Thor Ragnarok is first and foremost a Taika Waititi film. He is the one pulling the strings behind the curtain and does an awesome job at that. The biggest strength of this movie is not the action or the comedy
its the character work and the way Taika extracted so much out of his cast while infused with his particular brand of humor and his own sensibility. His characters shine through even though some of them dont really have that much to do. He still manages to make them relevant and appealing to us the general audience even though we barely know most of the new ones.
Yes the comedy is also on point. Its genuinely funny. But most of the times its what i can call a smile humor not necessarily a laugh out loud humor which there is also a healthy dose of that in the movie as well. Taikas humor makes you happy, makes you smile, feel good and really appreciate the subtle nuances. There are also definitely some big laughs and high notes the movie hits which makes the audience bust laughing out loud. And as always his humor is very much situational, its a more natural sort of humor, more of the moment, the awkwardness of the situation, its not mean spirited, it just flows
Its something in many ways unique to Taika Waititis style.
The action is great. Theres more than plenty of it and it delivers when it needs to. Thor definitely steals the show on that department. There are some pretty inventive and interesting styles, moves
This movie totally owns the previous Thor movies in terms of action. There are some pretty Epic scenes and shots that are basically unforgettable. Stuff that i could have never dreamed of. Trully next level stuff.
The pacing is lighting quick. I truly lost track of time because i was having such a blast and the movie itself moves like no ones business. Sometimes it does move to quickly, it could have had some more breathing time in some areas
Just buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. Its not messy but you/i really need to be paying attention and even then i probably need more than 1 viewing to be able to comprehend and really flesh out everything that just happened. For these reasons, and add to that the great character moments, the action, the amount of fun and good time one has while watching this and i feel the movie has a strong rewatchability factor.
A big shoutout to the soundtrack and Mark Mothersbaugh. Top-notch work from him. It has so much energy, attitude, playfulness, strong vibes
I LOVED IT! Add to that the other music that is featured during the movie and you have an epic combination in my book. Made me so happy!
The visuals were for the most part great too. Asgard never looked better. Sakaar is just such a cool concept, the colors are vibrant, the overall look is pretty amazing and interesting. I wish we had seen more of it. Muspelheim looked as i expected it to look. The stuff on Earth is ok.
In terms of the characters
And regarding our heroes:
Thor - The star of the movie. Chris Hemsworth is Thor and vice-versa. He is so much more cool, relatable, charismatic, funny
Hulk - The best we have seen of him and his characterization. The way he behaves, talks
Its amazing, funny, endearing
The audience loved him. Great CGI/motion capture work.
Banner - Shows up and immediately adds another level of greatness. His and Hulks banter with Thor and Valkyrie is so cool, crazy and sweet.
Valkyrie - Her introduction was gold. She is truly a badass, charismatic and someone you just dont want mess with.
Loki - A different side of him but at the same time totally believable side. Sometimes more vulnerable others just the plain old Loki. Thor and Loki relationship is just special.
Korg - Steals the show. Totally chilled, innocent, naive
He brings a lot of soul.
Heimdall - We see some more badassery from him and some cool touch to his set of powers/skills. His rasta look totally suits him.
Regarding our villains:
Hela - Ruthless. Beautiful. Menacing. Sexy. OP as hell
Some of the stuff Hela did truly shocked me. For what was asked of Cate Blanchett she totally delivered. Totally understand some of the issues people had with the time given to her, what she did
The Grandmaster - 10 out of 10 Goldblums.
Surtur - I am a massive fan of that character and i personally loved him. Theres quite a OMG moment with him. The Muspelheim stuff was Gold too.
Fenris - Looked great and was a cool idea having him show up. Could have seen more of him.
Skurge - It worked for me. His introduction was pretty hilarious. Also could have seen more of him.
In the end of the day its not a perfect movie. There are some pacing issues, some character development for the villain that was most likely shelved because of the runtime of the movie and because its not something Marvel really focuses on. Other characters could have had a bit more screen time. Some of the stuff was too convenient
But it didnt bothered me that much. On the other side of the coin and as i explained plenty previously the movie is truly a triumph in so many levels. Its awesome, a blast and a ton of fun at the theatre. I give it a solid 9 out of 10. And its easily one of the best and most enjoyable Marvel movies(Top 3) in my book.
