Movie Review: THOR:RAGNAROK

THOR: RAGNAROK has tone issues. By tone, I mean to say that the film doesn't know if it wants to be an all-out comedy, an action comedy or a buddy movie. By the time it reaches it's conclusion, it takes a turn for the serious side.

THE GOOD: Chris Hemsworth gives his most energetic performance of Thor yet. He has developed a good comic timing over the years of playing Thor. Mark Ruffalo gives another scene-stealing performance as The Hulk/Bruce Banner, owning just about every scene he is in. Jeff Goldblum shows up as The Grandmaster, who runs a planet that looks like a colorful garbage dump. He has become a master of comic relief in a big loud blockbuster film. The whole look of the film is nothing but bright colors, adding to the overall fun that is being conveyed in the production.The director, Taika Waititi, does a good job of making this film succeed despite the fact that the film never knows exactly what type of Super Hero film it wants to be. It never flows from one scene to the next without shifting gears in tone. Enough with the tone. On to what I didn't care for.
Let's start off with Mark Mothersbaugh's often generic, often weird and often childish musical score. He's best at scoring children's cartoons. He fails to give THOR: RAGNAROK its musical voice. At best, the score comes off as a generic film score.
Next is the film's production design that looks at times like an episode of the 60's STAR TREK TV Series. It looked way too generic and junky in my opinion.
While I'm on my nitpicky roll, I will also take issue with Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie). Hiddleston gives a noncommital performance as Loki. You can tell he has lost interest in playing the villainous brother of Thor for the umpteenth time. And Tessa Thompson never rises above the "I'm tough female-take me serious" take of a warrior from Thor's hometown of Asgard. Her role is nothing special.
I almost forgot to say something about Cate Blanchett's turn as the big bad girl, Hela. There. I said something.
The bottom line is that THOR: RAGNAROK manages to rise above all the generic writing and production values and it's distracting tonal issues to be a fun, third film in the THOR series, that is also the best of the three. I like THOR. I just wish his films were as good as the character.
I give THOR: RAGNAROK ***1/2 mainly because it is a fun time at the movies. That's the main reason why we go. To escape life and have some fun.