Thor: Ragnarok aka “Thor: Fraggle Rock,” and “Thor Plays With Rocks”
“Thor: I Am Kiroc” was released during November of 2017. It pretty much takes a couple of years after Age of Ultron. Thor comes back to Asgard to find out that Loki is in Odin’s place. They eventually find Odin on Earth and something happens. Anyway, his disappearance brings Hela, Odin’s first, evil child out of hiding and she goes to rule Asgard with force. During a battle, Thor and Loki are flung across the universe and get stuck on Sakaar, a gladiator planet ruled by Ian Malcolm--- I mean, the Grandmaster. Luckily, the two get help from a long lost Valkyrie and a major surprise: the Incredible Hulk. Together, they try to stop Hela from taking over everything.
I know what the next movie will be: Thor 4: The Passion of the Odinson!
Now that I’ve finally seen this movie, what do I think? Even though it has some issues, I did like this one. I can’t say that it’s my favorite Thor movie yet, but it does do some things better than the first one did. I ain’t even mentioning the second one since it wasn’t that good. I did think that the story was pretty good for the most part. It even went places where I didn’t even know it’d go. I had heard about what happened at the end but seeing it was something else. We got Thor without his hammer on a more inhospitable world and he’s got to make due with what he’s got.
As usual, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston do well as Thor and Loki. The whole brother bond between the two is one of the things I’ve liked about the franchise. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie almost stole the show for me, though. As usual, it’s cool to see the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) but I wasn’t as won over this time. I’ll get to that later, though. The rest of the supporting cast was nice for the most part. I bet Idris Elba (Hemindall) was glad to do some butt-kicking in a much better movie… do I need to watch The Dark Tower?
The villains were also a treat. Kate Blanchett’s Hela was pretty cool. She was over-the-top in all the right ways. Jeff Goblum as the Grandmaster was a bit of a hoot. We even get a few other folk for good effect like that strange doctor.. what's his name again? The special effects were nice for the most part. I’ll get to the weird ones later. The action scenes were really good. Thor’s first fight was pretty awesome and the final fight for Asgard was nice. The music was also good since some 80’s synth gets thrown in.
That was one bad lady.
Now, I did have some issues with this movie. The humor basically went overboard and down to the bottom of the ocean. While this is a pretty funny movie, it went too far at times. It was trying to be like Guardians of the Galaxy but that humor works well there. Here, it kinda undercut some of the pretty dramatic scenes we got. I also thought the beginning was weirdly paced especially when we got to Odin. He was like “I’m gone. Peace!” and boom. I think I almost got whiplash from that.
The other thing that disappointed me was strangely the Hulk. He looked a little weird with the CGI especially in the face. Maybe I’m not used to him smiling or something. I also thought the Planet Hulk elements weren’t used well. I haven’t read the story but I did see the 2009 animated movie which was a cool story for the Hulk. Seeing those elements used here in this way was kind of a letdown. Overall, “Thor: Big, Bare Rock” isn’t the best of the bunch but it has a lot going for it.
Black Panther
Finally, Black Panther was released during February of 2018. It takes place a couple of weeks after Civil War. T’Challa returns to Wakanda to lead the reclusive country into a new era. Meanwhile, Ulysses Klaw comes back on the scene which sends T’Challa to Korea. If that isn’t enough, he finds out about a major mistake his father made when he was king. That mistake comes in the form of Erik Stevens, aka Killmonger. T’Challa takes this challenge on with the help his friends, family, and allies.
I don't know but I think the original suit is a little better.
So, was this worth the wait? Was this worth me complaining about how it kept being pushed back? Yes and yes. I think this is a really good movie. While it has some shortcomings, those problems are kept to a minimum. The story was pretty good. We got T’Challa taking on new responsibilities and learning what it means to be a leader. He also has to face some shocking news about acts previous kings (including his father) did and he has to figure out where to go from there. While it is pretty serious for the most part, you do get some good humorus moments mixed in.
Chadwick Boseman was great as T’Challa/Black Panther. While he does have that noble, royal vibe to him, he does get to have a little fun here especially when he’s with the women in his life. As for the supporting cast, they were awesome. This might be my favorite cast in the franchise since they all get used pretty well. Characters like Shuri, Nakia, Okoye, M’Baku, and Everett Ross were cool. We also got Angela Bassett as T’Challa’s mom. Seeing her here really made me sad that she never got to be Storm in the X-Men movies.
Yeah, I'm saying it... we got the two Tolkien white guys... Ha ha.
The villains were pretty cool. While Klaw isn’t around for long, the way he’s used is awesome. We need to see Andy Serkis in more non-CG roles. Then, we get to Killmonger played by Michael B. Jordan. He’s definitely one of the best villains in the franchise. His motives were clear and pretty relatable to folk out there. When you got most folk agreeing with the villain, you’re doing a good job. There must be something about the former Human Torches since it seems they tend to do awesome when given another chance.
He may not be my king, but he was one awesome villain.
The visual effects for Wakanda were awesome and the costumes for everyone were good. There’s really not much to say about them. T’Challa also get a new suit here and while I do like his original suit better, this one looks nice too. While I do have qualms about some action scenes, they were good for the most part. Finally, the music was nice. The orchestral and hip-hop scores worked in my opinion.
While this movie is so close to great, I do have some issues with it. Some of the fight scenes aren’t that well-shot. The one that actually got me kind of disoriented was the casino fight. I also wasn’t a fan of some of the shaky-cam used in some of them. There were also points where the plot got a little rushed. I mostly noticed this in the middle part of the movie. Then, you also had a few visual shots that didn’t look as good. Other than those things and pretty small nitpicks, Black Panther was pretty cool and I’m glad to see how well it’s succeeding.
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Well, that ends my look at the current MCU movies. Tomorrow, Avengers: Infinity War awaits. From what I've heard, it may be something good. I'll have to see for myself but I hope that's the case. Anyway, I'm gonna try to get a little exercising before I head off to work. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Oh yeah, here is another awesome moment from "Thor: I Wanna Rock!"
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