Thor’s latest installment pits him against his sister

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore, Wikipedia

“Thor: Ragnarok” makes a fantastic addition to the already impressive list of Marvel superhero movies. This movie is one of the more lighthearted movies that Marvel has released, as most of the movie is treated as a comedy.

In this installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor Odin (Chris Hemsworth) has a whole new challenge to face as he finds out he once had an older sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), who wanted to conquer all the realms.

Now that she has escaped, Thor has to stop her, but this proves to be much harder after she destroys his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, and leaves him on the other side of the universe on planet Sakaar. Sakaar is run by the hilarious Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), made of the trash dumped from all over the many realms.

On Sakaar, Thor is forced to become a gladiator and fight for his life while trying to think of a way to return home. On the planet, he meets up with the mighty Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who has become the champion fighter of this world. Thor has to fight harder than ever before in this film as he fights his friends, fellow Asgardians, the rising dead and Hela, the goddess of death. While doing so, he also discovers what it truly means to be the god of thunder.

While seeing the Hulk fighting with and against Thor was enjoyable, it wasn’t the only cameo featured. One of the greatest assets of Marvel films lately is the extensive amount of cameos in each film. With each film being set in the same universe, it is basically expected by audiences to see some of their other favorite Marvel characters. Everyone’s favorite doctor, Doctor Strange, also made an appearance in an entertaining scene of his own.

This film had many upsides, but the most obvious was the use of comedy which was both its greatest strength as well as its biggest weakness.

The use of comedy throughout made the film hard to be taken seriously. There were only a few serious scenes, and they only lasted for a moment before a joke was inserted, but at least it kept the audience laughing.

One of the noteworthy aspects of the film were the cinematic effects. All of the buildings in Asgard were stunning, as well as all the garbage-made buildings in Sakaar. Every bit of the movie was a treat for the eyes.

Overall, “Thor: Ragnarok” was definitely worth seeing it and worth every dollar spent on the movie ticket. The visuals are beautiful, the script was hilarious and the plot felt fresh while including lovable characters. “Thor: Ragnarok” is definitely a must-see movie of 2017.

All viewers who have become accustomed to staying after the credits to see a special sneak peek at a sequel or an unexpected ending will be greatly rewarded with not only one, but two after-credit scenes. The first gave a nice sneak peek at the new film “Avengers: Infinity War” that will be released in 2018. The second and final scene was not a sneak peak, but rather was purely entertaining for audiences.

jkirstei@ramapo.edu