‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Reviews: Marvel’s Might Be Too Funny For Its Own Good

A couple weeks back, Marvel cracked open the door for social media reactions to “Thor: Ragnarok.” The buzz was very strong, but it seems that now the reviews have hit, there are some quibbles critics are having with the movie.

While fans seemed to be dying for a fun and breezy Thor movie, ‘Ragnarok’ seems to be almost too funny for its own good. More than a few reviews are wondering where the dramatic stakes are in this lead up to “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” Frankly, I’m kinda glad I can walk into a Marvel movie and not really care about the story too much, but diehard MCU fans might find out they wanted something more grounded all along.

Check out the verdicts below. “Thor: Ragnarok” opens on November 3rd.

GQ: “This film is a glorious carnival of nonsense.”

Digital Spy: “From Thor telling Hulk that the gang used to call him ‘the stupid avenger’ by way of an insult, to Korg’s mildly smutty ‘your hammer pulled you off?’ gag, ‘Ragnarok’ has the sense of humour and the sensibilities of a Sundance indie with several hundred million dollars to burn.”

Variety: “…while it’s not saying much, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is easily the best of the three Thor movies — or maybe I just think so because its screenwriters and I finally seem to agree on one thing: The Thor movies are preposterous.”

Herald Sun: “Overall, there is a fresh energy and endearingly laidback sense of style at work in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ that will hopefully turn the page to a whole new chapter in the Marvel playbook.”

IGN: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is a goofy, kitschy- but- fun romp and the most purely entertaining of the three Thor movies, marked by its distinctive designs, ‘80s synth score, and assemblage of spirited characters.”

The Verge: “…the quirks of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ may not be for everyone. There are no sacred cows in Waititi’s movie, and fans who prefer their superheroes straight-faced and without meta-commentary might chafe at its irreverence. But the willingness to play with genre tropes is one of the most exciting things about ‘Thor: Ragnarok.’ ”

Forbes: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is an 8-bit video game come to life in ways good and bad. It offers gorgeous and colorful visuals and a sense of gonzo action fantasy that brings to mind Nintendo classics and would-be ‘Star Wars’ knock-offs like ‘Flash Gordon’ (the 1980 movie, not the original serials) and ‘Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.’ It does also suffer from a lack of drama and a tone so light and jolly that it threatens to become flippant. In the end, it does float like a butterfly even if it forgets to sting like a bee.”

Indiewire: “… if this unwieldy series is fated to hurtle towards another crammed showdown, at least ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ throws a raucous party on the way to blockbuster inevitability.”

Nerdist: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is funnier than all other Marvel movies to date and has a specific tone that might throw off some fans. That said, it’s not AS funny as it maybe needed to be to truly stand out as something totally different. I laughed a lot, I enjoyed myself greatly, but the plot was much more pedestrian than the rest of the movie might lead you to believe.”

Little White Lies: “Cinematically speaking, there’s not much to really chew on, but the film does manages at once to be glib without ever being cynical, and dramatic without ever straying into emo-pomposity.”

The Independent: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is fun in its own kinetic, comic book fashion but it doesn’t have any dramatic urgency whatsoever.”

Gamespot: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ shines when it’s allowed to stray from the formula set by a decade of predecessors in the MCU, and it seems Waititi is to thank for most of what feels fresh and new here….But in other ways, ‘Ragnarok’ is still beholden to the same tropes by which these movies are often anchored.”

Express: ” ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ will easily go down as one of the favourites in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – alongside ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Iron Man 3’ – for the simple reason that the movie is one giant, colourful ball of fun.”

USA Today: “Even tonal issues can’t upend the magic this movie taps into putting Thor and Hulk together as new best buddies, whether they’re throwing down in an arena or having a bromantic heart-to-heart.”

Mashable: ” ‘Ragnarok’ just winds up feeling manic, slap-happy, maybe even trying a little too hard. I don’t know how else to put it. There are just…too many jokes.”

Metro: “Thor has been given a lightening bolt of much-needed new life, and while this isn’t Marvel’s strongest film (shout out ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’/’The Winter Soldier’) it’s definitely the funniest.

The Wrap: “You don’t have to have seen the lead-ups to ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ to enjoy yourself, nor will your delight depend upon another five future movies to be announced later. There’s little pomp and even less circumstance, but its goofy pleasures are more than enough.”

THR: “Besides its assortment of new characters, both live-action and digital, the film indulges in the kind of Marvel Universe crossover storyline that thrills fangirls and their brethren and leaves the rest of us guessing at the degrees of separation.”