Skip to main content

Thor Ragnarok -- a review


Thor Ragnarok is the third in the Thor series of superhero movies. Thor, the God of Thunder, was always a strange idea for a superhero. But director Kenneth Branaugh (Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing) did a great job at humanizing this character and making him relatable in the first Thor movie, by pumping up the Shakespearean aspects of the character. And while the second Thor film has its detractors (and understandably so) I still enjoyed it--despite the fact that it lacked the charm of the first film. For the third Thor flick, director Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows) was brought in to bring a different take to the end film in this trilogy. And he did this in spades.

He made a comedy.

Thor: Ragnarok refers to the end of the world--namely the legend which refers to the end of the enchanted land of Asgard, Thor’s home, which falls under the domination of Hela, the goddess of death who is very well played by Cate Blanchett. Clad in a creepy/cool outfit that sprouts antlers from her head whenever she goes into battle, Hela easily takes over Asgard while Thor is off tying to find his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) with a little help from Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in a sequence that made me wish we could have stayed with the good Doctor a little longer. Strange’s scene here reminded me of another Marvel superhero movie that I enjoyed far more than I did this one.



I really don’t mind comedy, nor do I mind if a film has a more lighter tone than its predecessors. But the Lethal Weapon films are funny while still being true to their action film storylines. That’s not the case with Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi is so hell-bent at bringing on the humor that he throws characters and entire situations under the bus just to get a laugh. Characters from the first two films (who are already reduced to cameo appearances) are dispatched here with a joke--and even a dire situation which should be properly solemn is ruined by a quip from a secondary character. It’s almost as if Waititi is desperate for his audience to keep having happy thoughts, no matter what.


And while Hela is the first truly impressive villain in a Marvel superhero flick, her potential is ruined because she disappears in the mid section of the film, where Thor winds up on a casino-like world that’s run by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum, who’s more funny than threatening). The Grandmaster pits Thor in a gladiatorial fight against the Hulk, which is admittedly pretty cool to watch but offers nothing to advance the main plot. Hela should have remained the focus of the movie, instead of getting stuck in this gladiator world, a place so gaudy and glitzy that it feels more like an idea for the next Disney theme park. At least Thor Ragnarok is visually impressive, as well as being loaded with laughs. But if the filmmakers are not going to take their own story seriously, then why should I? --SF





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explorer From Another World

It’s Friday night during the summer in Beutter county, an idyllic farming community in Indiana, and the good folks are settling in for what should be another humdinger of an evening. Until their plans are shattered by the arrival of an Explorer From Another World! This turns out to be an alien (Gemma Sterling) who starts savagely killing people from the moment it disembarks from its flying saucer. Local kids Eddie (Colin McCorquodale), Marybeth (Sage Marchand) and Culpepper (Nolan Gay) are planning on seeing a movie, but it looks like they’ll be battling for the very survival of the human race instead! Explorer From Another World is a wonderfully done throwback to the B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Ably directed by Woody Edwards (who gives himself a small cameo as Hank in the sheriff’s jail cell), the film is forty five minutes long, but manages to tell its torrid but funny story very effectively in the time allotted. And the short running time tracks when you...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice -- a review

Despite coming out thirty six years after the first film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , once again directed by Tim Burton, wound up being vastly entertaining, adding lots of pleasant surprises, like the use of stop-motion animation. The sequel takes place within the same real-life time frame, with Lydia Deetz, played with wry humor by Winona Ryder, now the host of a ghost hunting show. She’s also the mother of Astrid, a teenager played by Jenna Ortega. They live with Delia Deetz (the always great Catherine O'Hara), Lydia’s step-mother and Astrid’s step-grandmother. After the death of Charles--Delia’s husband and Lydia’s father--during a bird-watching accident involving sharks, the Deetz ladies must go back up to the creepy house in Winter River, Connecticut for his funeral. This is the same place where Lydia first encountered Beetlejuice all those years ago, and she is understandably reluctant to even mention his name, lest she accidentally calls forth Beet...
Post a Comment
Read more

Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders -- a review

Holy animation,, Batman! Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders is a loving tribute to the 1960s TV series that manages to feel like the second 1960s-era Batman movie, thanks to the voice-casting of original Batman and Robin stars Adam West and Burt Ward, along with Julie Newmar, who reprises her role as Catwoman. Taking place in the same time period as the series, the film is filled with the social mores of the time, such as having Catwoman demurely step to the side whenever Batman and Robin battle the villainous henchmen (complete with the customary BIFF! BAM! and POW! word balloons the original series always flashed during the fight scenes). Catwoman is a part of a fearsome foursome of rogues that includes the Joker, Penguin and the Riddler as they set out to work together to wreak havoc on Gotham City. The fact that these villains team up, along with their use of a penguin-themed zeppelin later in the film, is a nice nod to the original 1966 Batman movie that was relea...
Post a Comment
Read more