Thor: Ragnarok film drops in cinemas today, and if you have yet to get your tickets to watch the flashy Marvel film, it’s about time that you do. From Marvel Studios’ comes Thor: Ragnarok, the God of Thunder’s exciting, new adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
*Beware, spoilers aplenty.
The flashy Thor: Ragnarok film sees Thor reuniting with his supposedly dead brother, Loki, before they find themselves on the oddly trippy and Jeff Goldblum-y planet Sakaar. There they meet the long-lost Hulk and the Valkyrie, another Asgardian, before they all team up to return to Asgard to stop Hela from unleashing Ragnarok upon Asgard, bringing Asgardian civilisation to an end.
Thor: Ragnarok is vibrant, cheeky and embraces a trippy ’80s space fantasy aesthetics, kind of like the ones you’d see in any of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. There’s a lot of fun lines and the film is visually stunning, but you can’t shake off the fact that Marvel Studio’s hard-selling the gag at the expense of characters and settings they’ve spent years building up.
Thor’s family issues are the root of this busy film. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is up to his usual tricks, and then they find out that they have an elder sister – Hela, the goddess of death. Hela (Cate Blanchett) is kind of like a Marvel version of Maleficent with the emo makeup and spiky antlers. While she tears Asgard to pieces, Thor and Loki find themselves stranded on Sakaar, a vibrant planet that gives us some major ’80s vibes. The ruler of this planet is Jeff Goldblum with a blue stripe down his chin and he condemns the Thor to a gladiatorial combat – where his foe turns out to be fellow Avenger the Hulk.
Chris Hemsworth looks like he’s enjoying himself more in Thor: Ragnarok than the other Marvel movies, though you don’t hear much of Asgard from Thor, except when he speaks of Ragnarok. It’s weird and also kind of unnerving (for me, at least) how Thor’s diction went from Shakespeare to Bro real quick. Which begs the question, who is Thor, really? And why isn’t he as emotionally invested as Asgard as we expect him to be?
Ragnarok is also the first Marvel movie that separates Thor from his magic hammer and throws fans a bone by embracing the idea of Thor as the god of thunder by showcasing his power to summon lightning, which, I’ve got to admit was pretty cool.
The Hulk, however, is way more fun in Thor: Ragnarok than he’s ever been. At times he comes off like a sulky 5 year old, and then he turns into the raging monster we all know and love. Thor and Hulk have the same exceptional chemistry as Thor and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and every time Thor and Hulk shares the screen, it’s quite entertaining.
Tessa Thompson plays the hard-drinking cynical Valkyrie who’s turned her back on her Asgardian roots, and I absolutely loved her. Thompson’s character stands out the most, even when it follows through with the cliche storyline (she went from selfish mercenary to Thor’s ally). I also loved how even though there were flirtatious moments between her and Thor or Bruce Banner, the film didn’t develop on those bits and went on portraying her as this strong and hard female warrior.
Thor: Ragnarok shows more of Sakaar than it did Asgard, despite including “Ragnarok” in the film’s title. Though the film spends a huge chunk of time on Sakaar’s gaudy planet with Jeff Goldblum serving as the planet’s Grandmaster in the most Jeff Goldblum fashion, I’ve got to say that Hulk and the hard-bitten Valkyrie stood out the most.
Tom Hiddleston slips back into his Loki-suit after 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. Hiddleston commands the screen, but he’s basically the punchline in the film because his character has got no more room to grow. Loki’s already gone through betrayal and redemption and that’s basically the end of the line. Benedict Cumberbatch makes an appearance (as revealed in the end credits of Doctor Strange), and as much as we all loved Doctor Strange, it’s easy to forget that he was even in Thor: Ragnarok.
All in all, I felt like Thor: Ragnarok rushed through so much that it’s hard to get on a personal level with the film. There were parts where they could’ve delved and developed on the relation between Thor and Hela, and when big moments do happen, they come off as weightless and there is barely a sense of catharsis between the viewer and the characters.
Besides the unshakeable feeling that we’ve been with this storyline one too many times, the film is stunning and it is unpretentiously hilarious. Definitely worth the IMAX price tag.
Thor: Ragnarok drops in cinemas today.
