16."Thor: Ragnarok": Plot Changing for the MCU

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) was an interesting film. It essentially changed everything you know about Thor's character (for good and bad). This third installment was leading directly into Avengers: Endgame, and it plays heavily on that fact. Read here for my review and spoilers may (definitely will) follow.

A lot happens in this movie including a number of solid things. Chris Hemsworth is always good as Thor, and he brings a new twist to the character in this movie. I wouldn't mind Thor's sudden character change if it happened throughout the film, but it didn't. Director Taika Waitiki employed right away which is poor filmmaking

Other characters are excellent including Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Tom Hiddleston as Loki (as always) and my personal favorite with Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster. It brings me delight to see him in the MCU and just doing his thing. If you're not sure what I mean, look up any interviews with him.

Also, this was the first movie with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner that was believable. I could actually see him as the Hulk as far as mannerisms and personality. Another risky but rewarding aspect was the major plot points. Odin dies at the very beginning. After that, all of Thor's friends die except for Sif who was absent from the movie. This was crushing for me since I like those characters, but I understand how it made the movie more compelling. This made Hela (Cate Blanchett) much more of a threat. That and destroying Thor's hammer was pretty telling. Planet Hulk could have been stupid, but it turned out pretty funny and interesting with a couple of exceptions.

This movie has a small share of troubles. One unforgivable problem in the screenplay is how they handle Asgard being destroyed. They ruined a prime dramatic moment with the dumb "foundation" joke. Remember that line? It was stupid. Like many movies with tons of jokes, some of them don't pass the test. This happens a few times during the movie.

Personally, I do not rank this one as high as most others do. Those couple of ill-timed jokes knocks it down some among other reasons, but the movie still comes out strong enough. My movie rating is B-.