‘Thor: Ragnarok’ – The Good, the Bad, and the Things That Made Me Go “Hmmm…”

Hey, y’all!  Long time, no post!  I know, I’ve been away for a loooong time.  I’m not making any excuses; it was a combination of things that kept me away.  Work, other writing assignments, family, losing a loved one this past September, lack of ideas, and a lot of times, just plain laziness.  Like I said, no excuses.  I’m back now, and even though I don’t want to promise you guys that there’ll be a post waiting for you guys each week, I’ll try a little harder to write more often than I have this year.

Now let’s get down to brass tax.  As I’m sure you all know at this point, Thor:  Ragnarok was released on Nov. 3, 2017, and you best believe that I was right there in the theatre the very next day.  Considering that a ton of reviews have already been posted regarding the film, I decided to do something a little different.  I’m going to list the good things about Thor:  Ragnarok, the things I didn’t really like about the movie, and the things that I didn’t like or actually dislike, but they had me scratching my head.

***By the way, this post is full of spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the film yet, you may want to wait to read this.  You’ve been warned.***

The Good:

1. Thor was fine.  That’s always a plus.
2. The comedy was on point, 98% of the time.  For a second, I thought the decision to make the Thor series more serious ala Guardians of the Galaxy would blow up in Marvel’s face, but they actually pulled it off.
3. The action scenes also delivered.  Thor and Hulk’s big fight, the showdown between Hela and “The Revengers,” as Thor liked to call them, the scenes where Heimdall was kickin’ ass and takin’ names, not to mention the scenes where Hela pretty much dominated…everyone was gold.
4. Cate Blanchett played the hell out of Hela (no alliteration intended).
5. There was a scene where Thor was shirtless.  Well worth my $13.85.
6. Even though Doctor Strange has been my least favorite Marvel film so far, I greatly enjoyed his scene with Thor in the film.
7. Karl Urban and director Taika Waititi also delivered in their roles.
8. Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba were masterful, as always.
9. My baby Chris Hemsworth always kills as Thor.
10. Tessa Thompson was a wonderful addition to the MCU, and as always, I love to see a person of color on the big screen.  I couldn’t help but notice that she and Thor had a fleeting connection while escaping Sakaar.
11. Jeff Goldblum. That man is a legend.
12. I loved the chemistry between Thor and Hulk/Bruce Banner.  Once again, I didn’t think the “buddy cop” aspect would work, but it did.
13. Even though I always loved Erik and Darcy’s characters, I didn’t miss them in the movie.  I guess that’s just a testament to how much fun it is.
14. Last but not least, I loved how Thor proved that he really is the god of thunder and he didn’t need Mjolnir to wield his power.

The Bad:

1. Thor and Jane broke up, apparently.  What’s even worse is that the movie handled Thor and Jane breaking up like a damn footnote.  Really?
2. Odin dies.  Boo!  Anthony Hopkins was great, as usual, though.
3. Thor gets all his hair cut off.  I’m sure all of y’all knew that from the trailers and TV spots, but I still didn’t like it.  My only consolation is that it didn’t take away from Thor’s character like I thought it would.
4. Even though the comedy was on point 98% of the time, I felt like the 2% botched it when they decided to be a little too jokey, especially if the occasion was meant to be serious and they opted to tell a joke.
5. The Warrior Three got killed off in record time, and their deaths were completely unceremonious.  They were supposed to be Thor’s best friends, and yet not a word was mentioned about them by Thor or anyone else when they were killed.
6. Sif was MIA, and she was never even mentioned.  Where the hell is she?
7. Thor lost his damn eye! I am SO pissed off about that!  Why did they have to ruin my beautiful baby’s face?  I swear Thor is the most disrespected one out of all the Avengers!  No one else lost limbs or eyes (not counting Bucky; he’s technically not an Avenger, and the steel arm was artificial anyway.  He can get another one)!

The Things That Made Me Go Hmmm…

1. Okay, so in an interview, Tessa Thompson stated that Valkyrie was supposed to be bisexual in the comics and she played her that way in the movie.  I guess all those scenes must’ve been cut, because I didn’t see her flirt with any girls or guys, for that matter (she and Thor had a moment for two seconds, but that’s about as sexual as she got).  Basically, her character was badass, burnout, and an alcoholic.  Anybody can have those characteristics, regardless of sexual orientation.  Hmmm…
2. Bruce was The Hulk for two years straight.  While he was The Hulk, he killed people in the gladiator ring.  When Hulk transformed back into Bruce Banner, he didn’t even inquire about whether or not he killed people, which was one of his many concerns in the past films.  Hmmm…
3. Loki actually decides to be on the side of justice for a change, but near the end of the film, we notice him eyeing the Tesseract in Odin’s chamber.  Hmmm…
4. Speaking of Odin’s chamber, Hela mentioned that the gauntlet glove in there is fake. Does that mean Thanos has the real one?  Hmmm…
5. How exactly did Odin die? He knew his time was coming and then he just…evaporated.  Hmmm….

—Written by Nadiya

So what did y’all think about Thor:  Ragnarok?  Let me know in the comments section!