So my initial impressions of this film were:

• fun, but fluffy
• probably could have done without some of the more egregious physical comedy

Omg, Karl Urban as Skurge. What a twat.

Omg. The play with Matt Damon as Loki. This is slightly painful but also funny. Not sure which is winning. I mean, do Asgardians have nothing better to do? They seemed a lot more serious before. I think I more enjoy the banter between Thor and Loki and the whole thing with Doctor Strange. Also Doctor Strange being a bit of a dick. And then Thor being a bit of a dick with the hammer/umbrella.

Also Loki: “I have been falling for 30 minutes!”

But ultimately, why did that whole thing have to happen? Why couldn’t he have just been in the place where Loki left him? For the lols I suppose.

Omg, Anthony Hopkins sounds like, ‘omfg, these words are ridiculous, thank fuck they are killing me off so I never have to do this again. I am going to kill my agent’.

But still. Hella, right? How fucking amazing is she? ADORE. She just dispatched two of Thor’s buddies instantly upon arrival in Asgard. She’s so wrong and gives no fucks. Hella needs like a prequel. Do you think Cate Blanchett was like ‘fuck yeah, no more Galadriel’.

But given that Loki and Thor and them live a long time, why would they have forgotten Hella? Is everyone else short lived but a few of them really long? Basically, while I really love Hella, the introduction of such weird inconsistency is annoying.

Another inconsistency that has bothered me somewhat – is that both the devices used to capture Thor when he lands on Sakaar look like they are electricity based. I mean, he fires off big ass lightening bolts all the time. Surely he would be somewhat immune? Whatever. He needs to be captured to have the plot happen.

Jeff Goldblum is the most Jeff Goldblum. He’s such a psychopath.

I wonder how much Chris Hemsworth enjoyed not having to have long hair for most of the film. I do adore that the helmet he has to wear as a gladiator pays tribute to the comics and the helmet he wears.

And Loki’s reaction when the Hulk appears “I need to get off this planet.” Though, with the other films fresh in my mind, the japse-y comic relief of Loki feels slightly out of place. He’s a bad guy. Are we trying to redeem him or is it just that he made a good comic foil? It feels like they are trying to make him better. There is the chat in the lift, the whole chat when he Thor says Loki could be more than just the god of mischief. Dunno.

I think my rewatch opinion is the same as the first two, with the added issue that it plays a bit too fast and loose with the characters it uses – primarily Thor and Loki. They also have to make Hulk talk lots more than he had to in the past.

I think I prefer the comedy of Banner and Thor together (when he changes back from the Hulk). Banner is genuinely concerned and confused when he first changes back. It’s . more subtle than the physically comedy (like when Thor throws the ball and it hits him in the head). I also really like Valkyrie. I enjoy her whole story arc and think we also need a prequel with her (maybe the same one with Hella.) I like the whole thing with her and Banner, “I feel like I know you?”

I also enjoyed the weird dream like sequences of the Valkyrior fighting Hella that Loki gets out of the Valkyrie. The whole thing is stylish. The colours, the armour, the fights, everything. The last battle when Thor really comes into his powers. The jump down was like a comic book pane. Amazing. I think those are my favourite moments in these films – when they take a single moment and make it like it came out of the comic books.

Okay, I think I forgive the bad bits. It’s pretty fun in the end. I think it would have been better off without some of the terrible physical comedy – but in the end it brings it home. The second half is a lot better than the first half. It’s still got its funny bits but without it feeling painful. I hope if Loki is in future films, they don’t ping-pong back. That would get tiresome.

ONE LEFT. TOMORROW. BLACK PANTHER.