From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow..."
-Led Zeppelin, "Immigrant Song"
***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***
It says a lot that of all the Phase 3 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, the weakest link is Doctor Strange and, for once, neither a Thor nor a Hulk film. (Well, aside from the perpetually annoying timeline error of Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that's neither here nor there.) Thor: Ragnarok not only bucks that weakest-link-of-each-phase trend for both Thor and Hulk, but also soars above the pack to become not only the best Thor film of all, but also one of the best of the MCU overall. With Taika Waititi and his high quirk factor helming this voyage, there's no shortage of what we've all come to expect from the MCU - alien oddities, hammy acting, spot-on humor (most of the time - sadly, there are a few moments where the jokes are ill-timed and fall flatter than flat), the perpetually tense dynamic between Thor and Loki, and some of the MCU's most terrific action scenes yet.
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| Taste the alien rainbow. |
While previous Thor entries rely heavily on Shakespearean melodrama, and end up often feeling pretty generic and forgettable otherwise, Ragnarok, in spite of its apocalyptic name, dials up the humor and action all the way. Not that either of the first two films failed in the humor department, especially, but this one feels like the first time where the filmmakers genuinely have our amusement as a top priority. Perhaps a little too much so - as I said earlier, a few of the jokes don't quite work. Heck, even the movie's bittersweet ending (quite akin to Guardians Vol. 2, in fact) gets a tad ruined by a joke from the mouth of the master himself, Taika Waititi. But most of these jokes will get the entire theater roaring with laughter, guaranteed, so at least Marvel's doing their job right 95% of the time with this one. Naturally, the trailers already spoiled some of the best moments...
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| "YES!!!!! We know each other! He's a friend from work!" |
But there are also some very good funny moments that the trailers do not spoil, and I will spoil none of them myself. Well, except for Hulk, after he inevitably reverts back to Banner, being forced to wear some threads from Tony Stark's wardrobe (don't ask), and among them is a T-shirt bearing the image of Duran Duran's Rio album cover. That shirt is just one of many bits of 80s influence on this movie - turns out the retro-themed title on the trailers and posters, as well as the frequent use of classic Zeppelin and a heavily synth-driven score from Devo's very own Mark Mothersbaugh, foreshadow a product tailor-made to ride the recently rising wave of 80s nostalgia.
As the above GIF and the array of colorful teaser posters indicates, this movie is one of the most colorful yet in the MCU, building on the style of Guardians of the Galaxy and going for an even more vibrant style than any other. It's perhaps halfway between Guardians and the overblown color-splosion of the Suicide Squad ad campaign, a pretty happy medium and perfectly timed to come exactly a year after the MCU's other most unique visual treat yet, Doctor Strange. Speaking of Strange, he cameos in this movie, building on the promise of Thor's appearance in Strange's own mid-credits scene, and helps provide one of the best highlights simply because of how he even manages to catch powerful Asgardians Thor and Loki off guard. Also catching them off guard is Hela, the long-lost goddess of death, played by Cate Blanchett with less ham than her unforgettable role as Irina Spalko in Crystal Skull, but more visual panache and badassery. She proves pretty damn difficult to beat, especially for Thor and Loki as they wind up sidetracked elsewhere for much of the movie (as much as you gotta love the Bartertown-esque environment of Sakaar, and also Jeff Goldbum channeling his inner David Bowie for what may well be his most iconic role yet, the Sakaar scenes do feel a bit padded to bring the movie to a well over two-hour runtime), not helped by the fact that she's also their long-lost sister, lending a Holmes-sibs air to their dynamic - Thor is Sherlock, Loki is Mycroft, and Hela is Eurus.
