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The conclusion of the "Marvel-thon" is the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe leading up to Black Panther, and that is Thor: Ragnarok.
Thor has been searching for the Infinity Stones since the Battle of Sokovia, to no avail. This leads to him being captured and brought before Surtur, a fire demon destined to cause Ragnarok, the end of Asgard. After defeating him, Thor thinks he has prevented it, but it had already begun. The Goddess of Death, Hela, emerges while Thor finds himself on Sakaar, a planet ruled by The Grandmaster. If he has a chance of making it back to Asgard in time to stop Hela, he has to fight the reigning champion: the Hulk.
What Worked: I will start with the approach to the movie this time as well. It's much different from the previous two movies. The serious tone is now more comedic. Unlike Iron Man 3, which at times felt like it was trying to be more of a comedy than a superhero movie, the comedic tone actually works here because the two genres have more of a balance. With that tonal shift, it feels more fun. This is something that director Taika Waititi intended to convey to the audience, and it shows while watching the movie.
He's also known for having a lot of humor. This has more subtle humor than quirky, though; the quirkiness shows more in the look of the movie. The humor is still very clever, as evidenced by a couple moments that involve monologuing, and especially the scenes with a certain character.
Now for the cast. This is Chris Hemsworth's best portrayal of Thor, and you can tell he's having fun. It also shows that he can be hilarious. The same goes for two other returning characters. The first one is Tom Hiddleston as Loki, who has one of the funniest lines. The second one is Mark Ruffalo, returning as Bruce Banner / Hulk. Some of the best scenes in the movie involve Hulk, and Banner has a relationship with Thor that might be better than that of Tony Stark and James Rhodes.
Then there are the new characters, starting with the villain. Hela, played by Cate Blanchett, is easily the best villain in the Thor trilogy, as well as another example of a great MCU villain. Loki was able to make his mark across two movies; Hela does so over the course of one. Plus, Blanchett's performance makes her even more menacing.
Someone else who can be both menacing and funny is Skurge, Hela's executioner. He is played by Karl Urban, who's no stranger to appearing in franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek. He's not in the movie that much, but he does get a couple good moments. The same goes for Heimdall, but there's a reason for it with him, which helps develop him.
With the characters on Sakaar, the first one to mention is The Grandmaster, played by Jeff Goldblum. He's like The Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy, except he's more of a villain. The Collector was somewhat quirky, whereas The Grandmaster definitely is. He's great in this, and it feels like he's playing himself in a way with how eccentric the character is.
Before I get to the best character in the movie, there is one more to mention. This movie brings in another strong female character with Tessa Thompson (Creed*) as Valkyrie. She's independent and can handle herself in a fight. As great as she was in that movie, I might have enjoyed her even more here.
The best character in the movie is actually played by Taika Waititi himself. It's a fellow gladiator Thor meets, a Kronan (rock creature) named Korg. What's hilarious about him is that you hear "rock creature" and you'd think he has a tough voice to accompany that, and then he ends up being so casually soft-spoken. Every scene he's in, he's awesome. Some of the funniest dialogue comes from him. Waititi even references one of his previous movies as the character; all I'll say is that it involves a pitchfork.
For the technical aspects, this has the best action of the three Thor films. I can actually mention the "Rule of Threes" again, because this absolutely follows it. First is the fight with Surtur, then the fight between Thor and Hulk, and then the finale.
Those two bookending fights in particular stand out because of the soundtrack. Let me put it this way: within the first five minutes, I knew I'd love this movie. When the finale came, I knew I'd love it even more. This has the best use of a classic song since Hardcore Henry and/or Shaun of the Dead; in fact, this might have actually topped both of them, and those two used the same song. I always love it when a movie takes the song from the trailer and still manages to incorporate it.
In addition to that one song, the score is also great, with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Rugrats fame composing it. It has a very "synth" feel to it, like something that came out of the 80s.
When it comes to the visual effects and the look of the movie, this has the best since Doctor Strange on both counts.
What Didn't Work: There are times where Jeff Goldblum does play up the eccentricity a little too much. That's more of a nitpick for me, though.
Overall: Thor: Ragnarok is hands-down the best Thor movie. It's also the funniest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to date, showing that Marvel can actually balance compelling and comedic while still keeping to a consistent tone. With another great villain and exciting action (with a little help from an iconic rock band), among other things, it ends up being the most fun installment of the trilogy. This is the best MCU movie since Captain America: Civil War, in that it escalates the conflict to even greater heights.
There are quite a few cameos here, including the Stan Lee one, as well as a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene.
*Obviously, not the band. Excellent movie, though.