Good solid adventure, with some tone problems

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2017)

Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor, the crown prince and guardian of Asgard. The story picks up some time after the events of the last Thor film as well as those of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Thor is furiously searching through the realms, looking to prevent Ragnarok, the end of Realm Eternal, which he foresaw coming in Ultron. But then one of Asgard's oldest enemies, Hela, the goddess of death (Cate Blanchett), breaks loose from her prison.
What this film has in abundance, apart from the usual Marvel goodies of great action, stunning visuals and all that good stuff, is style. It's a colourful, punk-futuristic blast of heavy metal, acid trips and far too much chrome. It's like watching one of those 70s acid music videos, except with great story, characters built upon by numerous previous films and a lore deep enough to encompass something even this weird and bizarre.
We also get Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who's always a welcome addition. And, this time we actually get to spend time with the big green guy. Usually it's about Bruce Banner trying to live with this curse of his and the green guy only comes out when it's time to fight. But this time we get more of Hulk, not Banner, which is a nice change.
And as stated, there are the usual Marvel upsides. The visuals are phenomenal, the action scenes are enjoyable and returning characters are a lot of fun - with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) once again stealing the show.
All that being said, I do have problems with the film. For one, I didn't much care for Blanchett's character. She's a great actress, but Hela was written as a pretty bland villain. Things didn't go her way and now she wants revenge. There is some good stuff when she's talking about her past with Odin, but it doesn't amount to much in the end. Though it is nice to hear more about the history of Asgard.
But the far bigger problem this film has is that of tone. Specifically knowing when to make a joke and when to allow the scene to play out without the crutch of humour. Doctor Strange had this same problem where almost every badass scene, every scene of drama, every scene of any potential weight or depth, was capped with a quick quip or a visual gag or a one liner. But here it's far worse. Whenever I was starting to get into the mood, whenever anyone did anything noteworthy or cool, someone made a pratfall, or went flying through a window, or got his looks mocked by a bystander, or a piano crashed on his head, or something. Okay, not that last one, but I wouldn't have been surprised if that did happen. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised.
Then again, I've heard this film's humour praised to high heavens, so perhaps it just wasn't my cup of tea. Nevertheless, I do think it's a problem that Marvel seems to be losing the courage to let scenes carry themselves. It's their thing to keep these movies lighthearted and fun, but if that is taken too far, the films loose their substance, their weight. The problem with DC films is that they're way too grimdark. Unfortunately with this film Marvel seems to be heading towards the opposite end of the spectrum. Which is equally bad.
But, it was still an enjoyable watch and a good film. It's probably the most problematic film I've seen in the MCU, but that still means that it's merely a good film instead of a great one.