The latest edition to the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU), “Thor: Ragnarok” is an over-comedic film, seemingly designed as a set up to “Avengers: Infinity War” that could’ve taken a much more serious tone. Minor spoilers ahead.
The new Thor movie has a lot going on. Over the course of the 2 hour, 10 minute runtime, Asgard is reshaped, Odin’s reign comes to an end, the goddess of death is introduced to the MCU and Loki and Thor undergo permanent changes to their characters, including the destruction of Thor’s signature hammer.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange makes a brief but delightful appearance in the film that, while not altogether necessary, does a wonderful job of tying one of Marvel’s more underrepresented characters into the rest of the MCU.
However, despite Strange’s appearance and the plot chock-full of multiverse-altering events, nothing truly meaningful came out of the film.
The root of Ragnarok’s lack of meaningful themes is its dependence on comedy. The movie tries to be funny from the first second to the last, and while it does so with relative success, the light-hearted nature of the film prevented a feeling of magnitude for its many significant plot events and character developments.
That being said, the comedy in Ragnarok, while overused, is well done. I couldn’t stop laughing at some of Korg the rock-person’s lines. Voiced by director Taika Waititi, Korg is a hilarious side character that stands out as one of the funniest features of the movie.
Sure, Ragnarok is a funny film, but it could’ve been so much more. It had the potential to take audiences through several emotional character developments. It had the potential to make its villain, the goddess of death, Hela into a truly frightening force. It had the potential to make audiences feel the despair of the many characters who were trapped fighting against overwhelming odds at various points throughout the movie. It could’ve been a fantastic film, but it traded all that potential for laughs. So, while Ragnarok may be among the funniest Marvel films to date, it is far from what it could have been.
“Thor: Ragnarok” is worth watching for any Marvel fan, but not for anyone unfamiliar with the MCU. For any fan hoping to keep up with the MCU’s overarching plot line, this is an important movie to see. However, aside from its comedic value, the film has very little genuine emotion, and therefore very little worth on its own.
Keagan Miller is a general studies sophomore and Life & Arts writer for The Battalion.