Thor: Ragnarok

Preview screenings of the movie were more serious, but focus groups found it boring so they re-inserted all the comedy they cut, which changed the film's tone dramatically.

Do you have a source for that?

Yeah, [citations needed]

The original cut was 160 minutes, mostly due to Waititi being happy with all the jokes he had filmed (that's Waititi's original finished cut, not the assembly cut, which was longer). Then he cut it down to about 100 minutes. Then he bumped it up to 130 by putting some jokes back in.

He made this decision shortly after Comic-Con, which was when re-shoots were finished (which were gonna bring the time up from 100 minutes anyway)

http://collider.com/thor-ragnarok-runtime-change-explained-taika-waititi/#deleted-scenes

The New York Times review is in and they speak positively of the film while noting a few flaws with its material, namely that this is a good first step but more can be done with the character in future appearances.

Review: ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ of Gods, Monsters and Silly Jokes.

I think by the way this was probably the best use of Loki in the films thus far. I've been vocal about how much I hated the way The Dark World basically turned into Loki & Friends by the end, but he's used much more effectively here, and gets some really touching moments without completely overpowering the film like last time.

Right, just got back from it.

Overall, a very solid, fun film - easily the best of the trilogy in my mind. It's definitely miles better than The Dark World, but I suppose that's not a huge accomplishment.

I will agree somewhat that it was a touch too silly - nearly all of the jokes landed for me, so I'm certainly not saying that it wasn't funny. The action was great, the film looks amazing, and everyone turns in a memorable performance. But while I'm hardly opposed to the jokes, I do think that a film about Ragnarok could have used a bit more...Ragnarok? I suppose you need to walk a fine line between comedy and seriousness, and it leaned a bit too into the former (whereas I thought, say, Got G Vol. 2 managed it pretty well overall). That said, it did have some pretty good dramatic scenes - anything with Anthony Hopkins, for one.

I'll also agree that this uses Loki pretty well - he gets a lot of great scenes, but he doesn't steal the show - everyone else gets a chance to shine. Valkyrie's a lot of fun, and I hope she shows up more. Skurge wasn't in this quite as much as I'd like, but what we got was good. As for Hela, she's not the best MCU villain we've ever had, but she's still immensely entertaining, and is nowhere near Malekith's level of suck. We probably could have stood to have more of her, quite frankly. And of course, Goldblum's a delight.

So all in all, a pretty enjoyable film. Not my favorite film, but one I greatly enjoyed, and probably the only Thor movie that I'd want to watch again, to be honest.

I hope that Thanos just holds the Asgardians hostage or something, and doesn't just slaughter them all. If he does kill them, then I hope that they come back somehow - an Asgardian settlement on Earth is too great an idea to pass up.

edited 3rd Nov '17 3:44:22 PM by KarkatTheDalek

Yeah most of the jokes landed for me, but there were two specific instances where I got annoyed because I felt they undercut serious scenes. And they were both by Korg, go figure.

One thing I was impressed by was despite Waititi saying that he wasn't really fond of the other two Thor movies and that he wanted to do his own thing, there are a shit ton of callbacks and Continuity Nods to the first two, which really does help Thor's arc seem more complete. I loved him recalling Odin's words about how wise kings don't seek out violence right before the final fight with Hela.

Yes, good point. Korg's a pretty funny character overall, but I do think he killed the mood a couple times.

Also, I would have had Sif be in the movie, perhaps sharing Heimdall's role. I also would have at least given the Warriors Three the dignity of dying together, with their heads held high. Only Hogun got something appropriate, I fear...

I just saw it. Great movie but while I do like the jokes I do agree they may should have cut back on em.

Yeah the titular Ragnarok was kinda second fiddle. I mean a big question I had while watching the movie is where the fuck are all the rest of the Gods? Where's Baldur or Tyr? Is Thor the only God there, was everyone killed off in the battle, why was only Hogun standing against Hela?

Its weird & creates an oddly lonely feeling.

edited 3rd Nov '17 4:55:44 PM by slimcoder

To be fair, it's not like Baldur and Tyr were in the previous movies.

edited 3rd Nov '17 5:13:19 PM by KarkatTheDalek

I know but it just makes Asgard feel so lonely & empty.

Also since Miek & Korg appeared here I really hope other Planet Hulk characters like Hiroim & Caiera especially appear. Thats the sad thing of not being able to make a Hulk movie.

Also again Caiera needs to appear. We really need to put the final kibosh on Hulk's relationship with Widow.

edited 3rd Nov '17 5:19:17 PM by slimcoder

Sif not being in the movie was just one of those sad realities of production schedules conflicting. Jaimie Alexander is headlining a primetime TV series that films thousands of miles away from where they shot Ragnarok.

Its not like excluding her was a deliberate artistic decision.

edited 3rd Nov '17 5:22:42 PM by ArthurEld

From what she says it was a terribly timed coincidence. They called her up and needed her on a certain date and it turned out it was right when she was needed back to resume filming on Blindspot. She doesn't seem angry but it sounds like she was expecting a bit more notice.

Though in an odd way it probably worked out for the best for her character since she was probably just going to show up to die alongside the rest of the Warriors Three. At least this way they could work her back into a future film or even another SHIELD guest spot if her schedule ever allows it.

Saw it. Felt like a popcorn flick. Entertaining as a popcorn flick should, but a lot of its plot is rushed through and some stuff that should probably have been important feels more like an afterthought. A few plot points don't even get resolved, but the movie obviously isn't the kind that cares entirely about doing so. So it's a lot of fun, and it's only ever really trying to be a lot of fun.

