In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, New Zealand Director Taika Waititi gives us a version of Thor that is much more brightly colored, loud, retro, and overall just a lot of fun. I’m not jumping on the bandwagon and saying this is the best Marvel movie to date, but I will say it is a thoroughly enjoyable time at the movies. The Thor franchise has been critically the weakest in the Marvel stable, so I’m glad that Marvel was willing to take a chance in this third outing and change the tone and direction of the series. Taika Waititi is an inspired choice as his comedic background wouldn’t, at first glance, seem to be a fit for the Shakespearean tones of the mythological world of Thor. For me, the key to Marvel’s success in the superhero genre was the ability to balance the humor and the gravitas in the preposterous world of super-heroes. If ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ makes any mistakes is that the pendulum swings too far to the absurd, but given the nature of Norse gods in space, one can’t complain too much for the attempt.
While Wapiti’s retro 80’s feel and comedic overtones are unique to the Marvel cinematic Universe, the story he tells in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is less so. During the eighties, legendary comic writer/artist Walter Simonson’s stint on Thor was considered the gold standard and to this day considered some of the most definitive Thor stories ever. The whole Ragnarok storyline is directly influenced by many of Simonson’s story arcs as well as many of the characters he introduced. In addition, one of Marvel’s most popular storylines; ‘Planet Hulk’ was shoehorned into this film to combine two classic story arcs into one geek spasm inducing film script. The film works, but only if you don’t take it too seriously. It’s fun and comedic and an adventure ride in outer space, but don’t expect to much literal drama which balances many Marvel films.
The story in a nutshell revolves around the Norse myth of Ragnarok, which is the Scandinavian version of Armageddon where Asgard is destroyed and all it’s warriors are sent to Valhalla. The film opens with Thor wresting control of Asgard from Loki and then setting off to Earth in search of the All Father Odin. On Earth, Odin reveals that the All Powerful Hela: Goddess of Death (played with relish by Cate Blanchet) will return from her confinement in the underworld to destroy Asgard. Despite his power, Thor is unable to stop Hela and is banished to a gladiator planet of Sakkar to fight for his survival. Sakar is ruled by an Elder of the universe named The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum channeling his best Jeff Goldblum impersonation). Thor is captured by an exiled Valkyrie from Asgard (the beautiful Tessa Thompson) who hands Thor over to The Grandmaster who recognizes Thor’s talent as a “contender”. Thor is pitted against Sakkar’s champion who just so happens to be “a friend from work”, the long missing Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). We finally get the long awaited rematch to the Hulk/Thor fight from the first Avenger’s film.
Taika Waititi creates a planet that reminds one of a Star Wars bar scene and mixes his film's canvas with the bright colors and synthesized music of eighties B-movies. I never thought that would be an effective mix, but it is. Waititi himself voices a CGI rock character named Korg and gives him an amusingly gentle demeanor along with a comedic kiwi accent. Korg is Thor’s sidekick and comedic relief in the Gladiator pits, but soon proves his value. As all our characters reluctantly come to together, Thor convinces Valkyrie, Hulk, and even Loki that they must escape Sakkar and return to what’s left of Asgard to prevent the ultimate Ragnarok.
I’m not saying there are no thoughtful or dramatic moments in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. Odin’s passing of the torch to his children as well as Thor and Loki’s realization that the All Father was not perfect are truly moving. Even Thor and Loki coming to a fraternal reconciliation, no matter how tenuous, all help keep the film from becoming just a slapstick comedy. I think one could still label it a comedy, but as I stated earlier, I applaud Marvel’s willingness take the franchise in a different direction when they didn’t have to.
As always, stay for the ending credits (I’m always amazed when people leave before that) as it sets up the up coming mega movie event; ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. One more film before that as all geeks await the arrival of ‘The Black Panther’ in February. Kudos to Marvel for keeping their films fresh and producing an action film that the whole family can see and enjoy. Go and have a good time.
I give this film *** 1/2 stars
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