Thor Ragnarok: Not Too Serious, Not Too Bad

Marvel delivers as usual

The latest of Marvel’s empire hits theaters in true marvel fashion, with box office domination and fan appreciation. But is the new superhero flick really worth all that much?

The God of Thunder squares off against his sister, Goddess of Death, in this packed new movie, which includes but is not limited to: downtime with the Hulk, good Loki, bad Loki, good Loki again, another marvel hero cameo, the bechdell-character, and all the comic book references and easter-eggs your heart desires. In other words, nothing we wouldn’t expect from a Marvel movie by now.

And while I hate to admit it, this film is still good for it. It’s the same thing over and over, but it works every time. We all know that Marvel has a set recipe, but if it ain’t broke..

The fun thing is that director Taika Waititi is incredibly aware of this. He knows that there’s a basic structure he has to adhere to, and he obediently falls in line, but in the process he let’s the audience know exactly what he’s doing. Not only by keeping it light, as Marvel always does, but also by taking that comedy just a little further — using a parody-like script that barely gets away with its PG rating — so that it starts making fun of itself.

And that right there is the key word: fun. That is what makes this film yet another win in Marvel’s corner. It’s not necessarily original or new or visually stunning, it’s just fun. So while I’d love to hate Marvel for what they’re doing to cinema, it’s hard to be mad at a company for playing it smart and delivering the goods. “Thor Ragnarok” shows us that yeah, this formula still works.

So here it is, a short article for a simple movie, I should be studying anyway. There’s not much more to say than this new Marvel movie is good, just like the last one, and the one before. Just… have fun with it.