Film Reviews

Thor Ragnarok (2017)

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thor ragnarok

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins

Director: Taika Waititi

When Loki (Hiddleston) unwittingly initiates the Ragnarok prophecy, Thor (Hemsworth) and Loki find themselves on a strange garbage planet while their sister Hela (Blanchett), Goddess of Death, unleashes destruction on Asgard. But before they can return home to stop her, Thor is captured and forced to fight in cage matches against the planet’s champion, The Hulk (Ruffalo), who has lost all memory of himself. Can Thor fight his way to freedom and remind the Hulk of who he really is in time to save Asgard and stop his evil sister?

Directed by Taika Waititi, a New Zealand director known for What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, this film is full of the gentle humour that the film maker is known for, and is quite sweet and enjoyable for that reason. And yet, that’s perhaps also this films downfall. There are emotional moments that are undercut by comedy in a way that stops your investment in them. And the action sequences almost seem like a distraction from the comic moments. Added into this mix is the 80’s vibes, and you have a film that strikes a very odd tone.

I also found that some of the effects sequences looked really bad, and I wondered if this film is one that really needs to be seen in 3D.

The big bad in this film is Hela, played by Cate Blanchett, who looks fairly impressive but isn’t given enough time to really develop somehow. I quite liked her, and yet I felt like she came across as kind of cheesey, since she’s partly quite intimidating and yet has lines that are clearly comedic. It sorts of cuts through her persona and makes her less impressive.

Anthony Hopkins as Odin seems like he really doesn’t want to be there.

I really like the humour in Waititi’s films, and there was a lot here that I liked and that I feel really worked. The side characters have a lot of great little moments, there was some great costume design. And the choice to use humour is better than having overly heavy dramatic moments or cheesey emotional scenes, but some emotion is a good thing, and this film doesn’t let those moments shine.

See It If: it’s a good laugh, but won’t stir your feels or perhaps stick in your memory that long. But the big scenes and the humour are good fun. Will please action and comic book fans.

16 thoughts on “Thor Ragnarok (2017)”

  2. What shocked me was that Hunt for The Wilderpeople was really funny but also really real about some of the content of the story. Thor: Ragnarok undermines its stakes constantly but I feel they delivered the pain of Valkyrie’s back story so that was good. Cate Blanchett was sexy, lively and layered. The woman can do no wrong but still I wanted more of getting to the guts of things. Her fight with Thor should be a real emotional beat. They’re siblings for crying out loud.

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  3. Ragnarok means Tha End Of Effen Everyfink. Not a place for lame antipodean humour.
    Darkness sacrificed to bad jokes.
    There were two lines alone that resonated with me.
    ‘Asgard is not a place – it’s a people.’ Not true to the original Norse mythology but it does imply hope and new beginning. If only they could Ragnarok this damn movie and give it a new beginning.
    And…
    ‘Are you Thor – the God of Hammers?’
    That was one moment where a touch of humour was appropriate. The only moment, I’d say.

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  4. I thought the comedy (cheesy, puerile comedy and gags) didn’t mix well with the plot of the movie. My own review is a lot less kind, but apparently, we (my wife and I) are in the minority as people seem to like the movie.

    You are correct about character development . . . they could have cut some of the silly gags and put more substance in the movie, but they obviously wanted me to never give them another chance with these kinds of movies. Then again, perhaps I’m not the target audience (even though I thought I was).

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