Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett

Directed by Taika Waititi

The Story:
Two years after Sokovia, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is searching for the Infinity Stones when he's captured by the fire demon Surtur, who promises Asgard will be destroyed by Ragnarok - a prophesy that he can fulfill.  Thor manages to escape and returns to Asgard, where he enlists the help of his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to locate their father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins).  Learning he's on Earth, Thor gets help from Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who shows him where Odin is.  Odin then tells them that Hela - the goddess of death and also his firstborn child - will soon be released from her prison and take over Asgard.

Soon after, Hela (Cate Blanchett) arrives, and destroys Thor's hammer Mjolnir, then sending the brothers to their presumed deaths as she makes her way to Asgard.  Thor arrives on a far away planet called Sakaar, where he's captured by Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson), who takes him to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), the ruler of the planet who pits slaves in mortal combat.  Thor finds that Loki is also on the planet, but he's working with the Grandmaster for his own survival, and finds himself pitted against his old friend the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

After the fight, Thor convinces Hulk, 142 (who turns out to be one of the Valkyrie - an all-female Asgard warrior race who all but died fighting Hela decades earlier), and Loki to return to Asgard to stop Hela and prevent Ragnarok, while she begins rule despite resistance from Heimdall (Idris Elba). 

The Synopsis:
When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor has repeatedly gotten the short end of the stick (along with his sidekick the Hulk).  While it's going to be virtually impossible for the Hulk to have his own solo movie - Universal owns the rights to the standalone Hulk movies, and, according to Ruffalo, they "don't know how to play well with Marvel" - this is Thor's third standalone movie.  Iron Man has already had his three stand alone films - the first being the best, the third the worst.  Captain America has had three as well - with only the first being lackluster, while the second was epic and the third was basically an Avengers-lite film.  Thor's previous two outings have both been subpar at best (the first one), and ridiculous at worst ("The Dark World").  Fortunately, "Ragnarok" is Thor's shining solo moment in the sun, a film that's more humorous than previous Marvel outings, with terrific performances, dazzling fighting, state-of-the-art effects a top-notch cast, and an infectious soundtrack.

When the film was first announced, it seemed like it would've been Marvel's most dark film to date.  In Norse mythology, Ragnarok was the end of all things - the deaths of Odin, Thor, Loki and Heimdall among others - an the utter destruction of their homeland.  However, as the first trailer dropped and more information came, we learned that this would be anything but dark - in fact, it's easily Marvel's most humorous film so far, which is surprising considering the nature of Ragnarok, but also Thor's character in general: he's no Tony Stark, giving quips and sarcastic remarks at the drop of a hat, but he still manages to deliver the laughs.  Throw in Thor's old sparring buddy the Hulk, and you've got Marvel's vision of Laurel & Hardy, Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker...you get the idea. 

If I could give the film two critiques, I'd say that 1) the film's tonal nature gets terrible off balanced.  As I said before, you don't typically associate Ragnarok with gut-induced laughter, but that's what you get here.  It takes away from the serious nature of the event, giving an odd balance in the process.  2) The terrible under-use of its actors.  While the film centers (rightfully so) on Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Thompson, Ruffalo and Blanchett, the film also looses focus on other terrific performances especially by Anthony Hopkins, Karl Urban and especially Jeff Goldblum.  Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange is a glorified cameo, someone who should've been around a lot longer.  Goldblum plays off his naturally eccentric self as the Grandmaster, but also doesn't get a lot to work with.  Karl Urban stars as Skurge, who becomes Hela's executioner, and also has some paltry screen time.  Still, those are just two small critiques in an otherwise exquisite film that revolutionized the Marvel Cinematic Universe and sets itself up perfectly for the world-shattering "Infinity War" arriving in May.

