Thor: Ragnarok

Released: November 2017

Director: Taika Waititi

Rated PG-13

Run Time: 130 Minutes

Distributor: Marvel/Disney

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Cast:
Chris Hemsworth: Thor
Tom Hiddleston: Loki
Cate Blanchett: Hela
Idris Elba: Heimdall
Jeff Goldblum: The Grandmaster
Tessa Thompson: Valkyrie
Karl Urban: Skurge
Mark Ruffalo: Bruce Banner/Hulk
Anthony Hopkins: Odin
Benedict Cumberbatch: Doctor Strange

Over the past few years, Marvel’s movies have been fairly hit-or-miss with audiences.  When Age of Ultron hit theaters, a lot of people, myself included, were less than impressed with what Joss Whedon had put on screen.  It was bizarre, the first Avengers film was amazing, so what happened?  Creative differences between Marvel and Joss Whedon, that’s what happened.  Age of Ultron suffered from the “way-too-much” approach that tends to sink films like that.  But for the most part, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been entertaining, even at its worst.  You have all these movies that interconnect with each other and it can get confusing at times.  But the MCU is really at its best when it’s just being silly.  Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Thor were movies that I really loved, because Marvel decided to say, “Fuck it, we’re going to have fun.”  The movies in the MCU that go absolutely bonkers are the best ones.  Thor: Ragnarok is probably the best example of this approach thus far.

Ragnarok begins as Thor, the God of Thunder, has been captured by the mysterious and gigantic Surtur.  An ancient Asgardian prophecy says that Surtur will unleash the apocalypse known as Ragnarok, in which all of Asgard is completely destroyed.  Thor doesn’t like this, so he defeats Surtur and steals his crown.  Afterwards, Thor is contacted by Doctor Strange, telling him where Odin is.  Taking Loki with him, Thor goes to speak with his father and then his long-lost sister, Hela appears, destroying his Hammer.  Fleeing the evil goddess, Thor and Loki try to return to Asgard only to end up on a distant planet.  With Hela consolidating her power and continuing her quest for universal domination, Thor has to find a way to defeat her and save his people in the process.  I will fully admit that I really loved the first two films.  Did they have their problems?  Sure, but they were a lot of fun.  Thor: Ragnarok takes Earth and throws it out the window in favor of a more fantastic and intergalactic adventure much like Guardians of the Galaxy.  This approach not only allows  for an incredibly visual and compelling story, but it also allows for some real humor, and this is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen all year.  Yet, for all its humor, there is a number of scenes which are appropriately dramatic and it comes across as genuine.  This is not a movie that’s trying to pretend to be anything more than it is.  It takes the fact that it’s a bit of a goofball journey and just runs with it.  That’s why it works so well.

The foundation for any good story is its characters.  The MCU has had some of the most memorable characters in cinema.  You have Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and the Hulk.  The weakest aspects of the MCU as far as characters go has always been its villains.  DC Comics and Warner Bros. have the best villains in their repertoire, but the MCU really didn’t have villains that actually stood out, with the exception of Red Skull and Loki.  Enter Hela, the Goddess of Death.  Aside from Loki, Hela is probably the coolest villain that the MCU has ever produced.  As the older sister of Thor, Hela is Odin’s first-born.  Her backstory, in MCU terms, is quite interesting.  It’s a definite change from actual Norse mythology, but it works here.  She is the film’s primary villain and she is a serious threat to Thor as she gets her powers from Asgard itself.  She destroys Thor’s hammer.  That’s how powerful she is.  The other villain is Grandmaster, who runs an intergalactic Colosseum-style tournament.  He’s surprisingly hilarious and vile at the same time.  While the villains are fantastic, everybody else is just as good.  Loki is as mischievous as ever, even though he has a more heroic angle this time around.  Thor is…well…Thor.  One of the biggest surprises of the film is The Hulk.  The filmmakers gave the Hulk his own voice aside from Banner.  It certainly provides some very interesting moments.  None of these characters would work as well as they do, if the actors weren’t up for it.

The acting is phenomenal here.  Chris Hemsworth has clearly gotten very comfortable with the character, so there’s a greater allowance of humor.  Chris has natural comedic timing and it really shows.  Tom Hiddleston as Loki?  What else can I say?  He was born to play the God of Mischief.  Idris Elba is still excellent as the stoic Heimdall, with Karl Urban making for an awesome mercenary in Skurge.  Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster is an absolute revelation.  Goldblum is one of the most underrated actors of his generation.  He infuses the character with his own mannerisms and bizarre personality making for an incredibly memorable villain.  It’s really hilarious when he refers to Thor as the Lord of Thunder, clearly a reference to the KISS song of the same name.  Cate Blanchett is absolutely incredible as Hela.  She chews the scenery like it’s nobody’s business.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous.  Because of that, the character of Hela is as beautiful and alluring as she is vicious.  Too often we see villains that refuse to do their own dirty work.  Hela swims in it.  She takes out an entire roomful of Asgard soldiers with her bare hands and she relishes every single minute of it.  Even the side characters are given their moments to shine.  We have a new female character, Valkyrie, with a tragic backstory.  Everybody here steals the show.  It’s that well-written.

The film clearly has elements taken from the Planet Hulk story-line and they wove perfectly within Thor: Ragnarok.  As a result, we have visually spectacular film.  You look at all the space elements as well as Asgard itself and we have one of the most beautiful movies ever made.  The cinematography is something else.  Everything from the costumes to the set designs is sublime.  I love the way the characters look.  Hela’s outfit is fantastic, not only complimenting her form but also functioning as battle armor.  The action sequences are simply fantastic up to and including the climactic battle between Hela and Thor.  It’s absolutely bonkers at how the filmmakers managed to not only make a movie that is not only compelling and funny, but exciting as well.  It really shakes up the MCU formula quite a bit.  This is a movie that has everything in it, and it just flows almost perfectly.

With the amount of big budget movies that flopped during the summer this year, I was truly hoping that November would start delivering really good big budget movies again.  Yeah, we had LoganWonder Woman, and Guardians 2, but the other movies were a massive disappointment, and they flopped at the box-office.  It is really awesome to see a movie like this come out with guns blazing and just having a blast.  This is the reason why we go to the movies:  To have a great time, and Thor: Ragnarok is nothing short of a great time.  In the pantheon of MCU movies, Ragnarok is easily one of the best.  I would even go so far as to put it above the first Avengers film.  It’s that damned good.  When movies like this leave allegories of real-world politics out of the picture, is when they are at their best.  Is Thor: Ragnarok the best comic-book movie of the year?  I would put it up with Logan and Wonder Woman, yes.  The movie isn’t without its flaws, but those flaws are so minor and nit-picky at best, they’re not even worth mentioning.  Ultimately, I have to say this:  Thor: Ragnarok is awesome.  I really like the direction they took with this film, and throwing in 80s-style music doesn’t hurt at all.  A little bit of Led Zeppelin here and there makes for an interesting experience.  If you enjoyed the previous Thor films, or any of the other MCU movies like Doctor Strange, you owe it to yourself to go see this one.  It is worth it.

My Final Recommendation: Don’t try to out-Jeff Goldblum Jeff Goldblum. 9.5/10

 

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