Thor, a-ah, he'll save everyone of us!!
It took one of the most popular Hulk comic book stories ever, Planet Hulk, to make Thor: Ragnarok the most entertaining Thor movie yet. But in a story ostensibly about Ragnarok — the end of Asgard — a crazy subplot set entirely apart from those events and inspired by an entirely different hero’s story really shouldn’t be the best thing about the film, should it?
Thor: Ragnarok is as glib and cheeky as the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and embraces a deliberately ‘80s space opera aesthetic and synth score (composed by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, providing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most distinctive original music yet). This makes for a fun and often hilarious romp, and a film that looks as vibrant and out there as an old Jack Kirby Marvel comic. But it also encapsulates the MCU’s increasing desire to go for the gag, to mock its own innate absurdity, even at the expense of the characters and settings Marvel Studios has spent years now establishing.
This flippant and flashy film sees Thor reuniting with his “dead” brother Loki before the pair find themselves on the planet Sakaar, which truly is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. There, they encounter the long-lost Hulk and meet the hard-bitten Valkyrie, another Asgardian far from home, before they all team up to return to Asgard to stop the vengeful Hela, the goddess of death, from destroying the realm.
Lead actor Chris Hemsworth seems to be enjoying himself more here than in any previous Marvel movie, but it’s apparent by the end of Thor: Ragnarok just how wildly inconsistent Thor’s overall MCU arc has been, from Shakespeare Lite to, now, Space Bro. Who, after all these years and films, is Thor exactly? And what really mattered to him here in this film? Asgard’s very existence being at stake never seems to emotionally register with him as much as it should. He doesn’t have any real arc to speak of here in Ragnarok; there are opportunities to explore some depth between Thor and Hela that the movie deflects in favor of moving on to the next set-piece or gag.
It’s apparent that Thor: Ragnarok isn’t as invested in Asgard as it is in Sakaar, despite Ragnarok being part of the film’s title. Marrying a barebones version of Planet Hulk to the Ragnarok storyline — the most consequential of all possible Thor sagas — was always a bizarre choice and challenging balancing act for Marvel and director Taika Waititi. But in the end, the film’s heart (and our attention) belongs to Sakaar, with the movie almost begrudgingly cutting back to Asgard in order to serve the larger plot.
The gaudy settings, its citizens’ life-is-cheap attitude, and the one and only Jeff Goldblum’s full-Goldblum mode performance as its ruler, the Grandmaster, are all joyful highlights of the Sakaar portion. But as fun as all those elements are, Hulk and Valkyrie are the true standouts.
The big green guy is more fun here than he’s ever been on the big screen, alternating his tone between being a sulky brat and the raging monster we’ve long known and loved. Thor and Hulk have especially great chemistry together here, as do Thor and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner. The movie truly entertains whenever Thor and Hulk are onscreen together, whether it’s them in battle or just conversing with one another. (This Hulk is almost loquacious by Hulk standards.)
And as a visual effect, Hulk looks the best he ever has, with the performance-capture technology coming a long way even in the two years since he was last seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The nuances of Hulk’s facial expressions, even in quieter moments like when he’s chatting with Thor, are so detailed and lifelike that you can see the essence of Mark Ruffalo in the monster. Thor’s powers also make for some cool effects work: Ragnarok is the first Marvel movie to really embrace the idea of Thor as the god of thunder. While the character may be most closely associated with his magic hammer Mjolnir, it’s Thor’s power to summon lightning that delivers some of this movie’s coolest bits of fan service.
Tessa Thompson proves an inspired casting choice. She plays Valkyrie as a hard-drinking cynic who’s turned her back on her Asgardian past. Like an old gunfighter forced to look back at who they used to be, her journey from selfish mercenary to Thor’s ally essentially makes her the Han Solo of Thor: Ragnarok. She has the most definitive character arc of anyone in the movie even if the outcome can be seen coming a mile away.
Since it’s obvious the film isn’t as interested in Asgard as it is Sakaar, it takes a performer as captivating as Cate Blanchett in the role of the MCU’s first female villain, Hela — who’s ably assisted by her flunky, Skurge (the perpetually under-appreciated Karl Urban) — to hold our attention during the obligatory Asgardian scenes. Hela’s agenda is fairly rote in the grand scheme of cosmic baddies, making where she came from far more interesting than where she’s going.
Blanchett gleefully chews the scenery, yet we’ve seen this type of character in other genre movies. In a way, Hela is not dissimilar to 2017’s The Mummy, in which an ancient foe is unleashed and then seeks to bring about the end of the world for purely destruction-for-destruction’s sake. Blanchett’s deliciously hammy performance has more personality, however, and calls to mind Max von Sydow’s Ming the Merciless in the ‘80s sci-fi camp classic Flash Gordon, which Thor: Ragnarok has been made very much in the spirit of. (I’d also go so far as to call Thor: Ragnarok the best possible Masters of the Universe movie. As with the Flash Gordon comparison, that’s not meant as a knock on Thor: Ragnarok.)
As for the rest of the cast, Tom Hiddleston effortlessly slips back into Loki’s skin after having not appeared since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. As always, he commands the screen, but even the movie is aware that Loki is a character devoid of growth. He’s already gone through the full cycle of betrayal and redemption – there’s nowhere to go after that. So they make him a punchline instead, having him endure indignities and physical pain just for the hell of it. (To think this guy once invaded Earth!)
The mighty Idris Elba seems to be phoning it in as Heimdall, a noble character thanklessly saddled here with the weight of carrying the hero’s load in Asgard while the God of Thunder is off galavanting with Hulk. And as revealed in the end credits of Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Master of the Mystic Arts also makes an appearance in Thor: Ragnarok. But as much as I love the character of Doctor Strange, I suspect I won’t be alone in forgetting that he was even in this film a few months from now.
Director Taika Waititi also plays, via performance-capture, another Sakaar combatant, Korg. He’s a fun, sweet character whose soft voice and low-key manner belies his rocky, colossal frame. But Waititi self-indulgently cuts to Korg — and goes for the gag — in one key scene that completely undercuts the very real drama necessary for that entire sequence to function. While there are certainly times when levity is needed to cleanse the palette after some drama, this particularly jokey moment was truly #toosoon. (I’m rather surprised Marvel allowed it to remain in the movie.)
That’s another big problem with Thor: Ragnarok, outside of its preference for Sakaar over Asgard. The movie rushes through so much, treating everything so breezily and facetiously, that it undercuts any real sense of importance or menace offered by the notion of the end of all things. When Big Dramatic Moments do happen — and there are a few — they’re jarringly weightless. This is Diet Ragnarok.
The Verdict
Thor: Ragnarok is a goofy, kitschy- but- fun romp and the most purely entertaining of the three Thor movies, marked by its distinctive designs, ‘80s synth score, and assemblage of spirited characters. It’s carried by the excellent chemistry between Thor, Hulk, and Valkyrie, who give humanity to a visual effects-heavy spectacle that finally makes good on Thor’s title of God of Thunder. But it’s also a film fragmented by its clear preference for its B storyline (Sakaar) over its A storyline (Asgard). Thor: Ragnarok’s desire to go for the gag also hurts the movie in a few key serious moments that deserved to pack more punch than they did.
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