Thor: Ragnarok

Although I love the MCU, I have somehow missed the opportunity to review any of the movies in the saga. However, now that I am watching every Taika movie (again), I will finally review one of my favorites, Thor Ragnarok. Now, is Thor Ragnarok a good movie, not really. However, in the context of the rest of the MCU, Ragnarok is quite the accomplishment. One think Waititi did for Ragnarok, that I admire, is the fact that he brought in a largely indigenous group to work on the film. While that doesn’t necessarily affect the quality of the film one way or another, it is a wonderful way to bring new voices into the ever expanding podium that is the film industry. Unlike other superhero movies of its time, Ragnarok doesn’t use dark colors and bland shots. Taika goes full out on the crazy colors and exciting locations. Through this, he takes the fun element that made comics work in the first place and brings that to a much wider audience. And, above anything, Thor: Ragnarok does everything it can to differentiate itself from other super hero movies. Even down to the music, by Mark Mothersbaugh, who did the score for the first half of Wes Anderson’s movies. His goal was simply to make it stand out, which, using the 80s synth worked well, especially in the context of Ragnarok. Taika also managed to take a character, who had movies mediocre at best, and completely re imagined him. I remember before Waititi took control of the Thor franchise, and, honestly, nobody liked Thor. That isn’t to say that there was a large hate group against Thor or anything, but, truly his character wasn’t going anywhere. While the structure is the incredibly basic story of the hero’s journey, it does so with twists to what we have come to know from the structures of previous Marvel movies, even parodying itself at times. However, the story didn’t take enough liberties to do my favorite thing in Waititi movies, and that’s adding the dramatic context and twist. From Eagle Vs. Shark to Jojo Rabbit, every one of Waititi’s movies is driven by the dramatic elements, however, done in such a way that comedy is completely welcome. In Thor: Ragnarok, this just wasn’t the case. The moments that could have been a breath were followed by a joke or an over the top action scene seconds later. Whether this is at fault of the Disney, Marvel, Feige, or even Waititi, it is very frustrating to have this movie break that trend through all of Taika’s movies. I’m certain that this was to separate the character from darkness after the disaster that was Thor: The Dark World, however, watching this in a way that wasn’t in the context of all the MCU films, that vibe wasn’t given off. In fact, that’s my biggest complaint with Ragnarok. Without the context of the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s a lot in the movie that just makes no sense at all. Although I’m a huge marvel fan, I tried to watch this through the lens of someone who has never seen a Marvel movie to avoid my bias. Because, this is an incredibly fun movie, more so than most Marvel movies. However, as a movie alone, it just doesn’t do itself justice. 7.0/10