Thor: Ragnarok - Spoiler-free review
It's been a few months since I've reviewed any movies. I did get out to see Dunkirk after Spider-Man: Homecoming, but never wrote up a review for it. In short - I thought it was really well done. Very different from a typical war movie, and well worth seeing on a big screen. But since it's out of theaters now... I don't think you'd get the same sort of visceral impact when watching it at home. So... never mind.
Anyway... as if I hadn't seen enough superhero films this year already, last week I got out to see Thor: Ragnarok.
When it was first announced by Marvel as part of their film plans, it sounded like a dreary subject for a film - with Ragnarok supposedly bringing about the end of the universe. Yay...? And the previous two Thor films were just... okay. In fact, I never bothered seeing the second one in a theater.
But it became pretty apparent from the early trailers that Ragnarok wasn't going to take itself all that seriously. Plus, it was borrowing elements from the Planet Hulk comic storyline, looked to have some pretty epic action scenes in it, and the trailers featured Led Zeppelin and cool 70's flying logos. Can't go wrong there!
Or... can you?
Nope. At least not this time.
Thor: Ragarok was awesome. It's really a comedy - probably the most overtly comedic take on comic book movies since the first Guardians of the Galaxy. And that's a good thing. I've always felt that above everything else, comic book movies should be fun. Not necessarily always funny, but fun. You should enjoy the ride - and this was a great ride.
While there have been some hints at humor in Thor's character in previous Marvel films, they just take it over the top here. Chris Hemsworth is clearly enjoying himself. At times it seems to be a pretty significant shift in his character, but I just prefer to think of it as Thor loosening up and letting us see a side to him that's usually repressed.
Either that, or Ultron punched him in the head too many times, and he's a bit loopy now. Either works.
This isn't just the Thor Comedy Hour, however. The film is replete with great character moments from a really excellent cast. Tom Hiddleston is back as Loki, and while his character is pretty predictable by now - he's always entertaining to watch. But while he's certainly a part of the story, this is effectively a two-for-one buddy-movie featuring Thor and Hulk, and Thor and Bruce Banner. And the two are not the same. Hulk is different this time around - being less of just a rage monster and developing more into a character, unique from just the angry half of Bruce Banner. Mark Ruffalo returns as a disheveled, slightly baffled Bruce Banner, way more out of his element than he's ever been. Meanwhile, Hulk now feels at home more than he ever has. It's a nice twist from where we've been before. Jeff Goldblum is perfectly cast as the Grandmaster (it's really hard to imagine anyone else in that role), and one of the standouts is a scene-stealing character named Korg, voiced by director Taika Waititi. Most notable though, is Cate Blanchett as Hela. She's the best Marvel villain to come along since, well... Loki. Blanchett absolutely relishes in chewing up the scenery. She's bad. She knows it. And she loves it. She's terrific fun to watch - almost as much an evil villain as she is bordering on a satire of one. Villains need to be fun to watch, and she is. She's also incredibly formidable. And like the best villains, she thinks what she's doing is perfectly justified and has some pretty solid motivations for her actions. Plus, she looks cool.
The action sequences are all first-rate, and for the first time we really get to see how powerful Thor can be. Frankly... it makes you wonder why he'd even need the other Avengers. The special effects are solid throughout - although there are a few places where you can tell they re-composited some scenes and the lighting isn't quite right (you'll recognize them immediately from the trailer). Hulk works very well throughout the film, although he's more effective when he's smashing than when he's sitting and talking. They don't quite have subtle acting down yet, but it doesn't detract from the film - he never feels as weirdly fake as he did in his first two solo movies. As an aside, I'd strongly recommend avoiding the online clips/commercials of the Hulk/Thor fight - those clips end up spoiling a lot of that whole sequence. It would've been more fun to watch that had I not seen any of those clips.
Plot-wise, well... does it matter? The story is basically there to put the characters in situations where these big, epic action sequences can take place. That's what this movie is about. That said, there are some bigger consequences than that to come out of the story, so it's not entirely fluff. In fact, one of the criticisms I've read about the movie is that there are certain scenes that some people felt were treated too comedically. While I can see what they're talking about, my response is, "Lighten up. It's a comic book movie."
Oh, and Mark Mothersbaugh wrote the music. There's some killer Tron-like 80's style synth stuff in there. Can't go wrong with that, either. I'm really tempted to pick this one up on CD.
Thor: Ragnarok was a lot of fun. There was great action, and the writing was genuinely funny. There are a lot of in-jokes, Easter eggs, and some much-welcomed self-effacing humor (including a couple of scenes that were just flat-out parodies of Marvel and Disney itself). There's more than enough to keep any diehard Marvel fan still-framing their way through the Blu-ray when it comes out. Yes, it's goofy, but it kind-of needs to be. If you step back and look at it - the whole concept is completely ridiculous. Many comic books are anyway, especially when they start venturing into the cosmos. Thor: Ragnarok embraces that ridiculousness, and just revels in it. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy did before it. When Marvel first announced some of their upcoming movies, I had wondered how they were going to fit Thor, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers, Ant-Man and everything else together into Avengers: Infinity War and make it cohesive, when it's all so diverse and at times, just plain weird. But this movie proves it can be done. They've set up their universe and its rules very well. Somehow... it manages to work.
Thor: Ragnarok gets an 8/10. Check it out.
Up next: Justice League and Coco.
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