Thor: Ragnarok is the third movie in the Thor trilogy, as well as the seventeenth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’d think that after so many movies before it, Ragnarok might be at risk of feeling stale and boring. However, I am happy to report that this is not at all the case.
Much like its predecessors, Ragnarok follows the adventures of Thor, the god of thunder, played by Chris Hemsworth. I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of either of the previous Thor movies, and the biggest reason for that is that it focuses way too much on Earth. Thor is a being from another world, so he should be going on awesome adventures to other planets. While we get some of that in the previous films, its often pushed to the side in favor of human drama. Thankfully, Taika Watiti, the director of Thor: Ragnarok, realized this, and created a fun action/adventure that gets right to what we came here to see; Thor being awesome.
The story follows Thor as he returns to his home of Asgard, a magic realm where magic and science are one and the same. There, he finds that his brother Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, has stolen the throne from their father Odin, and sent Odin away to die on Earth. With Loki’s help, Thor finds his father, who tells the two brothers that they must defend Asgard against the goddess of death and their sister, Hela, played by Kate Blanchet. On their journey to stop her, the two end up on the planet Sakaar, and they have to team up with the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, and Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson.
This movie does so many things right. Sakaar and Asgard are both incredibly beautiful worlds, and most of the CGI in the film, while it doesn’t always look real, looks very artistic and stylized. The performances are also very good. Hemsworth seems like he’s having so much fun as Thor, and Tom Hiddleston, as always, steals any scene that he’s in as Loki. Hela is a great villain, and all of the side characters are incredibly memorable. The movie is also incredibly funny. I just loved watching these characters interacting with one another, and most of the jokes were great.
The soundtrack of the film is also quite good. “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin plays twice to add a fun vibe to some of the action scenes, and the rest of the music is great at adding to overall futuristic atmosphere of the story.
The only complaints that I had were nitpicks. Sometimes I wish that the film would focus more on Thor and Loki’s story on Sakaar than Hela’s on Asgaard. That’s not to say that her’s was bad, it’s just that the main story was really good! Otherwise, there are a few plot inconveniences that you come to expect from a movie like this, but I was actually really impressed by the stakes that the plot creates and follows through with. It definitely adds to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, and anyone who misses this movie will be thoroughly confused in some future Marvel movies. So, if you’re a fan of Marvel movies or just fun action movies in general, be sure not to miss this one!

4.5 out of 5 Spurs.