Thor: Ragnarok - Movie Review

   The quick review of Thor: Ragnarok is: it's a heck of a lot of fun! But while I enjoyed it, I can't say it's the best Marvel movie ever.

   I think the problem is that it's being presented as a comedy, and while there's quite a bit of humor in it, there's also a lot of death and destruction - and it's difficult to laugh that off.

   It's loaded with great characters - Chris Hemsworth has never been better as Thor, Tom Hiddleston gets to have a lot of fun as Loki, and Cate Blanchett is wonderful as Hela (whose name I've apparently been mispronouncing all these decades - I thought it was "He-lah," but apparently it's "Hay-la"). There is no scenery she doesn't take delight in chewing, and (despite the whole death-dealing shtick), she's a blast of energy anytime she's on the screen.

   The action sequences are amazing - the Hulk / Thor fight actually exceeded my expectations and was a powerful confrontation, worthy of past classic comic book fights between the two. 

   And there are fun bits of business along the way, including a great cameo by Dr. Strange; a wonderful new character in arena fighter Korg; some zany moments with the irrepressible Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster; some heartfelt moments between Thor, Loki and Odin; a great new character in the Valkyrie; and some entertaining "buddy movie" moments with the Hulk (who works so much better as a character now that he can talk).

   But there are problems. The Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogan and Volstagg) are given terribly short shrift - was Sif even in the movie? Jane Foster was written out with a tossaway line (though perhaps that was unavoidable). The death and destruction are on a grim scale (which one would expect from Ragnarok, I suppose). Also, the writers play awfully fast and loose with the history of Asgard - especially Hela's origin.

   But any quibbles are mostly minor - the movie is a rollicking good time, sweeping from alien worlds to Earth and Asgard and various other points of interest. Most of the humor hits the mark and brings Thor much more in line with the excellent Walt Simonson version of the character, rather than his usual depiction as a humorless oaf (a mistake too many writers make). Like Superman, Thor should be having fun - he's powerful, virtually indestructible and handsome - what's not to like?

   But don't go into this movie expecting the best Marvel movie ever - that title still belongs to The Avengers (or maybe Captain America: Civil War) - but Ragnarok is one of the best, and mighty entertaining.

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