Rating of
0.5/4
I Didn't Laugh
Terry - wrote on 11/07/23
Thor: Ragnarok is commonly seen among fans as a huge step-up from the last two MCU Thor movies. I disagree. Thor tries to kill Loki after finding out that he's alive. Taika Waititi doesn't even try to make this moment more believable and instead opts to make it more "funny". This is what I absolutely hate about Taika Waititi, is that he doesn't take most of what he works on seriously. Thor talking to Odin is serious, but it doesn't feel as impactful as it should, as with every other "character" moment. The way I see it, is that Taika Waititi can't even keep a consistent rhythm of well paced humor and tension. Amphibia is a great example of balancing serious moments and humorous moments; the comedy makes up a lot of the show, and when something serious happens it doesn't feel out of place and the comedic tone might have helped make the serious scene feel more impactful and emotional. Here with Thor: Ragnarok, everything feels out of place; the humor feels out of place because of how serious the MCU could be, the very little seriousness in this movie feels out of place because of how silly the movie is, and the sci-fi world that The Grandmaster rules also feels out of place, though at least the last part could have worked if the script was better written. Also, I don't like the villains. Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster feels believable because of Jeff Goldblum, but not because of the writing. Okay, I get that's he's a petty manchild that hates it when people ruin his fun, and those characters have worked well over the years of fiction, but he is unbelievable as a dystopian ruler and not very threatening. Hela is slightly better, but not by much. She just says generic bad guy speeches that feel like something that Malekith or Pitch (Rise of the Guardians) would have said. She also have comedic moments and she barely feels believable. She is threatening, sometimes, and Cate Blachett is awesome as always. What is the most poor aspect about her is that her relationship with Thor and her scenes with him are minimal and unimpactful. Another thing relating to Hela, but is a whole other issue, is that she kills The Warriors Three and Thor doesn't acknowledge or lament about them at all. They were friends and allies, yet Thor doesn't dedicate any of his time to mourning them when he gets back to Asgard. He doesn't even get angry at Hela for killing his friends or even any of the Asgardians. He just sits on Odin's throne and talks to her and gets beat up by her. He and Loki do defeat her by summoning Surtur to kill her, but that was mostly Loki's doing and Thor just distracted her, very poorly. Also, Ragnarok is botched in this movie. Ragnarok is supposed to be the death of the nine worlds, not the death of Asgard, which is just one floating city. Stan Lee's cameo is delightful, but it can't save the movie and it's immature tone will put off many viewers to come. Already it has put off many viewers. I have never been a fan of the MCU Thor movies, but Taika didn't save them like many were claiming he did.
