even before it started shooting, and I remember how excited I am when i hear Chris Yost and Craig Kyle has writed the script. I feel those 2 writers can be what Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did for Cap trilogy. And then i hear that during the shoot process, Taika has scrapped the script and pushed the actors to be more improvisize their dialogue. Not saying that is a bad thing because I love the humor and the interaction between characters in the final product, but deep down as Thor fan, i am really curious of what the original story made by Yost and Kyle is supposed to like.

BUT considering how great and how good this movie is turn out to be, I cannot remember the last time I have many laughs in theatre, I am very satisfied of what Taika give to us.

Without doubt, Thor Ragnarok is one the best and solid movie that Marvel Studios can bring to the fans. I still do not know how to rank this movie between The Avengers, Winter Soldier, and Civil War as my top MCU favorite.

For now, it is 10/10

 

[Smilodon]

There isn't much to criticize with this one, besides maybe just not having enough of certain things, but this is such a hilarious film that is so confident and in love with what its trying to do. I said in this subforum before that I thought Waititi was the funniest of all the directors Marvel has hired, and he truly has not let us down in that regard.

Thor's development is surprisingly natural when looking at his growth over the course of the entire MCU, and Taika just brings his signature style from the get go. I feel like Hemsworth is just reborn under Taika. I also loved how easily they resolved TDW's issues and plotline and the film just fires on all cylinders once it gets to Sakaar and never lets up.

The emotional beats of the film don't hit as hard as say, Wilderpeople. But Taika is able to gently weave them in and out of the film with just enough weight for them not to feel jarring, and I think it's a testament to his abilities as a filmmaker to just juggle that tone.

And Korg...just wow. Taika stole the entire show just by himself.

Best MCU movie hands down this year. 9/10!

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

I enjoyed it. The movie is a lot of fun and it's basically a non-stop exciting adventure.

I guess i didnt get as much from it as some, but I'd put it around an 8 or 8.5/10. Certainly the best of the 3 thor films but still only about midway up the MCU ladder.

 

[Web-Head]

I enjoyed it. The movie is a lot of fun and it's basically a non-stop exciting adventure.

I guess i didnt get as much from it as some, but I'd put it around an 8 or 8.5/10. Certainly the best of the 3 thor films but still only about midway up the MCU ladder.

My thoughts exactly

 

[BigThor]

My thoughts exactly

Wow