[Plot
spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok.
None of the major revelations but if you want to go in completely
cold just ignore this one. Good film, though]
First up:
judging by the presentation of Hela and Valkyrie the director of this
film has some very specific fetishes and I approve of all of them.
On a more
serious note I felt this was a very strong movie. I'm of the (mildly
unpopular) opinion that the Thor
movies are rather the weak link of the MCU: I found the first one a
bit bland and the second one had a lot of issues, not least of which
was its determination to waste just about every actor who wasn't
Hemsworth or Hiddleston. Now, I like Loki as much as the next man
(and members of every other gender regardless of orientation,
Hiddleston's just that hot) but there was a lot more I felt could be
done with that cast. Giving Christopher Ecclestone more lines in
English, for a bloody start.
I
was worried going in that the film might be biting off more than it
could tell. I mean, the trailers were promising a story about Hela
attacking Asgard and
an adaptation of Planet Hulk. They also had to pay off the
cliffhanger to Dark World and
resolve the teaser from the end of Doctor Strange. That's
a lot of plot but damn me if the movie didn't absolutely deliver.
Yes,
its a lot funnier than the previous two even though Thor has probably
been the most comedic member of the Avengers. There were a lot of
laugh out loud moments in the cinema. Not least of which were the
scenes where Anthony Hopkins is obviously loving playing
Odin-who-is-secretly-Loki. The man doesn't get enough chances to play
comedy since he became a venerable, wise looking old man several
years before I was born and I hope people see this and realise
there's potential there.
Loki,
of course, is a big draw and his actions in this movie make me hope
for a permanent face turn in the future. I say that as an unabashed
fan of Keiron Gillen and Al Ewing's work on the character and wanting
to see Hiddleston play the Agent of Asgard version of the character.
The scene, released on YouTube and such as a teaser, between Thor and
Loki in the elevator finally discussing their issues, is pitched
perfectly and actually rather affecting.
Immigrant
Song is actually a fantastic choice for a recurring song in this one,
I can't say why but it works amazingly every time its used (and its
used a lot). That wasn't just a trailer thing.
As
the MCU goes on I begin to wonder if the Avengers films work as well
as all that. The first one was a party in celebration of its own
existence and the second was really just the first one again but with
robots instead of aliens. Seeing as how well Hulk works in this film
it might actually be a better approach to just have people turning up
in each other's movies than just saving it all for a big team
crossover every couple of years. Just a thought.
But,
yeah, the Hulk works great here and there's even a scene where Banner
and Thor talk super-science because even though Thor is a
self-confessed non-scientist he comes from a culture so advanced that
“not good at science” translates to “capable of rattling off
theoretical physics” by Earth standards. Its also fun to have Thor
and trying to bring Hulk down enough to get Banner back because of
all the Avengers Thor is the least capable when it comes to emotions
and this the funniest to put in a position where he has to be
emotionally supportive and caring.
Speaking
of Sakaar, Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster is Jeff Goldblum and if
he isn't improvising half his lines its because the part was written
perfectly for him. The whole set-up of Sakaar and its absolutely
perfect live action adaptation of Jack Kirby's art style is a joy to
watch, Its nice that Marvel managed something appropriate to the
King's hundredth birthday somewhere. Pity it wasn't in an actual
comic but there we are, let the Distinguished Competition corner that
market.
Pillocks.
Oh,
not to say how and why but at bloody last Marvel does something with
the fact that Odin, as well as being a white bearded Christian-style
paternal god, is also a trickster figure. That is a genuine problem
I've always had with the Marvel version of Odin: the fact that he's
only fifty percent Odinic. There's also a wonder moment of
parallelism between Thor's development and the mythical origins of
Odin but, again, can't say how because spoilers.
Cate
Blanchett, of course, is amazing as Hela and if he sees this Peter
Jackson is going to be kicking himself that he thought shooting a
scene in green photographic negative was the best way to portray evil
Blanchett. She's also ably assisted by an unexpected (at least to me)
Karl Urban.
No
Sif, sadly. Not for any great reason, it turns out. They just didn't
contact the actress with filming dates soon enough and she was
working on something else on another continent.
Still,
we get Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and she is glorious. Appropriately
for a character who is an independent hero in the comics she clearly
has her own storyline and issues coming into the movie, some of which
parallel Thor in the first film and come of which don't. If Marvel
workshops this character for a while I think she could support her
own feature, I really do and I'm not just saying that because she's a
gorgeous woman in command of substantial firepower. Valkyrie being
bi, incidentally, is entirely a decision of the actress (probably
based on researching the character's recent comics history) and not
actually something in the plot of the film. I mean, she does what I'm
told is known as the “bisexual strut” in the final battle, Wonder
Woman-style, but that's genuinely it.
All
in all, a strong movie, one of my favourites of the MCU and, I'd
argue, the strongest of the Thor movies by far.
