Thor: Ragnarok Review

PG13: for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive material

Marvel Studios

2 Hrs and 10 Minutes

Dir: Taika Waititi | Writers: Christopher Yost, Craig Kyle, Stephany Folsom

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Sam Neill, Benedict Cumberbatch

INTRO: Out of every Marvel film franchise I think everyone’s least favorite films has to be the Thor movies. It sucks because, after Marvel’s winning streak of films, their biggest stain on their t-shirt was “Thor: The Dark World” which took everything of the god of thunder and put him as second fiddle to Kat Dennings and Natalie Portman. It wasn’t fun to watch for it was just dull and generic even for a Marvel movie. Cut to four years later and a New Zealand director named Taika Watiti to take the worst MCU hero (movie wise) and give him a movie as dumb as the character himself in every best way imaginable.

Thor  arrives in Asgard after hearing about trouble in his home world, and when he arrives he finds Loki’s style of ruling (while impersonating Odin) has led to some lapses in the rules and leads to the freeing of prisoner Hela. Thor and Hela naturally come to blows when they meet, which sees Thor “blasted” to Sakaar, described as “a barbaric planet ruled by the charming but nefarious Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum).” There he meets Valkyrie, who is hiding out on the planet, and brings him to the Grandmaster to make him a gladiator, where he meets the most popular competitor in the arena, The Hulk, and loses his trademark hair and hammer.

THE GOOD

GET RETRO

One of the best things about "Thor: Ragnorok" occurs right at the beginning of the movie: It does not take itself seriously at all. The other "Thor" movies had an incredible amount of comedy but here, you have nothing but a full fledged comedy that is on buckwild mode from beginning to end. Where previous Thor flicks tried to serialize its family squabble with generic melodrama, this just takes a dump on it and says, “Screw it. Let's get nuts.” The relationship between Thor and Loki comes full circle where callbacks to previous MCU films integrates into their relationship here. They have somewhat of a “Spy Vs. Spy” and “Wile E. Coyote/Road-Runner” dynamic when it comes to their brotherhood as you see that they care about each other sometimes whenever they're going at each other's throats. 

I wouldn’t expect “Thor: Ragnoraok” to be a better “Guardians of the Galaxy" movie than “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." The most exciting element of the movie is the absurdist adventure Thor and Loki are in is balanced with an insane amount balls to the wall humor that everyone would enjoy. There is no Kat Dennings as the comic relief for it is the exuberant screenplay filled with authentic humor that hits consistently. As far as I’m concerned, this is a great extended episode of “Rick and Morty.” The reason why I say this movie reminds me of an episode of “Rick and Morty,” because of its campy self-aware humor. It takes plenty of sci-fi tropes and play around with it and fearlessly gets nonsensical which works through these characters and their personalities. It takes easter eggs of the MCU, and their previous movies drunkenly mess around with some of them for the sake of humorous effect, and it's executed so well.

When you have a cosmic adventure, one thing the audience would want is taking advantage of each setting our characters travel to. James Gunn succeeded with that with GotG but left that incentive out of the sequel which made it a middle of the road Marvel film. Waititi, on the other hand, takes full advantage of it and goes nuts to ills degree. As far as a movie goes, Ragnorok features some of the best production design I’ve seen all year. When Thor and Loki end up in Planet Sakaar, we're introduced to this retro world that feels influenced by 70s and 80s culture with the rooms and the clothing and especially down to the Andy Warhol-esque Grandmaster played by an enjoyable Jeff Goldblum. Everything on Sakaar is so vibrant and colorful that I wouldn’t be surprised if skittles had a promotional tie into the film. If that wasn’t enough, the score provided by none other than Mark Mothersbaugh has a nostalgic rhythm that perfectly fits each scene like a puzzle piece. It does resemble similar sounds to “Stranger Things” at several moments, but it works amazingly in this. 

DUMB OL’ FUN

In a recent interview at BUILD Series (you know the place that I work at), Taika Waititi said, “I told Marvel If this movie is called Thor, he has to be the coolest character.’” AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! HE IS! It isn’t Hulk or Loki who shine throughout the entire movie. It is T-H-O-R, and honestly, it is Chris Hemsworth who provides a performance that solidifies that he is this to this character as much as Robert Downey Jr is to Tony Stark. You have this dumb meathead who is pretty much a jock going through this journey that ultimately doesn’t really teach him much. Shit, everything Odin did to him in the first movie was meaningless because he is still a dumb meathead who is cocky and full pride, but he’s at least humble about it. You just have to love the dude for who he is, and it's easy to do. Its as if Chris kept some of the inept idiocy that he applied to Kevin from “Ghostbusters” and applied it to this third solo outing as Thor.

IF I WAS 12 AGAIN

I don’t want to admit this in a review, but honestly, if I were 12 again, this movie would’ve been my awakening. Cate Blanchett is hamming it up as Hela who is pretty much the Marvel version of Maleficent, but damn doesn’t she look good every time she’s on screen.  She has this slow walk that's supposed to be intimidating, but honestly, you can’t help to focus on her thighs cause they are fit! Then there’s a moment when Thor is shirtless and to be honest I had a hot flash. Then Tessa Thompson is a badass queen (who does a great British accent for an LA girl) as Valkyrie.  You know what, EVERYBODY COULD GET IT!

To quote Donna Meagle from "Parks and Rec":

I’m not going to lie the performances are great but everyone was just so damn gorgeous, and it had me leaving questioning many things about myself. I am a very straight male, but I’m not ashamed to say the men were as good looking as the ladies.

THE BAD

ANOTHER WEAK ONE

Hela is another weak Marvel villain. As generic as that sentence is, I’m tired of repeating myself. Her entire supervillain backstory is okay, but as a character, she is just Loki but of the opposite sex minus the mischievousness. 

Also as much as I'm praising the screenplay, there are a ton of cheesy dialogue that occurs throughout. Thor has a constant speech about heroism that ends with, "Because thats what heroes do," and every time he says that you can't help but cringe a bit.

THIS MIGHT BE SPOILERISH, BUT I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS

While I’m at it, I just want to question several things that might be spoilerish. If anyone would give me some answers in the comment section, I would gladly appreciate it. If you want to avoid them, I’ll deliver my last statement here and then the questions will be provided after the rating.

LAST STATEMENT

The movie may be as dumb as its central character’s IQ, but "Thor: Ragnarok" boasts enough wit, inventiveness, and satirical campiness as fun as an episode of “Rick and Morty” but just with a Marvel stamp on it. 

Rating: 4/5 | 87%

Super Scene: "GET HELP!"

NOW SPOILER QUESTIONS

• Did we really need Doctor Strange in this? I just feel like the only reason he’s here is because of fan service and that end credit sequence from his movie forced him into this. Granted he’s used for a fun gag, but he didn’t really provide much for the story.
• How did Odin get to Norway? How does he even know about Norway?
• Why did he have to have an Oogway sendoff (Oh yeah they pulled a “Kung Fu Panda” in this)
• Why is there that one Asian warrior in Asgard? Aren’t they supposed to be like Norse type aliens? Why is there that one Asian guy there?