Capsule Review (Minimal spoilers):

Thor: Ragnarok is the latest superhero movie from the Marvel Universe of characters, and is, in my opinion, one of the best movies they’ve produced. Every component of the movie works – the story, the visuals, the music, and the characters combine to make it a very entertaining movie. Oh, and the humor, lots and lots of humor in this film.

As has become the tradition with Marvel films, there are both mid-credits and post credits sequences, which both advance the overall  Marvel story. It covers a lot of ground in its two hours and ten minutes run time, and is well worth the price of admission.

Highly recommended.

Standard Review (with minor plot spoilers):

A forgotten Asgardian, Hela (Cate Blanchett) has returned to claim her title, but not if Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) have anything to say about it. While fighting her, Thor and Loki are diverted elsewhere, while Hela makes her claim. Naturally, the Asgardians  won’t just relinquish control.

Thor ends up in an unlikely place, and is captured, but allowed a way out. The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) holds gladiatorial games, and decrees that Thor will be released if he defeats The Grandmaster’s Champion. The trailers give it away, but I won’t, in the highly unlikely case there is someone out there who still hasn’t seen the answer. Of course, nothing is ever that simple.

This movie is firing on all cylinders. The story is good, and complex, to a point. All of the characters with speaking parts make sense in their own ways, instead of just being their to accommodate the main characters. Meanwhile, everything looks incredible – the costumes alone really stand out for the secondary and background characters, with wild designs and color schemes that have to be seen to be believed. They put a lot of effort into making truly unique supporting characters.

The music, at first didn’t really seem to fit. It’s full of ’80s synth flourishes mixed in with its dance beats. It didn’t make a lot of sense, until you couple it with the wild pastels of the supporting characters, and something clicks.  These two components work together to make it an homage to ’80s films in general. Flashy and fabulous. Oh, and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo was the composer.

I was really pleased that the trailers don’t really give a lot away. There’s much more to this film than the trailers tease. As mentioned, this movie starts to set up the next few Marvel movies, without being heavy-handed about it, at all.

Definitely recommend Thor: Ragnarok as the sort of movie you should see in the theaters. The grandeur is so very appealing. There’s a strong likelihood I’ll see it a second time before it leaves the theaters.