[Movie Review] Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Cate Blanchett (Hela), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Karl Urban (Skurge), Taika Waititi (Korg)
Directed by: Taika Waititi

Thor: Ragnarok is the 3rd film starring Thor as its main protagonist, and the 16th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chronologically it follows Doctor Strange in the sequence of films. It's also the funniest film in a series of films that have all included humor as part of the mix. But Thor: Ragnarok goes all-in for the humor, though it manages not to focus on humor at the expense of everything else. It also manages to include a lot of a much-admired comic series, Planet Hulk, and gives us a nice Marvel Universe version of Norse mythology to boot.

If you've seen all of the trailers Marvel released for this film, you could be forgiven for thinking they'd given away the entire plot. But you would be wrong. As it turns out, many of the scenes in the trailers don't appear in the movie at all. Between the release of the first trailer and the final cut of the film, some creative decisions were made that caused director Taika Waititi to discard some of those scenes. Sometimes it was to maintain the movie's humorous tone. Other times it was to keep the focus on Thor. Waititi is best known for a couple of independent comedy films, What We Do In the Shadows and The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but he seems perfectly comfortable with taking on a big special-effects extravaganza like this and stepping into the massive entertainment machine that is the Marvel/Disney partnership. I give much respect to Marvel for being willing to try different directors with different backgrounds.

The film takes Thor on a journey of self-discovery. He finds out some things about himself that his father Odin had kept hidden from him until the time was right, as well as things about Odin and the history of Asgard that put a different spin on the place of Asgard as the protector of the Nine Realms. But before Thor makes those discoveries, he has to figure out how to escape the Grandmaster's gladiatorial arena on the planet Sakaar, as well as how to get the Hulk to turn back into Bruce Banner and how to persuade Valkyrie to remember her roots as one of the legendary warriors of Asgard. He also has to decide what to do about Loki, who since the end of Thor: The Dark World has been masquerading as the missing Odin and living a life of self-indulgence.

Although Loki isn't the focus of the story, he has an arc of self-discovery too, as he realizes that his whole purpose has been to get Thor's attention, and Thor no longer cares what Loki does so Loki will have to seek out a different motivation for his actions. Defining this situation involves a couple of very amusing scenes between Thor and Loki, including one in which Thor literally uses Loki as a weapon, throwing him at several foes (this is not a spoiler if you've seen the trailers). This new relationship between the brothers may make Loki a less effective villain for the MCU, but I'm expecting that Loki is going to switch sides, at least temporarily, when confronted by Thanos in the next Avengers film.

The Hulk/Bruce Banner and Valkyrie both have small arcs of their own as well. By the time Thor finds Hulk on Sakaar starring in Grandmaster's games, he hasn't returned to his Banner form for a very long time, and he's started to develop beyond the non-verbal destruction machine of the previous films. The interaction between Thor and the newly verbal Hulk is pretty entertaining. Hulk is like a child in an enormously powerful body, and he's enjoying his success as the champion of the gladiatorial games. Banner's confusion when he finally returns and finds himself on an alien planet is also pretty amusing. Valkyrie is initially just one of Grandmaster's flunkies, bringing him new candidates for the games. But Thor finally convinces her to return to her original role as a defender of Asgard, after which she reveals that while she may not be a goddess, she's definitely a badass. Unfortunately, because this is a movie about Thor, not about Valkyrie, there isn't an opportunity to explore that she is older than Thor and knows a lot of history that he was never told. Hopefully that will be remedied a little in one of the upcoming films, if there's time.

The movie even manages to give a small character arc to the new character Skurge, a minor Asgardian warrior who finds himself seconded by Hela and has to choose whether to go on being a nobody and staying alive, or be willing to fight for something bigger than himself.

One of the things I liked best about Thor: Ragnarok, besides the humor, is the fight scene between Thor and Hulk. They've fought before in The Avengers, but this time Thor's power seems to have ramped up even without his trusty hammer Mjolnir, and he's more than a match for the big green rage machine. It's fun to see him shown as a consummate warrior who's capable of taking down the Hulk.

If I had to complain about anything in this film, it's that the characters and the audience don't get time to grieve for the lost characters. SPOILER ALERT: Odin and the Warriors Three, Thor's comrades-in-arms, all die in this movie, but there's no time to take a moment and feel the sorrow. As soon as Odin's gone, Hela shows up and the main action starts, depriving Thor and Loki of any opportunity to react to Odin's demise. I've read that the Warriors Three were slain to show just how ruthless Hela is, but I would have liked to see Thor learning of their deaths and showing a moment of grief for them. Even at the end of the film, there's no time for grief; as soon as Thor accepts his new role as leader of the Asgardian refugees, he's confronted with another enemy (probably Thanos) and doesn't have time to suggest a moment of silence or some type of ceremony to commemorate all the lives lost.

I also have to complain that although I was delighted by the cameo appearance from Doctor Strange (the same scene that was teased by the mid-credits sequence in Doctor Strange), I would really have liked to have a dialogue scene between Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston. But I guess I'll just have to wait for one of the upcoming Infinity War films to see that (I hope).

Today I discovered a really insightful review of Thor: Ragnarok online, which I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an in-depth examination of the theme of this movie. You can find it here on Wisecrack. While it's subtle about it, Thor: Ragnarok has a lot to say about issues that are very prominent in our current political situation, where certain people have concluded, like Hela, that reverting society back to a prior state will make our country great again.

Despite the film glossing over the death toll, I found it highly entertaining and felt that the humor didn't detract from either the character development or the dramatic tension. It isn't just a loud, funny, mindless blockbuster. It has a point to make, and it manages to still make it even while it pokes fun at itself. Thor: Ragnarok is well worth seeing.