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Author Topic: THOR: RAGNAROK - NON-SPOILER REVIEW  (Read 529 times)
Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
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Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« on: October 25, 2017, 12:14:06 AM »

If anyone is wondering why this movie was released early in the UK, the schools have half term this week so I assume the studio wanted to capitalise on that.  Grin

PLEASE NOTE - THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW. I WILL NOT REVEAL ANY MAJOR PLOT POINTS FROM THE MOVIE.
"I know him! He's a friend from work!"

At this point, what new thing can be said about the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Creating such a successful franchise was totally unprecedented. And even after it's success, with many other studios trying to copy the success (with varying degrees of success or failure) the House that Feige built continues to roll on.

While the franchise as a whole has been a huge success, it's fair to say that some of the solo movies featuring these characters has been mixed. None of the MCU movies has been awful, but for every CA: The Winter Soldier or Guardians of the Galaxy there has been a Thor: The Dark World (which I enjoyed more than some).

When the MCU was first announced, the one character that audiences questioned bringing to life was Thor; how could you realistically bring in a Norse God and have it sit well against science and technology based heroes. And yet somehow, Marvel not only managed that feat, but did it well (and also gave us one of the best villains the MCU has, so far). However, while the first Thor movie was well received, it's sequel didn't fair too well (although I personally like it, as an enjoyable throw away movie). This has led some people to state that Thor works best within the Avengers rather than in his own solo films.

Will this third movie from Thor finally match up with those from Cap and Iron Man? Will Cate Blanchett finally give us a villain equal to or better than Loki? And how will this lead into Infinity War?

The story/plot
Two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor is held captive on the distant planet Sakaar. Without his hammer Mjolnir (meow-meow), he must win a gladiatorial battle against old ally the Hulk before joining forces to return to Asgard in time to stop the villainous Hela and the impending Ragnarok.

Overall opinion
From the frankly quite awesome and visually stunning trailers for this movie, as well as it's title, I had high hopes going in. And they were partially met. Definitely more hits than misses overall. Let me elaborate. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is by far the funniest Thor movie. It's not a pure comedy though. When you rematch the first Thor film the are lots of funny moments in it, especially once Thor is on Earth.

If you have seen any of the director's previous films (especially the wonderful "What We Do In The Shadows", a modern mockumentary on the same level as "This Is Spinal Tap") then you know what kind of humour to expect. This film is massively, massively entertaining. For all those people who feared it was too similar in look and feel to Guardians of the Galaxy, fear not. This is definitely a Thor film. It divides it's time nicely between Sakaar and Asgard. However, the tonal shift away from the previous two films is only really highlighted once you have finished watching and reflect on it.

Overall the story is well told and the acting from all involved is top notch; standouts being Cate Blanchett (well, duh) and Tessa Thompson. Although I did find Loki a little subdued, but that was probably because they wanted the focus on Hela.

So, how does the film compare to the previous two? Funniest of all and better than the Dark World. However, it is very much it's own movie and it is hard to compare it directly the first Thor film. Is that a bad thing? No.

How does it compare against other MCU releases this year? I would say it is slightly above GOTG2 (which I really liked) but didn't manage to hit the heights of Spiderman: Homecoming.

Did I enjoy it? Hell yes. Would I watch it again? Hell yes. Does it get me excited for future MCU movies? Kinda (which is what a good solo movie should do, in my opinion).

Overall, a solid entry into the Thor section of the franchise.

The Performances
Chris Hemsworth - Thor
You can tell Hemsworth is having much more fun with the character this time around. It has long been known that he has great comedic timing and it is used to great effect here. It may be over done a little at times, but never crosses the line.

Tom Hiddleston - Loki
As I said earlier, he seemed a little subdued from the snarling antagonist we saw in the first Avengers movie. However, he was still a joy to watch every time he popped up on screen.

Cate Blanchett - Hela
When the multi-nominated and Academy award winning actress was asked why she accepted the role of Hela, she replied, "because Marvel hasn't had a great female villain yet". And she is a great villain. In many respects invoking the joyful inner glee of Loki in his pomp, you can tell Blanchett is having a whale of a time, but manages to avoid the cliche scenery chewing of many other great cinema villains. A joy to watch and totally badass in fight scenes too.

Idris Elba - Heimdall
His character definitely has more to do in this film and it's great to see Idris continuing the badassery of Heimdall, but in a slightly different role this time.

Jeff Goldblum - Grandmaster
The Grandmaster is the brother of Benicio Del Toro's Collector. And who else could play this role than the magnificent Jeff Goldblum. He steals every scene he is in and as flamboyant and quirky as he is, does not feel out of place within this world. Weirdly it works, but what else could you expect from the Goldblum?

Tessa Thompson - Valkyrie
She was magnificent in Creed and she is magnificent here. More than equal to Thor, she also hold her own against Loki and Hela, no mean feat given the acting talents of Hiddleston and Blanchett.

Karl Urban - Scourge
A small role but a memorable one.

Mark Ruffalo - Hulk
A slightly different Banner than we have seen in other movies, probably due to the direction he as given. However, underneath the comedic moments, there was some great and interesting character development happening between the competing alter egos.

OTHER STUFF
The Action
Obviously, the standout was the battle between Thor and Hulk. However, there were fewer action scenes than I was expecting. But that didn't harm the movie at all.

The Score
A nice mix of sweeping orchestras and 80s synth that wouldn't have been out of place in the original Tron.

The cinematography/CGI
Beautifully shot and a good use of CGI. Some of the shots with the Hulk were 1% off (probably only noticeable it you're nitpicking for a review).

The pacing
A well balanced and well told story. There are many many great scenes beyond those you may have seen in the trailers. Despite it's 130min run time it flew by; at no time did it drag at all.

Cameos
There is the usual Stan Lee cameo, as well as two others (one that was not surprising if you saw the post credit scene for Dr Strange).

Post Credit Scenes
There are two; one mid-credit and one right at the end of everything.

Trailer
Some stuff that is shown in the trailer happens much differently in the actual film, which I liked. Plus some stuff happens to Thor in this film that will be interesting to see how it factors in long term to the character in future movies.

Final verdict
I loved the first Thor movie, I liked the second Thor movie, I really thoroughly enjoyed this movie and found it massively entertaining.

Score - 7.8/10

My Movie rating system
10- Citizen "F*%king" Kane (A+)
9- Bloody Great (A)
8- Really rather good (A-)
7- Pretty decent (B+)
6- Definitely above average (B)
5- Middle of the road average (C)
4- Mediocre (D)
3- Meh (E)
2- Crap (F)
1- Why the hell did I waste my my time and money on this abomination (unrated)
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