So the new "Thor" movie came out, and it's sitting pretty at a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's been universally loved by fans so far in initial reactions. And I hate to be that guy who poo-poos everyone's good time, but I just was not that into this movie.

It should be said upfront that I haven't actually seen either of the previous "Thor" movies (comic book fanboy blasphemy), so I guess I'm not Thor's biggest supporter. I've heard that "Thor: Ragnarok" is a much better Thor movie than either of its predecessors, so I suppose its got that going for it.

"Thor: Ragnarok" is about Thor being lost and stranded on an alien planet, while his evil and destructive sister Hela, the goddess of death, lays waste to Thor's homeworld, Asgard. Thor must find a way back home, and prevent the coming of Ragnarok, the foretold apocalypse of Asgard and all of its people.

"Thor" comes to us from director Taika Waititi, who brought us 2014's hilarious "What We Do in the Shadows". Taika Waititi brings the comedy he's become known for as a director into "Thor: Ragnarok", and that to me becomes to movie's biggest detriment.

Now, the reason a superhero movie like "Batman v. Superman" didn't work for most general audiences is that people like to laugh. It's a simple point, but it's true - they like to laugh and have a good time, especially when they're watching a movie about people in spandex costumes who can fly. It's a pretty silly concept, superheroes, so when the movie they're watching doesn't take itself too seriously, is self-aware of its own ridiculousness, it gels with audiences. And the Marvel movies have succeeded so far because they've done a (mostly) good job of mixing the comedic, the action-based, and the dramatic elements of their movies so well. They've been able to ride that line between their stories being told in a straight, dramatic fashion, while also keeping things light, fun. It's worked especially well in their "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies - those are stories that are filled to the brim with yucks, but when the more dramatic story moments happen, they're still taken seriously enough.

I found that "Thor: Ragnarok", on the other hand, did not keep the balance between comedy and drama in this movie. There were just way too many jokes, too many silly moments for the movies own good. The intention was good; I think that a movie like "Thor" needed that sense of swashbuckling, fun adventure. No one wanted a dark-and-gritty "Thor"- it would have been a trainwreck. But in "Thor: Ragnarok", it was almost like every 5 minutes a man behind the curtain had to pull a lever that had the word "Laugh" written on it. And some of these jokes did definitely work, don't get me wrong. But the overabundance of them robbed the movie of its dramatic moments.

~ MINOR SPOILERS ~

So the first 20 minutes of the movie are played almost entirely comedically. Thor is captured and chained up in the lair of an ancient fire-demon named Surtur, who is very evil and very serious, and in response, Thor quips and jokes at him throughout the entire exchange. Thor doesn't take the battle seriously, so neither do we. And that's fine in and of itself- it's a fun, light-hearted scene, that establishes a lively tone for the movie.

Next, Thor returns to Asgard, where his brother Loki, the trickster god, is masquerading as Odin, the ruler of Asgard. Loki makes the Asgardians put on a performance for him, a farcical play celebrating Loki as a hero. It's funny and silly and sort of surreal.

Soon after, Thor and Loki go in search of their father, who is trapped on Earth, stripped of his powers. And then Odin dies, he fades away in a shower of sparkles, and the scene is played in a very straight, dramatic fashion. And we as the audience are expected to take that moment seriously when everything prior to it has been anything but serious. And for me, this just didn't work. The comedy and the drama felt like two different movies, puzzle pieces that just didn't fit together. Maybe this scene would have worked for me if I'd seen the other two "Thor" movies if I really got a chance to know who Odin was as a character, so I would care that he died. But I didn't, we as the audience know nothing about Odin or his relationship with his sons in "Thor: Ragnarok", so his death comes off as flat, as a moment that had to happen for the plot to move forward. It felt forced, is what I mean.

~ SPOILERS OVER ~

So that's my biggest issue with "Thor: Ragnarok"- that the overuse of comedy left the movie's dramatic moments as feeling phony, uninteresting.

There was a lot of other stuff I liked about "Thor: Ragnarok", though. All the sections where Thor is stranded on the alien world of Sakaar, where he is imprisoned and forced to fight in gladiator arena against the Hulk, those are great. Jeff Goldblum plays the Grandmaster, who rules the planet, and he is always simply the best Jeff Goldblum we could ask for. All the moments on the planet are campy and garish and sort of surreal, and they work. I honestly would have preferred if the movie was focused on Thor being stranded on the planet, looking for a way home, rather than trying to stop his sister from destroying the universe. Visually too, the movie was great, with bold colors and visual effects. The action scenes were good too, and though I wasn't a fan of the way the characters themselves were written, everyone's performances were great, especially Goldblum and Tessa Thompson, who (Tessa) plays Valkyrie.

At the end of the day though, "Thor: Ragnarok" is too disjointed a movie, too unfocused. The movie was called "Thor", and yet I feel I didn't learn anything about Thor as a character. Is he a quip slinging frat boy, or a burdened, serious god of thunder? The movie can't seem to decide.

The movies end up being all lightning, no thunder- a bright, visual spectacle, without any lasting, dramatic weight.

"Thor: Ragnarok" gets:

A Broken Hammer/10