With a wink to the
audience and a hearty laugh, Thor:
Ragnarok is a welcome departure from the serious, dark tones of the first
two films. Director
Taika Waititi was given a chance to bring something different to the Marvel
superhero; he has delivered big time.
Thor
(Chris Hemsworth) returns to Asgard and finds his half-brother, Loki (Tom
Hiddleston), masquerading as Odin (Anthony Hopkins), which triggers the emergence of powerful Hela (Cate
Blanchett), the Goddess of Death. Both
brothers are sent far away to another world, where Thor is imprisoned by a
female Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson excels) for the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum hams
it up) and his arena battles, where he bumps into an old friend, The Hulk
aka Dr. Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Realizing
he must assemble a team to defeat Hela, Thor has his work cut out for him as
Ragnarok, the end of Asgard, looms.
This
is essentially a mega family squabble, and there are game changing events that
affect virtually every major character since the first installment. The film is better when it focuses on
individual relationships and less so on grand spectacle. There are elements of The Hunger Games and even The
Lord of the Rings, and the visual effects, while good, are occasionally
over the top.
The
cast is uniformly solid with Blanchett having a ball as the baddie and
Hemsworth, Hiddleston, and Ruffalo trading quips effortlessly while Idris Elba
returns in a more significant role as Heimdall. There are Easter eggs, a couple
amusing cameos including a certain mystical master, and two end credit scenes
that point to bigger conflicts in the future.
The film does have
its serious moments of action, but the key is its lighthearted tone (not unlike Guardians of the Galaxy) and some very
funny moments. It’s definitely more tongue in cheek than Marvel normally
allows, and that’s a welcome thing.
***1/2
of **** (for Marvel fans)
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