THOR: RAGNAROK

“What were you the God of again?”

I’ve been looking forward to Thor: Ragnarok for a long time. Pretty much since its title was announced. Ragnarok is the big one when it comes to Norse Mythology, so naturally I was excited to see it on the big screen. That excitement only grew when it was announced that Hulk would also have a large role in the film, after all, two Avengers are better than one. So then, naturally, I was under the assumption that Thor: Ragnarok would be something special, something that would get the Thor films back on track.

So imagine my surprise when it turns out to be one of the most disappointing Marvel films I’ve ever seen.

Believe me, I wanted to like this film. But the product that’s been put on the table just isn’t what this film needed to be, in fact it’s very, very far from it, at least for me. In my mind, I had an image of what the third Thor film would be, after all, Ragnarok is a fairly well documented event, so the overall arc of the film seemed pretty certain to me. But one of the film’s biggest problems, among many, is that very, very little time is given to the Ragnarok story, and even then, it’s very different to the mythological tale. Instead, Thor: Ragnarok is a mish-mash of two films that have been spliced together, and not very well. In the first half of the film there is a lot of jumping around and it never stays still long enough for the audience to get settled. And even once it does, it doesn’t get a whole lot better, which it desperately needed to.

But Ragnarok’s biggest problem by far is its sense of humour. Yes, Marvel films are known for being light hearted with touches of humour here and there, varying depending on the character at the heart of the film. But for some reason, Director Taika Waititi takes Thor: Ragnarok in a very different direction, and attempts to make it a full-on comedy. And yet, a solid 80% of the jokes didn’t land, and not just for me. The whole cinema was silent for a good portion of the film. That’s not a good sign. Especially when the director gives himself a fairly large role in the film, and attempts to be funny with every line of it.

Here’s a clue: Not one thing this guy said was funny. More than that, he was irritating far more than it was necessary, and a key moment at the end of the film was ruined by one of his lines. When you put yourself in your own film, don't be one of the worst aspects of it.

In fact, the only person who was funny in the film was its star, Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

I’m glad they let Hemsworth improvise most of his lines in this film. He’s a very funny person and one of the few things this film does well is show that off. He adds a layer of humour to Thor that’s always felt like it was just under the surface, and it makes the film at least slightly enjoyable.

On to Ragnarok’s villains, and Marvel present us with perhaps their most forgettable to date.

On the right we have Hela, Goddess of Death and the film’s primary antagonist. And on the left we have Skurge, who isn’t actually a villain at all, and instead spends his time in the film bumbling around behind Hela, which was massively disappointing given that Karl Urban can be very, very funny when he wants to be. (See: the new Star Trek films) Cate Blanchett’s Hela on the other hand, is just plain forgettable. Her evil plan is by no means the best I’ve ever seen and for someone that talented, her performance was lazy at best.

The rest of the cast vary from average to bad, with exception given to Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk, who, like Thor, is one of the film’s better parts. Jeff Goldblum gives a fairly Jeff Goldblum level performance along the same lines as his performance in the god-awful Independence Day: Resurgence. Tom Hiddleston is back as Loki, but never really excels what he’s done before in the role, and instead just stays on the same level.

Believe me, I desperately wanted to like Thor: Ragnarok. I wanted it to be one of the most enjoyable watches of the year. In my mind, I expected it to be by far the best solo Thor film, if not one of Marvel’s best overall. But the truth is, I just didn’t enjoy this film. The plot was ok, but it’s severe lack of all things Ragnarok was very noticeable, and the film feels all the emptier because of it. It has small moments which are fine, but nothing that’s amazing. There was never that moment. It tried to have one here…

But the delivery felt flat once the moment had passed. The humour wasn’t funny far too often, and it was only Chris Hemsworth’s lines that got the laughs. Taika Waititi’s extended cameo dragged the film down, and I hope he doesn’t direct another film in this universe. The CGI varied from average for a blockbuster film to some TV-level scenes, which were looked really out of place when it comes to the budget this film had. The first half does a lot of jumping around and the second half never really gets going, especially given the villain’s role, or lack thereof. I can’t with good conscience say this is a good Marvel film. But unfortunately, I can say it’s a bad one, and that in itself isn’t something I wanted to be able to do.

And that is all I have to say about that.