Perhaps the most impactful scenes are those where Hela bursts back onto the scene in Asgard and starts laying waste to everything. She's not just destroying Asgard, but unveiling the whitewashed secrets of Asgard's history, particularly where Odin and his rise to power are concerned. It's hard not to read these scenes as an implicit rebuke of current American culture and its tendency to pretend that what's in the past is simply in the past and has no impact on today, and knowing Waititi, I wouldn't be surprised if this was intentional. As much as I love the Marvel movies, I have to really take my hat off to Waititi with this one, because it's surprisingly rare that there's such a thoughtful theme underlying it all. A theme that makes me actually lowkey scared this movie's (bittersweet) epilogue could somehow prove prophetic. But with this thoughtfulness gives me hope that Waititi gets a lot more jobs in Hollywood going forward. Starting, if not with a follow-up to this film, with an adaptation of a most well-deserving book. Red Rising comes especially to mind.
The third time proves to be the charm for Thor's section of the franchise, delivering an A-grade movie that proves brawny and brainy and charming all at once, the perfect combination of Thor and Hulk and Valkyrie. Yes, Valkyrie. Can't forget her. Tessa Thompson's character, though a shade or two underwritten, is every bit as awesome as the other two lead heroes, and Loki of course. Just look at the scene where she cuts down a swarm of Sakaarian junk collectors with her craft's machine guns while drunk off her ass. Can I have Valkyrie as my Jaeger copilot? Please please pretty please?
Till next time, Pinecones...
As the above GIF and the array of colorful teaser posters indicates, this movie is one of the most colorful yet in the MCU, building on the style of Guardians of the Galaxy and going for an even more vibrant style than any other. It's perhaps halfway between Guardians and the overblown color-splosion of the Suicide Squad ad campaign, a pretty happy medium and perfectly timed to come exactly a year after the MCU's other most unique visual treat yet, Doctor Strange. Speaking of Strange, he cameos in this movie, building on the promise of Thor's appearance in Strange's own mid-credits scene, and helps provide one of the best highlights simply because of how he even manages to catch powerful Asgardians Thor and Loki off guard. Also catching them off guard is Hela, the long-lost goddess of death, played by Cate Blanchett with less ham than her unforgettable role as Irina Spalko in Crystal Skull, but more visual panache and badassery. She proves pretty damn difficult to beat, especially for Thor and Loki as they wind up sidetracked elsewhere for much of the movie (as much as you gotta love the Bartertown-esque environment of Sakaar, and also Jeff Goldbum channeling his inner David Bowie for what may well be his most iconic role yet, the Sakaar scenes do feel a bit padded to bring the movie to a well over two-hour runtime), not helped by the fact that she's also their long-lost sister, lending a Holmes-sibs air to their dynamic - Thor is Sherlock, Loki is Mycroft, and Hela is Eurus.
Perhaps the most impactful scenes are those where Hela bursts back onto the scene in Asgard and starts laying waste to everything. She's not just destroying Asgard, but unveiling the whitewashed secrets of Asgard's history, particularly where Odin and his rise to power are concerned. It's hard not to read these scenes as an implicit rebuke of current American culture and its tendency to pretend that what's in the past is simply in the past and has no impact on today, and knowing Waititi, I wouldn't be surprised if this was intentional. As much as I love the Marvel movies, I have to really take my hat off to Waititi with this one, because it's surprisingly rare that there's such a thoughtful theme underlying it all. A theme that makes me actually lowkey scared this movie's (bittersweet) epilogue could somehow prove prophetic. But with this thoughtfulness gives me hope that Waititi gets a lot more jobs in Hollywood going forward. Starting, if not with a follow-up to this film, with an adaptation of a most well-deserving book. Red Rising comes especially to mind.
The third time proves to be the charm for Thor's section of the franchise, delivering an A-grade movie that proves brawny and brainy and charming all at once, the perfect combination of Thor and Hulk and Valkyrie. Yes, Valkyrie. Can't forget her. Tessa Thompson's character, though a shade or two underwritten, is every bit as awesome as the other two lead heroes, and Loki of course. Just look at the scene where she cuts down a swarm of Sakaarian junk collectors with her craft's machine guns while drunk off her ass. Can I have Valkyrie as my Jaeger copilot? Please please pretty please?
Till next time, Pinecones...
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| #FeedTheRightWolf |
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| Remember: Denis Leary is always watching. Always. |
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