Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 26th, 2017*

"Third time's the charm"

They finally did it. It took Marvel three attempts, but they've finally made a Thor solo film that didn't make me want to kill myself. The first two Thor films are by far the worst outings of the MCU (Aside from the pathetic Age of Ultron). Thankfully, Disney seem to finally be allowing directors to finally take creative control and make unique films. For the third time in a row this year, Marvel have knocked it out the park and have finally dropped that garbage televisual look many of their films have.

Thor: Ragnarok is a gorgeous, gorgeous film with a striking and varied colour palette. They seem to be moving more in the direction of Guardians of the Galaxy with its zany and cosmic weirdness and they embrace it, which I loved. There's so many cool and different sci-fi ideas and designs here to embrace here. It's the only Thor film that I feel will grow on me with each watch. 

Chris Hemsworth is still great as The God of Thunder, Thor. Playing it charming and funny. There's not much range outside of that, but I'll get to that with my main problem with the film. I was surprised by Tom Hiddleston as Loki here. Loki is a character I've grown sick of in the recent years. We get it, he's smug and slimy, there's been a few times for him to stretch, but being played as the joke rather than the threat really worked here. Mark Ruffalo is a welcome return as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, it's shame we'll probably never get a solo film with him, but Ruffalo continues to be an excellent Hulk. The visual effects artist also seem to improve him with each portrayal too.

What makes Thor: Ragnarok so strong is just how much fun it is. We jump from location to location. Most of the film takes place on a planet run by an overlord played by the always excellent Jeff Goldblum, where Thor is forced to be a gladiator while his home is being taken over by a new threat 'Hela' (Cate Blanchett). I always appreciate when these films tell their own stories without the need to be annoyingly connected with the rest of the MCU. Aside from a couple of references, Ragnarok stand completely on its own. 

My main problem with Ragnarok is the same problem I had with Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2. The jokes. There's just too many and they weigh down any kind of emotion the film could have had. It seemed any moment there was potential for a tense scene, it would be undercut by a joke. Not to say it wasn't funny, most of the jokes are actually very solid. It's just I wish they'd let some stuff breathe more and make us care. It's all good fun, but it felt like a very emotionless film, despite some of the big events that happen.

Then there's a common problem with Marvel films. The villain. Cate Blanchett doesn't give a bad performance at all, she's actually pretty fun in the role, hamming it up completely. It's just there's not a lot to the character, making her another disposable Marvel villain that will be quickly forgotten. At the very least, it's an improvement on those stupid goblins from The Dark World. Karl Urban is also pretty wasted as the secondary villain, he has a moment to shine towards the end, but was mostly just there.

If there's a big problem Marvel overcame this time, it's the score. Ragnarok delivers a wonderfully '80s electronic score that suited the film perfectly from Mark Mothersbaugh. It's the first film from the MCU where I've actually remembered stuff from the score. There's also a few choice songs spread throughout. 

Marvel are now officially 3 for 3 with their MCU films this year and Thor: Ragnarok is a massive improvement on the previous two films. It's a little hollow, but it's a gorgeous, fun and funny blast of a sci-fi adventure. Keep it up, Marvel. 

8/10 Dans

Thor: Ragnarok is out now in cinemas in the UK

Watch the trailer below:

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Thor: The Dark World (2013) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written April 24th, 2017*

I've never really got on with either of the Thor films. I like the character a lot and Chris Hemsworth is fantastic, but the films he star in have been extremely lacklustre. I find Thor: The Dark World to easily be the one of the weakest entries in the entire MCU for many reasons.

Where Dark World at least improves on the first is at least in its look. The style of Asgard is much more pleasing to the eye and natural than the ugly, CGI monstrosity of the first, it reminds me of a more Barbarain society than the tacky nonsense it used to look like.

There are also some decent and creative scenes of action. The opening fight was cool and I loved the teleporting weirdness of the finale in London. It's just a shame that none of the action held any kind of emotional weight and are held down by all the terrible and annoying humour shoved in. 

Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston

The excessive and lame humour was my biggest problem of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Dark World seems to be a brief glimpse of that. So much of the dialogue seems like some sort of cringe-worthy joke. There are a couple that land (Thor getting on the tube in London is gold), but that far outweighs the utter tripe that happens.

Most offensive of anything in the entire MCU has to be Kat Denning's Darcy, the most annoying character I can think of in a mainstream film. Everything she says is a groan-inducing joke. The worst of which was during the final battle where she calls Thor's hammer "Meow Meow", I honestly wanted to turn the film off and snap the disc at that point. It's been a while, but I don't remember her being that awful in the first.

After the events of the first Avengers, Stellan Skarsgard has been reduced to some kind of mentally challenged joke. A further example of the lame humour is when he's reduced being caught by the news dancing naked around Stonehenge. It's such a shame to see such a respectable actor reduced to.. that.

Chris Hemsworth

Natalie Portman's Jane Foster is just merely there. She's given stuff to do, not a lot of it interesting. It seems like she's out of the MCU now, so all her screentime with Thor seems to have been wasted. She does at least have a couple of decent scenes with Chris O'Dowd, who appears in a small role.

Marvel does follow its cliche routine of a gifted actor given a thankless and wasted villain role.
Christopher Ecclestone's Malekith might be the most bland bad guy to come out of Marvel's roster yet. I've just finished watching the film and I'm having a huge problem trying to pick out a single interesting or standout moment he had. Pathetic.

The film does leave Asgard in an interesting place that I'm looking forward to seeing in Thor: Ragnorak (Which looks a lot better than the previous 2 based on the trailers). This is the first time I'd seen this in nearly 4 years, but I forgot just how little Loki does in this film, the performance was fun as usual, but it feels he's broken out of prison and written out fairly quickly. His scenes with Thor were at least some of the highlights of Dark World.

I also have to commend Dark World for at least being one of the shortest films in MCU at just 105 minutes before credits, as these films seem to usually be leaning towards the two and a half hour mark. So it has that going towards it, I guess?

Thor: The Dark World is easily one of the weakest MCU films so far, bland, dull and filled to the brim with so much deeply lame and unfunny humour. I hope Ragnorak is better than this, and please, dear god, no Kat Dennings.

4/10 Dans

Thor: The Dark World is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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