"Asgard is not a place, it's a people"

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2018)

RELEASED IN 2017 and directed by Taika Waititi, "Thor: Ragnarok" covers events in Asgard & surrounding realms when Thor's older sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), takes over Asgard while the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) is banished to a garbage planet run by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Thor proceeds to put together a dubious team to (try to) take back his home world. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki, Mark Ruffalo Bruce Banner and Tessa Thompson Valkyrie. Anthony Hopkins and Benedict Cumberbatch are also on hand as Odin and Dr. Strange respectively.
I'm a fan of the first two Thor flicks, but this one is the best. It has the most compelling plot, the most interesting guest stars, and adds a little more humor to the proceedings while keeping a nice balance between the amusing parts and the serious ones. Some parts are even moving, like The Executioner's story arc (Karl Urban), whilst some are profound (e.g. Odin's revelation about Asgard). Much of the humor is laugh-out-loud funny.
Blanchett is utterly badaxx (even hot) as the villainess and, believe it or not, this is the best depiction of the Hulk yet on the screen. He has more dialogue here than in his four previous appearances on the big screen combined (i.e. "Hulk," "The Incredible Hulk," "Avengers" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron"). In addition, the guest appearance by Dr. Strange is exceptional.
Like "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), Marvel just knocked it out of the ballpark with this one.
THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 10 minutes. WRITERS: Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost.
GRADE: A