MCU Rewatch: Thor Ragnarok

Directed by Taika Waititi
Release date: November 3rd, 2017
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum
Box office worldwide: $853,977,126

We have arrived at one of my favorite movies in the MCU: Thor: Ragnarok. A large reason why I fell in love with Ragnarok is because it was vastly different from the first two Thor films. The first two Thor’s are good, (even Dark World... I know, I know Marvel rube) but they never felt like a crazy, sci-fi flick like Thor comics. Ragnarok WAS that trippy, crazy adventure that felt like a true Thor adventure and it kicks ass.

FUN FACT FOR YA: Ragnarok was the first movie I saw alone in the theaters! It opened my eyes that I don’t need any sweaty sacks of life accompanying me to the movies. In fact, I found out I’d rather watch a movie solo, so keep your gross self away from me and let me enjoy art!

BRIGHT COLORS, HILARIOUS BITS, GREAT CHARACTERS AND ONE BIG NERD-INDUCED SPAZ ATTACK. LET’S REVIEW RAGNAROK

Positives

• It was different than Thor and Thor: The Dark World, and that’s V-good. Director Taika Waititi told Chris Hemsworth he wanted to shed the stale feel of the Thor character and boy did they ever. Just about everything associated with Thor in the first couple movies was trashed. Mjolnir? Destroyed. His long, luscious locks? Cut. His eye? Stevie Wondered. Odin? Dead. Jane Foster? Dumb enough to dump Thor but smart enough for PHD’s. They restarted Thor and hit an absolute home run, but at the same time they progressed his character arc that we see come to fruition big time in Infinity War. It was a perfect play to kick start energy around Thor.
• Big reason they hit that homer was Chris Hemsworth. For the first time, Thor was a better character than Loki. What if Iron Man was second to War Machine or Captain America wasn’t as popular as Falcon? They, and they’re movies, wouldn’t have been the phenomenons they are today. That was a problem with Thor. He was a good character, but Loki overshadowed him everytime. In Ragnarok, Thor is THEE stud and THEE main attraction, and Hemsworth knocks the comedy parts out of the park. I can’t say enough how flipping funny Hemsworth is here. It felt like handcuffs were taken off him and was handed the reigns of comedy.
• There are a dozen scenes and jokes that I geek out on, and I don’t have the time to list them all. There are legitimately a dozen times where I LOL’d, as the kids say, but here are a few of my favorite jokes:

• Thor VS Hulk in the Contest of Champions. What more can I say? The battle between those two is awesome. They both look awesome and we get some great moments like Thor saying “we know each other, he’s a friend from work,” and when he tries to relax Hulk with the “sun’s getting real low” method (a callback to Age of Ultron) and maybe the best:

• The other fight scenes are incredible, too. Thor VS Surtur’s goon’s to the tune of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, and the final fight on the Rainbow Bridge to the tune of Immigrant Song is just so damn good. And when Thor connects to his true lightning power… I died and went to heaven.

• The new characters rock. Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster, which is pretty much Jeff Goldblum playing Jeff Goldblum, is fantastic. He’s such a weirdo, and I’m here for it.
• Valkyrie is a bad ass drunk. That’s just good entertainment.
• And Korg. The funniest pile of rocks in the MCU.
• Hela is a tank of a villain. All she is, is a mean, evil, tough son of a bitch, and that’s all she needed to be. We didn’t need a compelling villain. All we needed from her was a formidable opponent VS Thor and a connection to Odin’s conquering days.
• Speaking of, we get a pretty heartfelt scene when Odin passes. It thrusts Thor into power and really hits home with Loki. Enhances both sons’ character arcs.
• The post credit scene nearly killed me. Everything seems fine when Sanctuary II (Thanos’ warship) shows up and leads us right into Infinity War. SPLOOSH!!

Negatives

• One of my positives was how Ragnarok wiped the slate clean. The one part of it I didn’t love was they way they killed The Warriors Three. They were pawns in making Hela look good when she murdered them within three seconds. I get why they chose to kill ‘em off so quickly, but I wish we saw more of them.

Overall Grade: A+

• Hilarious fun. This movie is so rewatchable and a blast to watch every single time. That’s all that needs to be said.

MCU Ranking:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Thor: Ragnarok (I flipped between putting it 1st, 2nd and 3rd a billion times… I finally settled and slated it 3rd)
4. The Avengers
5. Spider-Man: Homecoming
6. Captain America: Civil War
7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
8. Iron Man
9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
12. Ant-Man
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron
14. Thor
15. Captain Marvel
16. Doctor Strange
17. Iron Man 3
18. Iron Man 2
19. The Incredible Hulk
20. Thor: The Dark World

Next up: Black Panther