Random thought, but anyone else kinda like the idea of Hulk/Banner and Valkyrie hooking up more than Hulk/Banner and Widow? They don't actually hook up in the movie, but I kept thinking it could've worked if the writers were willing to try it.

edited 4th Nov '17 12:32:20 AM by KnownUnknown

Hey everyone, I just saw a great movie about the death of Western imperialism called ‘’Thor Ragnarok’’!

No, seriously, I’m not the only one thinking this. It’s actually been a fairly prominent theme in Marvel Comics as of late; Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘’Black Panther’’ run especially.

Asgard was built on two ideals: justice, and conquest. Both of these ideals are equally true to its history. It has brought peace to its peoples, by building itself on the blood and treasure of others. And ultimately that dark history catches up with it. Any attempt to strengthen Asgard against this evil is futile, because the evil IS Asgard and so is also strengthened. The only way for the nation’s justice to survive apart from the nation’s cruelty is to tear that untruthful society down and start over. It’s necessary, but some things will be lost forever. Like an eye, or a hammer, or a home.

So yeah. Not bad for the biggest indigenous-directed blockbuster.

Based on the first trailer, I worried two things. First was that the tone would just be “Guardians of the Galaxy, now with Thor”. But in honesty, that doesn’t feel like that’s the case. It’s hard to articulate yet, I’m still trying to figure out how to describe the difference, but Ragnarok feels more... off-kilter? I dunno yet but I like it.

Second thing I worried was that the movie was going to, like Age of Ultron, be endless tone-breaking jokes. But here I think I saw a lot more restraint here. The scene with Odin held its tone perfectly. I kept waiting for the next mood killing joke to come, but the movie stayed serious for quite a while and was gentle to ease the later humor back. Not bad again for a first blockbuster.

Only criticism is that it is fairly obvious that Korg’s rebellion was meant for a longer action set piece and basically got nearly all its screentime cut. Oh well. Still would gladly watch again.

edited 4th Nov '17 2:05:15 AM by Tuckerscreator

I feel like a fair amount of the jokes landed. But I did have that thing like it did in GOTG 2 where I felt like some of the jokes/gags felt like an eight year old wrote them, and others were placed in scenes where I feel like they shouldn't have been there. However I feel like GOTG 2 actually packed more of an emotional punch than this movie did, for me anyway.

Valkyrie and Grandmaster are both great (and I'm totally onboard with Tessa Thompson's idea of an all-female Avengers film now). The actual "Ragnarok plot" honestly felt underdone and rather "meh." Hela is entertaining, but I feel like she's underused (which is why I still hold Vulture as being the best MCU villain of 2017). The Warriors Three going out like punks really annoyed me, and they could have at least MENTIONED what happened to Sif (I mean it took them what, 10 seconds, to explain why Jane wasn't there, so it's doable.

Ultimately I think that it's good for the most part. But I don't absolutely adore in the way that so many others seem to. It's not in my personal Top Five favorite MCU films right now.

Unless Hela comes back she was wasted here.

Also going on another rant of how they got so much of mythology/comic wrong. Fenris isn't ride hand dog of Hela, but Garm. Fenris is supposed to be her brother as well. Heck, her dog has gotten more stories than Fenris in recent years. I am gong to be honest I think it would have been better if they made Hela Loki's daughter and Fenris would of course still be his son. While the Midgard Serpent would have been in this as well. Sorry for the rant, even from the comic standpoint I am miffed about these changes.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Garm_(Earth-616)

^Was the wolf even named?

Put me down as one who thought the humor killed a couple of scenes, mostly with Korg.

That said, it was a movie about Norse Gods wielding machine guns, fighting giant monsters and an army of undead warriors in space to classic Hard Rock. It's pretty much the movies I've always wanted.

As a fan of mythology and comics, I just really am disappointing they made Hela Odin's daughter. And yes she was still Loki's daughter there. People are more touchy about Hela is because as said before this is not only comic adaptions, but also mythology adaptions.

Ok Hela being Loki's daughter would have raised to many questions & would have forced Loki into too much of the spotlight again. Being Odin's daughter makes much more sense cause since Odin is as old as time memorium its completely easy to believe that he had a daughter at some point in the past & after falling apart with her he essentially unperson-ed her with everyone either forgetting her or just never talking about her.

Hopefully considering we never saw her outright die she can come back in another movie.

Also the only thing that bugged me about Fenrir is that the wolf lacked its size-shifting powers. It would have made a cooler fight scene if Hulk battled an increasingly growing monster.

edited 4th Nov '17 4:28:08 PM by slimcoder

If they wanted to have Odin have a long lost relative come back from nowhere, they could have just brought in Angela and all of Heven from the comics. It might have put the spotlight back on Loki, but I actually think they could have made Hela still connect with them all as family. It could have still been portrayed as a misdeed of Odin, like he banished his granddaughter and her brothers for an act that was hypothesized to happen. Also the reason why the unperson job with Hela doesn't work, is because Hela is a prominent mythology figure, unlike how Cul and Angela were created for the comics.

edited 4th Nov '17 4:31:11 PM by firewriter

A lot of people are speculating they purposefully went the Never Found the Body route so she could come back in Infinity War or Avengers 4.

Whining about how it doesn't match up with classical mythology/comics is pointless

I'm probably coming across as being overly harsh but whatever