Thor: Ragnarok: The God of Thunder is Back!

Thor: Ragnarok Trailer / via YouTube

This Friday the god of thunder crashed back into theaters with Mjolnir held high - at least until it gets shattered. It's been four years since we last saw Thor and the rest of Asgard stand alone from the Avengers, so we have ask: Has time been kind to Thor Odinson? The answer to this is a resounding yes.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Asgard after preventing Ragnarok to confront Loki (Tom Hiddleson), who took control of Asgard after exiling Odin (Anthony Hopkins). When they come to Earth to find the Allfather, the Goddess of Death and Thor's sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), is unleashed. It takes her a few moments to shatter Mjolnir, strand Thor and Loki on an alien planet, and take control of Asgard. Without the powers granted by Mjolnir, Thor finds himself fighting to return home and defeat his all-powerful sister.

The story of this movie is reminiscent of the first Thor movie, as the god finds himself without his iconic hammer, leaving him to his wits to figure out how to save Asgard. Stranded on a dump planet call Sakaar, he is captured by Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and forced to compete in the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum)'s Contest of Champions that pits him against the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). The entire world of Sakaar is interesting; a planet surrounded by gateways that constantly dump garbage from around the universe on it (the largest of which is called the Devil's Anus), it's ruled by the Grandmaster, an immortal being who tosses whoever happens to find themselves on the planet in his contest, whether they want to or not. It's the perfect place for people to hide, whether you're a giant green monster who likes to smash or an elite warrior trying to hide from their past. It's a setting that brings a new flavor to the Thor movies, as they aren't fighting on Earth or one of the other realms. They're stranded on the distant side of the universe, fighting against aliens.

It also introduces us to Valkyrie, a character I loved. A member of the elite warriors known as the Valkyries, she is the last of her order after they were slaughtered by Hela before Odin imprisoned her. She only survived by running away, and found herself on Sakaar where she became a scavenger. Valkyrie is mostly a side character, but a great one. She's very easy to empathize with. After all, everybody has something in their past they'd rather avoid. It might not be the deaths of your comrades by a goddess of death, but everybody has their own thing. Valkyrie was definitely a highlight of the movie.

Perhaps the best part of the movie, however, was the comedy. Thor: Ragnarok was not short in laughs; from physical humor like Thor trying to break a window with a ball and having it bounce back to hit him in the head or him seeing the Hulk naked to situational humor like Loki seeing the Hulk and saying he needed to get off Sakaar, none of the jokes felt forced. It was a great aspect of the movie.

Another wonderful thing was Hela. One of the strongest aspects of the Thor movies is the fact that it gave us Loki, the greatest villain in the MCU. We receive another great villain in Hela. Odin's firstborn child, she was his greatest warrior when he traveled the realms, conquering and growing the kingdom that would become Asgard. But when he decided he wanted to turn to peace and Hela's ambition outgrew his own, he imprisoned her. Now that she's out, she's seeking the throne that she believes is rightfully hers and to continue the conquest started centuries before. She's quickly established as a terrible threat, shattering Mjolnir and striking down Asgard's forces in moments. Her ability to produce any number of blades of any size makes her a deadly foe.

It would be remiss to neglect mentioning the flaws of this movie as well as the great parts. However, the flaws of this movie are few. The largest one I saw was tied in with two things I listed above: the setting and the comedy. This movie does feel quite a bit like a Guardian of the Galaxy movie; I could easily see some of the jokes Thor told coming out of Peter Quill's mouth. This is especially obvious in the beginning of the movie, but evens out to the end. The only other noticeable flaw was in some of the CGI; for example, when Thor and Loki found themselves in Norway, it was painfully obvious that they were standing in front of a green screen. That being said, the fights still managed to look amazing and most of the CGI was spot-on. There were just several moments like this that stood out.

Thor returned to theaters with great success. The TV trailers have been saying that this is the best reviewed Marvel movie, and I completely understand why. It's a thrilling blend of sci-fi, comedy, and action that deserves to be watched. Fast-paced and visually great, it brings the story of Thor Odinson full circle and gives us a bittersweet ending that will keep you on the edge of your seat.