Beware, this is a spoiler-filled review. If you’re reading this, and you haven’t seen Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, you’re doing it wrong! You have been warned!

The lost Avenger has been found!

I was pleasantly surprised by Thor: Ragnarok, and so glad that Marvel has finally done Thor some justice as a character. In past Marvel Thor movies, no one seemed to take any time to develop Thor’s character beyond flirting with Natalie Portman’s character, Jane Foster.  I mean, considering that he is arguably the most powerful Avenger, you would think some character insight might be worth pursuing.

In Thor: Ragnarok, the director, Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows), brought a great balance of action and fun to the whole movie, which translated into a better sense of who Thor is as a character.  His development begins early in the film when he loses his Father, Odin, to Valhalla, and almost immediately loses his powerful hammer weapon, Mjolnir, right after.  As a result, for most of the movie we see Thor struggling to regain his powers (which he always believed an extension of his hammer).

Here, we finally see Thor as the God of Thunder, using his lightning powers to good effect, especially in his battle scene with the Hulk. The special effects on Thor’s lightning were some of the best we’ve seen yet.

As always, what makes any superhero movie good and fun to watch is the villain, and in Thor: Ragnarok, Cate Blanchett steals the show as Hela, Goddess of Death, and Thor’s older sister!  She brings a very cool and stylish sense of evil to her role as Thor struggles as the Lost Avenger. Also, the supporting characters – Loki, Valkyrie, Korg, Grandmaster, and a very neat cameo Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange – kept the mood of the film fun and without watering down the struggles of the characters.

I did like the Valkyrie character, played by Tessa Thompson (Westworld), but didn’t feel they did her backstory justice here.  I guess you can’t develop all of the plot lines in 2 hours of screen-time.  I will confess that my critique of Thor: Ragnarok stems from this flaw.  There were too many characters, with not enough time to dive into their story or invest screen time to develop them. It could feel pretty crowded at times.

Many of the concepts and characters were there only for comedy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Korg the rock warrior (voiced by Waititi) and the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) were true standouts.  The Hulk was only present to smash again, and still has not received the due credit for his complicated backstory and struggle to keep the green monster in check.

I enjoyed the cameo scenes with Dr. Strange (Sherlock references!), and the early scene with Matt Damon playing Loki in an Asgardian stage production, as these set the tone for the film.  I was disappointed with some of the special effects in the film, such as the horrid green screen scene in Norway (where Loki and Thor find Odin about to enter Valhalla).  Not sure how that got through editing and post-production.  The after-credits were a bit anti-climactic also, with Thor’s ship being over-shadowed by a more massive ship that looks just like Thanos’ head, foreshadowing Avengers: Infinity War.

The final verdict for Thor: Ragnarok is…

8.5 / 10 – Great

When the best superhero film of the year (in a year with Justice League, Spiderman, and Logan, no-less) is a Thor film, it’s probably something you should see. Taika Waititi absolutely knocks it out of the park both as a director and as Korg. With great performances and great humor throughout, Thor: Ragnarok is worth your time.