Skip to main content

Thor: Ragnarok






















Thor: Ragnarok is the third and final film in the Thor series. The movie finds Thor humbled, hammer-less, and in a desperate race against time to save Asgard.
Ragnarok finds Taika Waititi taking over directorial duties, Kenneth Branagh having directed the first in the series and Alan Taylor having directed the second. Both Branagh and Taylor played the first two films dreadfully seriously. While the first had intermittent, light humor, the second film was oppressively dark and grim. Waititi corrects this problem in only five minutes. Ragnarok’s prologue alone contains more lighthearted fun than both of the previous films combined.
Waititi has a bit of a reputation for his oddball sense of humor, but it works wonders for Ragnarok. Waititi suggested that much of the film’s dialogue be improvised, and it does a great deal to reinforce the film’s themes of uncertainty and insecurity. The randomness and off-the-wall quality of the jokes makes the film the funniest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by far, as well as one of the most memorable.
Even more important, however, is the fact that, for the most part, Waititi is able to nail down a singular, consistent identity for the film. From the very beginning, Ragnarok knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s a straight-up action-comedy with mostly realized emotional payoffs.
That brings us into negative territory. The film’s chief (and only) flaw is that in the midst of its ingenious comedy and terrific character development, it forgets to make time for many genuine emotions. There are some fleeting moments where the audience truly feels empathy, but they are few and far in between. This doesn’t detract from the film as much as one might expect, however, as the biggest emotional moments are wisely set up well in advance, and therefore the payoffs are sufficiently rewarding.
The film featured composer Mark Mothersbaugh making his first mark on the MCU, and his debut is very impressive. Mothersbaugh forges a brand new, synthesized identity for Thor, all the while paying homage to his old thematic identity. The result is one of the most memorable scores the MCU has ever produced.
Surprisingly, the acting is taken up a notch in Ragnarok. The audience has never been prone to demand much emotional range from Chris Hemsworth, as Thor himself seems capable only of feeling ecstatic glee while wielding his hammer. Here, however, Hemsworth turns in a performance that’s surprisingly emotional in parts and is easily his best work yet in the series. As always, Tom Hiddleston is a delight as Loki, and Cate Blanchett menacingly plays one of the most memorable villains in the MCU.
Overall, Ragnarok is a complete triumph. It manages to create a new identity for Thor, miraculously making the audience care about him in the process (something that would come in handy once Infinity War rolled around). It is easily one of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and indeed one of the funniest films in recent memory. Please bring Waititi back for more. 4/5 stars.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Revenge of the Sith Review

I’m sure you’ve probably heard that Revenge of the Sith is just slightly better than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In my opinion, that is completely untrue. Revenge of the Sith is a masterpiece. Let me explain why I think so. First of all, the plot here is just so much better. Even the dialogue is greatly improved. It’s still not perfect, but it’s only cringe-worthy in a few scenes. That in and of itself is a huge improvement. Secondly, George Lucas has the power of his own legendary original trilogy behind him this time. Finally, we get to witness Anakin become Darth Vader. And it’s glorious. We finally get a little bit of believability when it comes to why Anakin turned to the dark side. This time, it’s not just because he was an arrogant brat. We’re finally able to believe that he was pushed over the edge. On a technical level, everything is flawless, and the CGI still looks incredible today. The acting is far better this time around, and Hayden Christensen i...

Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies boasts what may be the most absurd plot of any Bond film. The head of a media outlet tries to start wars in order to have a monopoly on the media coverage of them. If you can’t comprehend the absurdity of that, let me try to give another example. CNN starts World War 3 and has journalists in place to report these events before anyone else can, and no one on the face of the earth thinks that’s shady in any way, shape, or form except for MI6. The question we should all be asking ourselves is how the heck this movie managed to actually be kind of good with a plot like this. The opening sequence is not quite as exhilarating as we’ve come to expect from Brosnan Bond movies, but it’s competent enough. From there, we’re plunged directly into the story. The first act takes its time, explaining delicately in a detailed manner exactly what the media mogul’s plan is, and how he’s going to carry it out. His plot may be absolu...

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Spider-Man film that should never have succeeded. Reboot after reboot finally gave us a Spider-Man series we can safely trust will be consistently good. I’m going to touch on a few plot points, but no spoilers. Picking up in fresh territory, after the apparent death of Uncle Ben, Homecoming takes us down a thematic path we’ve never seen before. Gone is the dark brooding, the constant crying, and the cheesiness. Instead, we’re confronted with comedy, plot twists, and heart in (mostly) all of the right places. Homecoming could really only be rightfully classified as an action-comedy or comedy-action. There are probably more jokes than punches thrown, now that I think about it. And yet the comedy is miraculously far-removed from the cringe-worthy quips found in most Marvel movies. It’s genuinely, consistently, and thoroughly hilarious. Another fresh element is Peter’s relationship with Aunt May. Gone is...