(Warning this review contains spoilers)
Thor: Ragnarok is set two years after Avengers: Age of Ultron where Thor finds himself trying to break free from imprisonment to try and save Asgard from destruction by Hela, Goddess of Death.
I went to watch Thor: Ragnarok on an IMAX screen (which by the way cost £16.50 for my ticket and a bottle of water, I remember when it was just over £4.50 on Tuesdays) and it was spectacular.
From the beginning, it opened with humour of Thor narrating, which we then see he was actually talking to a skeleton, that was locked in the cage with him and this humour carried on throughout the film.
The star power really compliments the film well and it doesn’t take too much attention away from the storyline. With some of the original main cast members such as Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins and Idris Alba, this film has brought in other actors/actresses such as Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum that fit the roles they played so perfectly.
In my opinion, this has to be the best Idris Alba performance in all Marvel films, as it shows more of his strength and still being a protector of Asgard that will fight to the death. Cate Blanchett’s role as the antagonist: Hela was superb; she had power, and she knew she did, and she’s even strong enough to shatter Thor’s hammer to pieces. She gets an A from me.
This film also explored Thor’s identity in more detail when Hela destroyed his hammer he felt lost and not as powerful as he would with it but Odin reminds him who he is and that his weapon does not define who he is or how powerful he is. I think this was a good approach to understand that Thor is more than just a superhero.
There were also a few cameo’s such as Doctor Strange and of course Stan Lee. Its not a marvel film without a Stan Lee cameo this time he’s the barber that gives Thor his new look so guys if you need a hair cut you know who to go to. They also crossed over the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to add to the humour and explain where he disappeared to.
I really enjoyed the visuals from the first scene until the after credits scene it was just visually stunning. Asgard looked more beautiful than ever, the details in every fight scene were so precise.
However, my favourite scenes were the slow motion scenes but more precisely the battle between the Valkyrie’s and Hela. It was executed so perfectly like it was pulled straight out of a moving Norse mythology book. The contrast between light the Valkyries comes out the clouds like heaven and darkness of Hela was compelling. 
This contrast was used in a different scene. This scene showed Odin, Thor and Loki standing on a cliff in Norway where there’s light up until Odin dies and when Hela is brought back you see the darkness creeping up on them like a shadow.
Homage to the soundtrack as it matched the scenes so well. They used Led Zeppelin’s – Immigration song and mixed it to sound a bit more futuristic as Thor’s soundtrack, when you heard that playing you knew Thor was would be dropping enemies left, right and centre. Although, in the scene of the battle between the Valkyrie’s and Hela there wasn’t a soundtrack, it wasn’t needed to show the severity and the sadness in what was about to happen like the scene in Saving Private Ryan during the Normandy landing and it was gripping.
Unfortunately, the was one thing that has been nagging at me for while since watching some hero films: they get a bigger, stronger villain to destroy the main villain or the big end fight wasn’t that great. Isn’t Thor supposed to be Son of Odin, God of Thunder, even with the help of his brother Loki, God of Mischief, a Valkyrie and Hulk they still don’t manage to defeat her but call upon Surtur which results in destroying Asgard. I kind of feel like I was cheated out of a bigger boss fight.
Overall I loved this film. In my opinion, I think its definitely in the top three marvel films released so far. It kept me laughing throughout which was a good way to break up the sadness that Thor goes through in the film. Another thing that helped me make this decision was the graphics. Even though, I did watch it on an IMAX screen I still think it would of looked amazing, each film they create the graphics gets better.
One thing I also recognised was that Thor gets tasered a lot by women from his first film which is a running joke. There was a lot of girl power in this film which was refreshing to see instead of having a male dominated cast with a few female roles.
Rating: Visual masterpiece
8/10
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