Thor: Ragnarok is
the latest installment into the epic Marvel Studios franchise known as the
Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marking the 18th film in the franchise, Ragnarok is also the third film in the Thor franchise, alongside other solo
Avengers trilogies including Iron Man and Captain America. Chris Hemsworth
returns as Thor, the god of Thunder and son of the almighty Odin, played by
Anthony Hopkins. Something different about this particular Thor films it the fact that it has gone from a drama to a comedy
with Taika Waititi at the helm. It considered some as the two predecessors were
large-scale war fantasies, while others embraced the change as Thor: The Dark World was not so well
received by critics or fans.
In Thor: Ragnarok,
Thor returns to his homeworld of Asgard after two years of searching the cosmos
for the infinity stones after having a vision of Ragnarok, the Norse
mythology’s equivalent to the apocalypse. He finds Loki impersonating their father
Odin and forces Loki to take them to their father. Upon arriving to New York
City, they discover that Odin is not where Loki left him and with Doctor
Strange’s help, they find Odin in Norway, their ‘home’ and that of Norse
mythology. Odin reveals that his time is near its end and that their sister
Hela, the goddess of Death will be released upon his death. Hela arrives just
as Odin dies, destroys Thor’s hammer the Mjolnir and incapacitates both of
them.
Thor awakes to find himself on Sakaar, a planet quite
literally made of trash where he is captured by Valkyrie, an Asgardian
warrior-turned-bounty hunter and is thrown into the ring of a gladiator-like
battle against the mighty ‘Champion’. Thor finds Loki in the company of the
ruler of Sakaar, the Grandmaster and they soon find out that the Champion is in
fact the incredible Hulk who arrived on Sakaar on the Avenger’s Quinjet after
the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Thor sets out to find a way off the planet after assembling his ‘Revengers’
team comprised of Valkyrie, Hulk and Loki, to return to Asgard to stop Hela and
impending Ragnarok.
While the initial premise is rather dark and apocalyptic in
scale, Thor: Ragnarok may be the
funniest film in the MCU and now among my top three favorite films in the
franchise, alongside Spider-Man:
Homecoming and Doctor Strange. A
straight up buddy comedy with plenty of thrills throughout, Ragnarok brings a much-needed breath of
fresh air to the Thor franchise.
Chris Hemsworth has shown his comedic chops through his stints in Ghostbusters and Vacation. In those films he was among some of the most popular comedians
of the past decade, yet he still managed to shine past them. Alongside the
menacing but hilarious Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk)
and MCU newcomer Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) Hemsworth helped turn the already
tired Thor franchise into a
hilarious, action-packed romp.
Cate Blanchett deserves particular praise for her portrayal
of Hela. Her performances have always been top-notch but her physicality and
overall presence in the role is really what sold it. While Hela is indeed pure
evil, Balnchett adds a layer of bitterness from the character’s backstory after
being betrayed by her own father. Fans are saying that Marvel may have solved it’s
‘forgettable villain’ problem. Loki is one of the few to make a return to other
films, and certainly be the most complex while others have been one-offs and
don’t leave much of an impact. As her ‘executioner’ is Skurge, portrayed by
Karl Urban, who with just a handful of glances manages to show a sincere moral
struggle with what is being asked of him by the goddess of death.
Director Taika Waititi also voices one of Thor’s new allies
from Sakaar, the rock creature Korg who is a real scene-stealer with his calm
temperament but hilarious one-liners. Jeff Goldblum is also great in the role
of the Grandmaster of Sakaar, bringing his familiar sensibility to the role and
doing what he does best: make us laugh. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie adds a layer
of sarcasm and wit against Thor and is a very complex character with her
traumatic history with Hela coming to light throughout the film.
Now, for the few gripes I had with the film; fan favorites the
Warriors Three Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral were killed off. Hogun at least had
a brief battle with Hela while the others were killed in a single swoop. Jaimie
Alexander’s Lady Sif was not even seen in the film at all after being a rather
central character in the first two Thor
films. Ragnarok, at times, also felt
like two different movies were filmed and then spliced together. Thor’s comedic
misadventures come to a halt when we cut to a backstory monologue from Hela on
Asgard. It only happened maybe twice or three times. It may be my inner editor
complaining but the transitions were just really abrupt.
Overall, I really recommend the film to any comic book movie,
any comedy fan and any action film as Thor:
Ragnarok is a great blend of the three genres.
Did you see Thor:
Ragnarok? What did you think? Let’s talk! Leave your thoughts in the
comments down below!