The Thor franchise has, unfortunately, been the unloved child of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While just as important as Iron Man and Captain America in the grand scope of the Universe, and just as much as founding Avenger, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who calls the Thor films their favorite.

Sure - each installment brought something good, the sly fish-out-of-water humor of 2011’s Thor, the beautiful visuals of a fully realized Asgard in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, but neither really seemed to stick the landing.

Enter filmmaker Taika Waititi.

Best known for his unique sense of humor (and frankly, smaller indie films), Waititi has taken the series’s not-so-secret weapons - Chris Hemsworth’s sly sense of humor, stunning visuals - and funneled them through his own skewed prism, as seen in his prior films What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople.

The result is Thor: Ragnarok, which while it may not stand as one of the finest films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, certainly has the first place prize for the Thor trilogy.

The plot is honestly not that different from prior films. There’s a big bad threatening Asgard and possibly Earth (in this case, the dark and devious Hela, played by Cate Blanchett, who is very clearly enjoying herself), Thor has to deal with that, live up to his father (Anthony Hopkins) Odin’s shadow, and also deal with his trickster brother, Loki (the fangirl fav Tom Hiddleston).

What makes the movie different, however, is the absolutely amazing and joyful detour the story takes, sending Thor out of his element and into the world of Saakar. Saakar is where the majority of the story takes place - a junker planet with visuals straight out of Jack Kirby comics, overseen by The Grandmaster (a face painted Jeff Goldblum playing Jeff Goldbum).

Thor is kidnapped upon his arrival on the planet - by an interesting, drunk female warrior named Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson, who has a unique connection to Thor) - and made to fight in a giant Gladiator-esq fighting ring.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you know who shows up from here, but I’m going to act as you didn’t.

The scenes on Saakar are the lifeblood of Thor: Ragarok. Showcasing that surreal sense of humor alongside gloriously eye burning visuals (and a synth soundtrack by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh), these sequences are a joy - especially those featuring rock man Korg, a motion-captured character played by Taika Waititi himself. There is such a fun, silly, and breakneck pace to these sequences - they’re so full of humor and life, you want to live in them.

But then, eventually, the plot picks back up and we’re back to a normal superhero film for the final act.

That, if anything, is the biggest flaw of Thor: Ragnarok - it does such a good job of being unlike any other superhero film by turning into a cosmic comedic farce, that it’s almost deflating to see the superhero parts come back at the end. I recognize, this is like docking points from a western for having cowboy hats, but what was captured was so unique and so out there, I wanted to see if Marvel Studios would let this pan out entirely.

Despite that, Thor: Ragnarok still gains a strong recommendation from me - but let’s be honest, you knew from the announcement if you were going to see this movie. With this movie, Waititi has made himself a director you must watch, and I can’t wait to see what Hollywood allows him to indulge himself with next - but I just wish it went that extra mile.

Thor: Ragnarok is in theaters now. Grab tickets via Fandango, or pre-order today on iTunes.