While it is entertaining, this somewhat messy piece never creates a genuine emotional connection to any of its characters; still, it's the best of the three solo 'Thor' films.

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2017)

To say 'Thor: Ragnarok' is best of the three solo 'Thor' films, which it almost certainly is despite its tonal differences, may be faint praise but that's just about all the praise that can be given to this generally entertaining if somewhat messy and characterless piece - which fits into its cinematic universe quality-wise only above its two precursors, 'The Incredible Hulk' and 'Doctor Strange' (who funnily enough both make appearances here) - that gets better once its plot is properly underway but never hits a stride that allows it to be anything other than fairly fun; the series has essentially been turned into a comedy whereas before it was much more serious and, while this switch isn't entirely successfully and does feel a little at odds with the core characters, as a result the whole piece is a lot more fun even if it isn't actually all that funny, so even though it doesn't manage to get us caring about things the way it needs to for a genuine connection to form - again thanks to the lack of proper character development and tangible human stakes - it does manage to keep us entertained once it gets going and is actually a lot more plot focused than I had expected it to be from its marketing - though the villainess is strangely weak considering her literal strength and oddly side-lined given her screen-time - leading to a picture which is genuinely enjoyable but only on a surface level, one that will probably satisfy disillusioned Thor fans if they don't mind changing his DNA a little. 6/10