Thor: Ragnarok – Taika Waititi

“So much has happened since I last saw you! I lost my hammer, like yesterday, so that’s still fresh. Then I went on a journey of self-discovery. Then I met you.”

Thor – Chris Hemsworth

Bravo Marvel. Bravo Taika Waititi. Thor: Ragnarok is an excellent example of how to do a slightly tounge-in-cheek superhero film, without losing too much seriousness. It is engaging from start to finish, with some solid performances and typically humorous  Waititi script. I can’t think of many Marvel (or any superhero) films that make me chortle quite so much the ENTIRE way through, but Ragnarok succeeds greatly in this department. What’s more is that it doesn’t sacrifice other areas of the film to hit home the humour. The plot makes sense, it’s well developed, and it has the correct amount of MCU character crossover, unlike Captain America 3, which is 100% Avengers 3. The action sequences are good too, as is the CGI and the score. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, but in much smaller doses, Thor 3 features a contemporary cinematic soundtrack, making use of the strong beats and rhythms of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song for the opening and concluding fight scenes. It works very well, and combined with the opening credits Flash Gordon-esque font, gives the film a very comic book feel. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) give their usual great performances; you’re never quite sure if you can trust Loki and the two constantly double cross each other. Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk / Bruce Banner) are both solid and convincing, and the ever-entertaining Jeff Goldblum is amusing as a bizarre dictator. Taika Waititi offers his great voice as a rock-being named Korg, with some slick one lines and general comic relief. Cate Blanchett (Hela) is an intimidating, evil, secret older sister, which is much more of a convincing plot than an unheard-of cousin baying for blood (sorry Black Panther). Overall, Thor: Ragnarok is very very re-watchable. 

The film kicks off with the introduction to the idea of Ragnarok; Thor finds himself hanging in a cage narrating the opening sequence until we meet Surtur (Clancy Brown), a big fire demon that will bring the destruction of Asgard. With the rhythms of Zeppelin ringing through, Thor precedes to escape and defeat Surtur, taking his crown back to Asgard, after a very entertaining fight scene with some pretty funky camera angles that follow Thor’s hammer as it flies around reeking havoc. Following this, Anthony Hopkins (Odin) gives an amusing display as the fake Odin – Loki’s impersonation but still played by Hopkins – after which we pay a visit to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his annoying false American accent. He sends the sons of Odin to their father, who promptly does his best homage to Star Wars, by telling them they have a sister and disintegrating into the sunset, before said sister (Hela) appears and destroys Thor’s hammer (shocking right, who saw that coming after the trailer…). The opening twenty minutes is a good settler, with enough going on to make you continue watching and wanting more. The bulk of the film jumps between Thor and Loki’s trip to the trash planet Sakaar, after big sis knocks them out of the bifrost, and the conquest of Asgard takes place by the aforementioned. While Thor meets Hulk, Valkyrie, Loki, and Korg, and dosses about fighting and finding a way of escape, Hela writes most of Thor’s Asgardian pals out of any future Marvel films. The jumping narratives is easy to follow and doesn’t leave you wanting an extra five minutes at each place to see a little bit more, neither does it give you motion sickness so a win there. Everyone comes together at the end in a big fight (classic), and Thor shows off his swanky new found ability to channel his powers without his hammer, saves the day after which Ragnarok plays out (watch the film to understand why). The ending to film leads very nicely into Infinity war and explains why (*SPOILERS*) the beginning of Infinity War features a ruined ship with lots of dead Asgardians and Thor and Loki. All in all its a great plot, with great sequences, and great humour. What more do you want from a superhero film. 

Not a huge amount I can say that annoys me about this film. There’s the classic ‘bad guys can’t shoot, good guys never miss’, but what film doesn’t have that to some degree, we’re all used to it by now. I guess you could argue that it’s rather fortuitous that Loki and Thor both end up on Sakaar, but I don’t mind it, particularly as it’s a big trash planet – kinda makes sense. I’m also sure that there’s plenty of viewers who don’t find Waititi’s style of humour very funny, and to them I say lighten up a bit. Not really much more I can think of here.

To wrap things up, I liked this film a lot. In fact I think I’d go as far to say it’s my favourite Marvel film, although it’s pretty tight between Iron Man and and Guardians of the Galaxy. There are some nicely shot action sequences, great fights, and laugh-out-loud humour (particularly when Banner tries to save the day at the end by leaping out the ship to fight a big wolf as Hulk, only to hit the deck still as Banner with a thud – I howled at that [pun intended]). It’s engaging from start to finish, and fundamentally it’s fun. I do like Taika Waititi’s style and with Thor 4 on the horizon and rumours of a directing role for an upcoming Star Wars film, I highly anticipate his future projects.

Awards
N/A

Ratings
Cinematography – 7/10
Storyline – 9/10
Editing – 7/10
Sound/Score – 8/10
Acting – 8/10
Overall – 8/10