While Ragnarok resembles the end of all things, it can also be seen as a rebirth of something new.  Director Taika Waititi uses this theme to create a whole new style of Marvel film, one that separates itself from its predecessors in every aspect.  It also manages to keep the continuity intact, answering important questions (including why Hulk and Thor were absent during "Civil War"), and makes its own mark on the franchise.  We aren't dealing with humans and human problems, but rather the realm of gods and aliens, a world we see through the eyes of the only human in Bruce Banner, who suffers a meltdown when he discovers he's on a different world.  His reaction would be the same as any of us, while Thor just thinks it's a "neat" thing that Banner has gotten to be on two different planets. 

When it comes to performances, everyone gives it their all. Chris Hemsworth gives Thor a different light than his previous outings - he's more jovial, down-to-earth, and obvious he's been gleaning off Tony Stark's charisma.  Tom Hiddleston is the ever-tricky Loki, who has this uncanny ability to forget the countless number of innocent lives he's taken because he's just so darn charismatic.  Tessa Thompson rocks as the Valkyrie, who arrives on the scene as a drunken mess and rises to a warrior princess by the end.  Mark Ruffalo plays the Hulk in a way he's never done before - as Hulk can now talk instead of just grunt - as well as playing Bruce Banner as a broken, fearful man.  As I said before, Jeff Goldblum absolutely nails it as the Grandmaster in his eccentric, offbeat self that only Goldblum can accomplish.  Idris Elba - who's been known to say he despises playing Heimdall due to a mixture of the makeup and contacts he has to wear, along with the overall silliness of the character as opposed to his other Oscar-nominated roles - remains a professional actor who is given a bigger role than just the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, but becomes the leader of the resistance against Hela.  Anthony Hopkins, Karl Urban and Benedict Cumberbatch also give great performances - short as they were.

A general complaint against Marvel is its lack of potent villains.  Red Skull, Ultron, Whiplash, Malekith, Zemo...the majority of bad guys are bland, uninteresting and unmemorable.  Loki was the only true villain - or antihero - the MCU had...until Cate Blanchett.  As Marvel's first female villain, Blanchett delivers an impeccable performance as Hela, the goddess of death.  She's equal parts ruthless, warrior, fearless, egotistical and even hilarious ("Skurge, do you know the purpose of an executioner? An executioner doesn't just execute people, but he executes his leader's vision. But he mainly executes them too"), and is a shining light in the litany of villainy of the Marvel Universe.  She electrified the screen and dominated the story, as only an Oscar winner could do.

The story of the film, besides stopping the impeding destruction of Asgard, centers around Thor's weakness.  He always relied on his trusty hammer Mjolnir, but when it's destroyed, he must go on a journey of self-discovery.  Does the man own the hammer, or the hammer own the man?  It's an interesting story arc for the otherwise perfect God of Thunder (not Lord of Thunder), showing a weakness in an otherwise perfect being. 

To top off the film there's the epic action sets and the glorious effects, especially Hulk, who's never looked better, especially comparing him to the 2003:

I just can't even begin to say what's wrong with this.

Now THIS is the Hulk we all deserve!

All the worlds look totally lavish and beautiful, the Bifrost Bridge never looked more colorful, Surtur looked absolutely terrifying and evil, and the makeup and costumes were exquisite.

The final aspect of the film is the soundtrack.  Many people were turned off by the trailer, because the music seemed reminiscent of "Guardians of the Galaxy," and while those comparisons were fair, it didn't derail from the story being told, but rather heightened it.  The song that was most prominent in the previews was Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," which seemed perfect for the film because of its relevance to Norse mythology ("The hammer of the gods/We'll drive our ships to new lands/To fight the horde, and sing and cry/Valhalla, I am coming!").  It's been virtually impossible for anyone to get Led Zeppelin to license their songs for any film, show or video game, but they managed to get the rights to this song for "Ragnarok," and it's used perfectly for a few epic fighting sequences.

Even for Marvel, "Ragnarok" is indeed its own marvel.

The Summary:
As the years go by, Marvel keeps churning out better and better films.  "Ragnarok" is the crowning achievement of Thor's personal story, a film far and above most other films in the MCU, and one that demands to be seen.

The Score: A+