“Thor: Ragnarok” Review
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) duke it out in one of the best action sequences in “Thor: Ragnarok.”
When I wrote about the second Thor film, “The Dark World,” I said that I could take or leave the films centered on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s god of thunder. Don’t get me wrong, I love Thor as a character and he’s one of my favorite Avengers but his solo films were a mixed bag for me. “Thor: Ragnarok,” the third film to star the hammer-wielding Norse deity, changed everything. Not only was the film a wildly entertaining time, but this was finally the film that mixed the grand drama of the first “Thor” film with the bright comedy of 1970s comics and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. To this day, “Thor: Ragnarok” is still one of my favorite MCU films and brings a smile to my face every time.
Set two years after “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has spent that time roaming the cosmos searching for Infinity Stones. He hasn’t had much luck and, on top of that, he returns to Asgard to find that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has exiled their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) to Earth and has been ruling Asgard disguised as him. After tracking down a dying Odin, he tells his sons that his death will release a new threat to Asgard: Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of death and Odin’s firstborn. After being banished to the alien planet of Saakar, Thor and Loki try to find a way off the planet and meet some familiar faces, like The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and a few new warriors. With this new team, Thor must make it back to Asgard to take down his sister before she unleashes her army of the dead onto the rest of the universe.
What really made this film work was writer/director Taika Waititi who brought his unique style of humor to the series. I always thought Thor had great comedic moments in the other MCU films, moments being the key word, but I had no clue that he could be so funny in his own solo film. Every minute of “Thor: Ragnarok” has a great joke and, upon rewatching it, I had to pause the film a few times to contain myself.
Because many of the characters are so familiar, their interactions are what drive the film’s comedy. One of my favorite examples comes when Thor is drafted into the fighting pits of Saakar when he has to take on a fighter who has been undefeated. When it’s revealed to be The Hulk, Thor’s enthusiastic reaction followed by the line “we know each other, he’s a friend from work,” gets me cracking up every time. Not only because we got a reaction we weren’t expecting but I love that Thor considers being a superhero a job.
I also felt that this film evolved Thor’s character on a level the other films didn’t. Ultimately, “Thor: Ragnarok” is about Thor finally becoming a leader and finding who he is after so many years of being a carefree superhero. As such, the film takes away many things from Thor that he used to rely on including his father and his hammer Mjiolnir, which is smashed to pieces by Hela. With few options, Thor finds allies in the most unlikely places, like Loki. I love that the film explores Thor and Loki’s brotherly bonds and it results in moments of hilarity and sincerity. After years of seeing them fight each other, it’s nice to see them team up but not without Loki’s usual narcissism and backstabbing.
The depiction of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thor’s relationship is one of the highlights of Thor’s emotional journey over the course of the film.
After watching “Thor: The Dark World,” which had a boring color palette, it was so refreshing to see all of this film’s color. The way this film looks is like a 1970s comic book on acid. Combine that with a fantastic score by Mark Mothersbaugh and the best use of Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song” I’ve ever seen in a film and you’ve got a visually stunning comic book adventure.
After the let-down of a villain that was Malekeith, Hela was a great change-of-pace as a villain with a fun personality who you’re also afraid of. As the goddess of death, Hela has some intimidating powers, like creating swords to throw at enemies, and even resurrects a creepy army of the dead using the powerful flame of Odin. While an intimidating presence, (she did shatter Thor’s hammer after all) Cate Blanchett nails the comedic side of her performance without sacrificing her qualities as a tyrant hell-bent on revenge and conquest.
Helping Thor and Loki are a bunch of great supporting characters, including The Incredible Hulk. Because the rights to a solo Incredible Hulk film are still owned by Universal Studios, it’s unlikely Mark Ruffalo will ever get the chance to headline his own film. However, “Thor: Ragnarok” is pretty close to a Hulk solo film. With many elements of Sakkar based on the popular “Planet Hulk” storyline from the comics and the Hulk competing as a gladiator, it’s safe to say that this character is detached from his past as a superhero on Earth. When the Hulk turns back into Bruce Banner, he reveals that he’s been Hulk for two years and the film also turns into a journey for Banner to find some balance in his life as a scientist and as this unstoppable rage machine.
Hela’s presence as a villain makes for one of the best villains in the MCU and she continued the trend of great Marvel villains in 2017 after years of mediocrity.
The film also introduced Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), once a warrior for Asgard who lost her entire family of warriors to Hela and has since ran away from anything involving her home. Seeing this character evolve from a drunkard pirate to this incredible warrior was a lot of fun and I continue to be excited for her future in the MCU. Along with a delightful secondary villain in The Grandmaster of Saakar (Jeff Goldblum), a lowly Asgardian who proves himself a hero named Skurge (Karl Urban) and gladiator pals Korg (Taika Waititi) and Miek, “Thor: Ragnarok” is full of character and charm.
All of these characters come together in fantastic action sequences that take advantage of CGI to make incredible monsters and really expand the world of Asgard. Out of all of the “Thor” films, this one handled the larger-than-life environments the best. The film’s final action sequence has some of the coolest action in a Marvel film with armies of the dead being pummeled by Thor and his allies, a giant wolf taking on the Hulk and so many great one-liners that it’s practically a mini-”Avengers” fight.
Ultimately, “Thor: Ragnarok” stands out because it takes everything we know about Thor and breaks it, leaving behind something more meaningful. His hammer? Broken. His eye? It gets slashed out by Hela in the film’s climax. His home? To save his people and destroy Hela, Thor and Loki trigger a sequence of events that causes the destruction of Asgard. With everything that seemed important to Thor gone, this opens up the possibility of Thor becoming a leader which is what I love the most about the film.
As one of the final films before “Avengers: Infinity War” and, canonically, the film that takes place right before the big accumulation of the MCU, “Thor: Ragnarok” is anything but a fly-over film. This is one of the best in the franchise by being entertaining for the audience and meaningful for the character that we’ve come to love.
