I'll start with the basics - the way thor discovered loki was odin in disguise was very well played, dropping hints everywhere, and odin!loki's "oh shit" by anthony hopkins was brilliant
i was expecting doctor strange to have a larger role in the beginning of the film, but it was more of a cameo in a way. glad to see more of his skills however, good to know he's become the master of the mystic arts that he is in the comics. let's appreciate loki's "I'VE BEEN FALLING FOR 30 MINUTES" line
i was expecting odin to die tbh, he didn't appear in any of the trailers, and his on set photos were minimal. it makes sense that he wouldn't be around at all. hela being thor's sister caught me off guard though, wasn't expecting that one.
i was also shocked at the warriors 3's deaths, since they've been very major characters in the thor franchise, and then they're killed off in about 5 minutes. hela was surprisingly funny in this scene however, so it helped take the blows off their deaths a bit. that being said, where the hell is sif? protector of the throne and all that but when odin's dead and some evil chick comes along she's no where to be seen.
valkyrie's introduction was both hilarious and a good character defining moment - a drunken scavenger whose past failures have haunted her for a long time. didn't expect thor to go down so easily in this scene, but if it helps get the plot along, so be it.
i loved the grandmaster's introduction. really shows him as both silly yet sinister, killing his own cousin, and then claiming that he stepped in "its" remains.
the majority of the film takes place on sakaar, which i didn't think would work, but hey it does. thor's relationships with loki, korg, valkyrie and hulk are played very well. there's not much i can say about the fight scene, other than it's played out very well. the grandmaster fixing the fight had me a bit pissed at him, but that's the key to a great villain. goldblum played him well.
loved the black widow cameo, even if it was reused footage. also the reference to stark and sokovia made me fangasm a lot, so enjoyed that. during the breakout scene, loki's betrayal caught me off guard. so did his downfall at the hands of thor. it was a roller-coaster ride during that scene.
the last 30 minutes were wild - the whole "asgard is the people, not the place" arc didn't make me think as much as it should've, but it was a good chekov's gun to the end. Loki and Korg coming to the rescue was also unexpected, but i knew loki would come back eventually. still don't understand his second heel-face-turn but hey w/e
thor loses an eye - THOR LOSES A FUCKING EYE! that was the biggest wtf moment for me. was seriously expecting it to be some sort of illusion by loki, but nope - THOR LOSES A GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKING EYE!
i'm glad the final fight scene didn't involve just the four revengers - it involved korg, miek, heimdall, the majority of asgard's citizens, and, in a last minute heel-face-turn, skurge, who kicks ass with "des and troy". his heroic sacrifice will not be forgotten, he was a true bro in the end.
surtur's revival and the destruction of asgard was the biggest twist of the entire film - all that history and shit completely gone, the setting for so much of the previous films are just kaput. one thing i can say is that surtur did not disappoint, in his brief appearance he manages to kick thor's ass, kill hela, and destroy asgard, both the buildings AND the foundations, so that there's literally nothing left
the ending happened fairly fast in my opinion - thor becomes king of the new asgard - which is a massive ship, he gets an odin eyepatch over his dead eye, he's got a new set of warriors to fight alongside him (that's loki, valkyrie, hulk, heimdall, korg and miek) and he's off to relocate the entire asgardian culture to a new society on earth
...until thanos arrives mid-credits to fuck everything up. My only question was "what was thor planning on doing with the asgardians on earth?" it's not like he couldn't stick them there without people knowing about it. is he going to build the new asgard there? what's going on?!
end credits scene is a bit naff really, but hey, it's worth it to see about 5 seconds of goldblum as the grandmaster again
now for the character reviews
thor is as good as ever, i love loki's character development, glad hulk can speak now, hela's another brilliant villain addition, all that jazz
korg is one of the highlights of the film in my opinion. his comedy helps bring a slightly lighter tone to the film. i wasn't expecting him to have a role larger than the one we saw on jimmy kimmel, what with him being played by the director and all, but i'm glad he had a large role. i heard that they're bringing him and miek in for future installments which is brilliant
goldblum as the grandmaster was also a good addition, definitely one of the highlights of the movie. as i said before, his silly and cheerful personality is overshadowing his more sinister motives, such as literally melting his own cousin, rigging the match in his favour, and calling a hit on thor after he leaves with hulk. he also has the whole stressy child thing down which can play to both the silly and the sinister natures. definitely a worthwhile villain, hope we see more of him later
Skurge was a badass character, even if he was just a janitor. the conflict the character had really showed through karl urban's acting, was one of the many treats of the film. his reluctance to join hela at the beginning is further emphasised when he is about to execute one of the citizens,
and then again right at the end when he eventually switches sides and sacrifices himself to save everyone on the ship. I'm glad he was more of a misunderstood villain than what the promotional materials showed, but he was badass fullstop.