Thor: Ragnarok - Review
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Karl Urban
It's been two years since we've seen Thor, the God of Thunder, on our screens wielding his mighty Mjiolner in Avengers: Age of Ultron but now he's back to complete his contractually obliged trilogy. And this time, things are getting whacky.
After crash-landing on the planet Sakaar, Thor (Hemsworth) is imprisoned and forced into a gladiatorial contest where he is reunited with his fellow Avenger, Hulk/Bruce Banner (Ruffalo). Intent on returning to Asgard to prevent the all-powerful Hela (Blanchett) from destroying his home planet, Thor assembles a dysfunctional teams and a chaotic adventure ensues.
Thor and Thor: The Dark World, the character's two previous stand alone features, have grappled with issues of tone; the former aspired to be a fish-out-of-water story with Shakespearian influence and the latter was a half-baked ode to fantasy giants Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Regarded as two of the weaker instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the character faced an identity crisis, struggling to find his place amongst his superhero counterparts such as Captain America and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Enter New Zealander Taika Waititi, the director responsible for some of the most humorous and innovative content of the past few years including the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows and action comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi, Hemsworth and co have laid waste to every iteration of the titular character that has come before and completely reinvented him. Thor is no longer the stoic and serious Avenger, and while he is still egocentric, that quality is cushioned by his hilarity that stems from his reactions to unfamiliar surroundings and the loss of the crux of his power, his trusty hammer.
The first 15-20 minutes of Thor: Ragnarok is a rapidly location-shifting blur as it attempts to briefly catch the audience up on the events of the previous film, explain Thor's absence from recent MCU entry Captain America: Civil War, shoe-horn in an appearance from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and introduce Hela, the Goddess of Death and the film's antagonist. It all moves fast and furious and there's little time to digest it all, meaning that some crucial moments are less impactful than they should be. However, when Thor is exiled to Sakaar, the pace settles and the adventure truly begins. Thor is captured, his golden locked hair is brutally cut and he is forced into a deadly gladiator arena where he must tussle with the Hulk to amuse thousands of spectators and the Grandmaster (Goldblum). The old friends soon buddy up and with the addition of Thor's untrustworthy trickster brother Loki (Hiddleston) and the heavy-drinking scrapper Valkyrie (Thompson in her electric MCU debut) to form the hastily named super group The Revengers. This quarrelsome quartet are dynamic to watch and every time the story switches to follow Hela's destructive plan unfold, there's a decline in fun and energy.
Hemsworth has demonstrated his comedic chops with supporting roles in Vacation and the re-booted Ghostbusters but now he's front and centre, he can truly shine - and he's clearly imbuing the character with a sense of rejuvenation. Hulk is also given a character make-over as he's now more than just a green mass of anger and destruction having developed a childlike personality. Unsurprisingly from a Taika Waititi feature, Thor: Ragnarok is brimming with laugh-out-loud moments unique to the director's improvisational style and relies less on snappy punchlines, favouring quirky and off-beat conversational humour. Waititi saves the best material for himself, portraying the softly-accented and extremely lovable Korg, a Kronan with dreams of uprising and revolution. The director turns a character delegated to sideline status into one of he film's biggest takeaways and source of hilarity.
More colourful than a rainbow and funnier than your outright comedy, Thor: Ragnarok is a refreshing reimagining of the Norse God and is unabashedly fun, even if it takes a minute or two to get there.
EB
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Karl Urban
It's been two years since we've seen Thor, the God of Thunder, on our screens wielding his mighty Mjiolner in Avengers: Age of Ultron but now he's back to complete his contractually obliged trilogy. And this time, things are getting whacky.After crash-landing on the planet Sakaar, Thor (Hemsworth) is imprisoned and forced into a gladiatorial contest where he is reunited with his fellow Avenger, Hulk/Bruce Banner (Ruffalo). Intent on returning to Asgard to prevent the all-powerful Hela (Blanchett) from destroying his home planet, Thor assembles a dysfunctional teams and a chaotic adventure ensues.
Thor and Thor: The Dark World, the character's two previous stand alone features, have grappled with issues of tone; the former aspired to be a fish-out-of-water story with Shakespearian influence and the latter was a half-baked ode to fantasy giants Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Regarded as two of the weaker instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the character faced an identity crisis, struggling to find his place amongst his superhero counterparts such as Captain America and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Enter New Zealander Taika Waititi, the director responsible for some of the most humorous and innovative content of the past few years including the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows and action comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi, Hemsworth and co have laid waste to every iteration of the titular character that has come before and completely reinvented him. Thor is no longer the stoic and serious Avenger, and while he is still egocentric, that quality is cushioned by his hilarity that stems from his reactions to unfamiliar surroundings and the loss of the crux of his power, his trusty hammer.
The first 15-20 minutes of Thor: Ragnarok is a rapidly location-shifting blur as it attempts to briefly catch the audience up on the events of the previous film, explain Thor's absence from recent MCU entry Captain America: Civil War, shoe-horn in an appearance from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and introduce Hela, the Goddess of Death and the film's antagonist. It all moves fast and furious and there's little time to digest it all, meaning that some crucial moments are less impactful than they should be. However, when Thor is exiled to Sakaar, the pace settles and the adventure truly begins. Thor is captured, his golden locked hair is brutally cut and he is forced into a deadly gladiator arena where he must tussle with the Hulk to amuse thousands of spectators and the Grandmaster (Goldblum). The old friends soon buddy up and with the addition of Thor's untrustworthy trickster brother Loki (Hiddleston) and the heavy-drinking scrapper Valkyrie (Thompson in her electric MCU debut) to form the hastily named super group The Revengers. This quarrelsome quartet are dynamic to watch and every time the story switches to follow Hela's destructive plan unfold, there's a decline in fun and energy.
Hemsworth has demonstrated his comedic chops with supporting roles in Vacation and the re-booted Ghostbusters but now he's front and centre, he can truly shine - and he's clearly imbuing the character with a sense of rejuvenation. Hulk is also given a character make-over as he's now more than just a green mass of anger and destruction having developed a childlike personality. Unsurprisingly from a Taika Waititi feature, Thor: Ragnarok is brimming with laugh-out-loud moments unique to the director's improvisational style and relies less on snappy punchlines, favouring quirky and off-beat conversational humour. Waititi saves the best material for himself, portraying the softly-accented and extremely lovable Korg, a Kronan with dreams of uprising and revolution. The director turns a character delegated to sideline status into one of he film's biggest takeaways and source of hilarity.
More colourful than a rainbow and funnier than your outright comedy, Thor: Ragnarok is a refreshing reimagining of the Norse God and is unabashedly fun, even if it takes a minute or two to get there.
EB
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