Thor Ragnarok Totally Rocked My World

Thor Ragnarok
Marvel Studios Thor: Ragnarok..L to R: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Photo: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2017

I’ll be honest. While I absolutely love Thor as a character, the first two Marvel Thor movies weren’t my favorite of the Marvel Cinema Universe.

Don’t get me wrong, I did really enjoy them, they’re just not up there in the top with things like Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers, Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Yesterday I took the family to see Thor Ragnarok (at a Dolby Cinema at AMC Theater!) and… well…. just wow!

I won’t give away any spoilers at all in here, except to see that somehow Marvel continues to up its game. Thor Ragnarok was equal parts action-packed and hilarious. In many ways it reminded me of the crazy, non-stop insane fun from the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films.

Thor Ragnarok
(L to R): Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in foreground facing Hela (Cate Blanchett) in background. Ph: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2017

The movie actually combines two huge Marvel Comics storylines in one epic tale: Thor Ragnarok (which was THE best Thor storyline ever written in the comics by Walt Simonson) and the huge Planet Hulk storyline that saw the Big Green Guy head off into space to become a super smash gladiator.

I’ve never read the Planet Hulk storylines so I probably missed a lot of Easter Eggs on that front, but I do absolutely love how the two big storylines so seamlessly merged together. The entire plot never hit me as forced at all and actually made perfect sense. It explains where Hulk and Thor have been during Captain America: Civil War, and like every other Marvel movie before it, when the credits rolled (don’t forget to stay for the extra scenes!), I was hungry for more.

Thor Ragnarok
Hela (Cate Blanchett) Ph: Teaser Film Frame ©Marvel Studios 2017

The main overarching storyline is that Hela, the Goddess of Death, is free and coming to take over Asgard and then the universe and beyond. It’s up to Thor to stop her, but how do you take on someone who rules over death itself? With some friends of course, and Thor pulls in a pretty impressive team to take her on.

Cate Blanchett must have had the time of her life playing the evil Hela, as she wore it so well. There is nothing redeeming at all about this villainess, but she looks amazing, fights incredibly and offers some really unique backstory to Thor and Asgard’s legacy.

Thor Ragnarok
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Ph: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2017

Thor is cockier than ever. Funnier than ever. And yet, exhibits more heart and emotion than he ever has before too. His love of Asgard and his family (including that no-good adopted brother Loki) shines through and has pushed Goldilocks up the list of favorite characters for me.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 had one of the best opening scenes to any movie I’ve ever seen. Watching Baby Groot dance while the Guardians are fighting some enormous tentacle monster in the background was just the best. But the opening to Thor Ragnarok gives that a run for its money with the coolest fight scene ever as Thor wields his mystical hammer Mjolnir in ways we haven’t really seen before. Setting it all to Led Zeppellin’s “Immigrant Song” just added the cherry on top of this battle-rific sundae.

And then there’s Jeff Goldblum who is hilariously perfect as the Grandmaster. And the introduction of Valkyrie and the historic battles she and her brethren fought. Plus Heimdell. The Warriors Three. Surtur…

Anyways, like I said, no spoilers so I won’t go into any other details. If you’ve seen any Marvel movies before and liked them, you will LOVE Thor. If you’ve never seen a Marvel movie before, you’ll still get a total kick out of this one without really needing any other backstory.

The best review I guess I can give is that I just saw it last night and I’m already making plans to see it again next weekend. For Asgard!


Did you see Thor Ragnarok yet?

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4 thoughts on “Thor Ragnarok Totally Rocked My World”

  1. I saw the pre-screening of Thor and just loved it. Your review was very entertaining to read and bang on. Like you, I can’t want to see the movie again.

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  2. Loved your recap. There are so many things to unpack from this movie. I read Planet Hulk leading up tot he Premiere and was able to catch quite a lot. Also, I tried to look for a Ragnarok story line and missed it. Can you tell me what issues to look for in Thor for that? I have Marvel Unlimited and am ready The Mighty Thor right now because of the Marvel Legends figures I just unboxed.

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