Surreal

Rating: 1/10 (3 November 2017)

The Good: Visually I loved pretty much everything about it (minus some of the Sakaar scenes). The film certainly has its moments, and I loved the overall storyline when it was properly used (which isn't very often, I'll talk about this more in "The Bad" section). All of the cast are very solid in their roles even if they are a bit annoying at times (Grandmaster I found particularly annoying). Most of the action sequences are well done and easily some of the best parts of the film. My favorite scenes of the entire film are the scenes when Hela kills the Asgardian soldiers, Hela explains her backstory, and the scene where she resurrects the dead soldiers and Fenris with the Eternal Flame.
She was actually my favorite part of the film. She has plenty of good action sequences, is tons of fun to see on screen, has a passable amount of screen time, and has some decent dialogue when it isn't hindered by the comic relief. However, the only things that really make her a step above most of Marvel's past bland villain offerings are the performance, visuals, and of course the fun factor. Hela is essentially to this film what Tim Curry's Pennywise was to the 90's IT miniseries. Loki is easily my second favorite part of the film as he is still a great character and we've gone for far too long without seeing him on the big screen.
The Bad: This is one of those movies where they show you a lot of good story elements but never fully utilize them - ever. To me it almost feels like an attempt by the studio to troll the audience by saying "Hey, we know we can do this, but we won't anyway and instead we'll substitute it for comic relief or pretend it didn't happen". I can't tell if the writing was originally this lazy or if it just turned out that way because of the humor. I didn't feel that any of the characters had their backstories explored to their full potential. Grandmaster was by far the most underused as we only get these vague hints as to his origin. Hela's backstory is ironically the most fully-explained albeit still not fully utilized. Skurge was a joke.
And of course, now we get to that part. Albeit overused in the MCU's past, humor has never been something that fully hindered by ability to enjoy any of their movies. Unfortunately, that's not the case here. The opening scene with Thor and Surtur pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film from start to finish. The final battle is by far the weakest part of the film, both due to the nonstop one-liners and the fact that very little emphasis is actually put on the coming of Ragnarok until near the end of the battle. I wanted there to be some humor in this, but not American Werewolf in London-level humor where I just can't stomach stake and ice cream on the same plate.
Conclusion: Overall it was an enjoyable watch and I'm certainly glad I went to see it. However, despite its moments, I can't help but feel that the film was a massive waste of potential on so many levels. They show you so many glimpses of really good stuff, but whenever you think they'll use it, they don't. Thor (2011) is by far the superior film in my book, although this is still far better than The Dark World where the entertainment factor is concerned.
On my first viewing I'd give it a solid 6/10. I may very well be coming off more negative than I really mean to sound and I might be a bit too harsh. I desperately wanted to like this more when walking out of the theatre, but I simply cannot bring myself to. If the rumor is true that they made this a full-blown comedy to make the "impact" of Infinity War greater, then it is truly a shame that they had to sacrifice the quality of what could have been one of the best MCU installments in exchange for something else. Who knows, I may change my mind on a second viewing.
Post credits scenes are nothing worth staying for this time around.