Thor: Ragnarok

Troubled by visions of the destruction of Asgard, Thor embarks on a journey to discover the secrets of Ragnarok. Joined by brother Loki, the Odinson is alerted to a forgotten evil, the goddess of death, Hela, who threatens not only Asgard, but all nine realms.

Going head first into battle results in the god of thunder becoming marooned on the Battleworld of Sakaar. The planet is ruled by the Grandmaster, who forces players into his extremely profitable Contest of Champions. Thor’s chances of returning to save Asgard from Hela are pretty dim. However,  learning that to win the event guarantees his freedom, Thor agrees to be a participant. Little does the Asgardian know that his first match is against the Grandmaster’s greatest champion of them all: the Incredible Hulk!

I really thought that Thor: Ragnarok was tons more better of a film than Dark World. It might even be far more superior than the first Thor film. But at the heart of this movie by New Zealand director Taika Waititi, is a comedy and this could alienate fans. Guardians of the Galaxy is known as the Marvel Universe's source of comedic relief and to have Thor dipping into this vast resource might be crowding the pool too much for fans.

One thing that I don't think any fan can argue against is the visual appeal of the movie. In particularly, the design of Sakaar and it's ships and people. This world is a stunning tribute to the King himself, Jack Kirby. The entire planet is decked out in psychedelic pastels, as are the costumes. No two members of the Grandmaster's army have the same armor and everything is decked out in sharps lines that connects but never intersects with perfect hollow circles. Kirby loved circles. Too bad there wasn't a scene with his iconic cosmic Kirby dots.

The acting was quite good. Chris Helmsworth and Mark Ruffalo make a great comedic pair. Tessa Thompson's addition to the MCU as Valkyrie was a superior replacement to the super dull Jane Foster played by Star Wars alum Natalie Portman. But the best female role was played by the amazing Lord of the Rings actress Cate Blanchett as the evil Hela. She added a wickedness to the film series that has been sorely lacking since Thor smitted the Ice Giants in the first Thor film.

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, I really felt like a large chunk of this film was made of unused scenes from the scores of Peter Jackson films based on Tolkien's Middle Earth writings. I especially felt this for the scenes on Asgard. Maybe it's because director Waititi is a fellow Kiwi like Peter Jackson. Waititi does at least one thing like the LOTR director, he does triple duty as both the voice and stop motion actor of at least one character in the film: the rock creature and fellow Sakaar gladiator Korg.

At just about two hours, this is one of the shortest Marvel films. But the intense action, funny one-liners, and super fun cameos and Easter eggs made this film seem longer without making you wish that it would hurry up and be done with. Thanks to the popularity of the Guardians movies, I do think that Marvel's films are starting to get a little more mature and not really in a good way. There's at least one scene of a naked Hulk butt.

Plus some of the jokes are at the expense of sexual situations too grown up for the throngs of youngsters who are gonna want to see this. I also thought the joke about slaves was uncalled for and I don't doubt this will be blowing up the Twitter feeds of social justice warriors later this week. (I'm also betting that it will be removed by the time Ragnarok drops on DVD and Blu-ray.)

This wasn't the most perfect Marvel film. But I think it's a very good build up to the Infinity Wars films. It's probably the last movie to do so before the first one hits theaters next summer. Especially as I think the next Marvel film, Black Panther is going to be too busy establishing his section of the Marvel Cinematic Universe than add to the coming of Thanos.

A fun and funny way to spend a couple of hours. And cinematically, it's a visual stunner. But definitely not going to be every Marvelites cup of tea and not appropriate for all ages.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.