I avoid trailers like the plague. New movies will be available on torrents for me to see and I'd rather not have anything spoiled beforehand

Uhmmm a very spoilerific question...

It finally arrived on Disney+, so thanks to my son's subscription I got to watch it last weekend.

Meh. It felt really discombobulated. Fun overall, so I don't regret watching it, but for the life of me I have NO idea how film critics can rate it so highly (in our newspaper in got 8 stars out of ten) while dissing other MCU movies that were, in my opinion, far better.

It had a very tragic villain... whose tragedy isn't exploited at all. It has a major divine genocide... that we don't actually witness. It has the return (and maiming) of a major secondary character, but that's treated as a humorous side-note. Due to its constant comedic tone, it has no dramatic tension whatsoever, be it when Korg dies (won't last!), when Jane dies (she's bound to Valhalla, so not really "dead"), or when the villain triumphs (we've been treated to so much comedy by that point that we know there's no way he actually kills everyone). No moment of awe, no moment where we go "oh, sh*t!". The best we manage is the comfort of seeing Thor and Jane again, and the feel-good friendship between the main characters.

The numerous jokes made me smile, true, but often detracted from the story rather than enhanced it. Thor's bon mot about Sif's arm being in Vahalla might have been meant to show that these space vikings laugh in the face of personal tragedy, but as a viewer it mostly got me to think that this horrible wound just wasn't that bad; that everything was played for laughs. "They'll probably regrow it by magic or use a robot arm later on or somethin'." (They actually didn't, but then Sif wasn't seen again until a brief cameo at the end).

In fact, the entire movie was very, very kid-friendly. Nothing of consequence happens, children get to play superhero, and a rather unscary villain renounces his evil ways in the end. That being said, this is a superhero movie... so perhaps it is quite appropriate that it be a kids' movie, light-hearted and colourful. Personally, though, I preferred the other Thor movies; I think they handled the mix of drama, emotional development, humor and action in a more balanced and believable way.

Thumbs up for the several Easter eggs, which are always fun (the One Above All? Cool). I particularly liked seeing Matt Damon and Luke Hemsworth reprising their roles of Loki and Thor in the Asgardian stage play!

Will there be a Thor 5? I'd like that, because the character is fun; I'm just not sure where he can go from there. He'd need a sharp break from his comedic period, like the JLA after its Bwah-ha-ha era. I'm just not sure that the public at large would prefer that; perhaps screaming goats and Asgardian bare buttocks are more popular. I get the feeling that if we were to present, say, the Mangog saga, ordinary viewers would go "uh? This isn't funny! What happened?"

That being said, Waititi's role as director was to give us a movie, not to set up the franchise's future. And overall, despite its faults, I did enjoy the film.

I'd love it, but it would be a tall order. But who knows? Hope springs eternal in the fountain of Mimir.


*Edit*

I just re-watched Thor: The Dark World, which was a more serious Thor movie... and by the bristling beard of Odin, it remains among my top five favourite MCU films!

That's the film that made Loki Loki. It's also one of the few in which supporting characters had important arcs of their own and got to really shine, even if only for a few moments. Frigga's funeral is also one of the most emotional scenes we've had in these films, topped only by the portals scene at the climax of Endgame (in my humble opinion).

Plus: a brilliant score, and lovely painted end credits. Jack and Stan would be proud.

Not really. They show a place called Omnipotence City, which is far more like a sybaritic United Nations than Mount Olympus. Zeus is a big shot there (Thor is a big fan of his, by the way) and he looks like he's calling the shots, but there's nothing really Greek about the place; it's just a CGI-fest. It could have been any fantasy magical city. Omnipotence City is just a place with lots of gods from many pantheons... and one wonders why Thor didn't ask for help there when Thanos was a threat.

The only reason I can think of to watch the movie again would be to spot all the Easter eggs I missed the first time.

Well, and okay... I'm a sucker for stories about lovers who find each other again...

You have taken the words out of my mouth, so to speak. 

Very mixed feelings about this. Of course, there were good moments, but I am not entirely convinced humour and Thor mix. I honestly cannot fault aspects such as Thor/Foster, Gorr the God Butcher, etc. In a way, this film was akin to fast food. I like a McDonalds meal now and again (probably 1-2 times a year), but I regret eating it after it’s over, and deep down, I know a more substantial meal would have been better.

The mixed feelings are tough to deal with. I mean, Omnipotence City looked intriguing and beautiful. I was playing “spot the god” in there (did I spot a Hindu deity, for instance?). But why reduce Zeus to comic relief? I thought I was watching a deleted scene from a comedy. Zeus should and must have gravitas. I believe the scene could have been almost the same with a serious Zeus. The anger towards Thor, the battle and so much else could have happened even with a serious Zeus.

But I did feel a certain sense of joy after watching it, especially during poignant moments. I’m just not sure it’s the Thor film I would have produced.

Incidentally, I would like to see a Don Blake/Thor dynamic but short of a reboot for the MCU’s Thor, I don’t see that happening.

Finally, it feels odd to post reviews of films released months ago, but I rarely go to the cinema now. I saw this last night.