By Brett Blake This may be the best comedy of the year, even if it’s not technically a comedy. More than even the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films, humor is a primary focus, and if a person accepts that, they will be rewarded with a movie that is a delightful confection of humor and offbeat weirdness blended together with dynamic action sequences. When Hela, Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett), invades Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his trickster brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), are marooned on an alien planet ruled by the eccentric Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). There, Thor finds himself enslaved in gladiatorial games, the reigning champion of which is none other than the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Thor must find a way to escape - perhaps with the aid of a hard-drinking Asgardian expat named Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) - and return to Asgard before Ragnarok (for all intents and purposes the apocalypse) is unleashed and destroys that world. Right from its first moments, director Taika Waititi firmly establishes that this is his movie, and the result of that is an inventive, often deliriously entertaining ride. Though the screenplay is a bit wonky on the structural side (the first act mostly involves tying up remaining loose ends from the previous Thor-centric movie, THE DARK WORLD, complete with an extended cameo by another Marvel hero), once things get rolling, the movie is almost literally off to the races, flying through its plot with an agreeably breathless pace that only ever lets up for a few strategically-placed character beats. Despite “end of the world”-type stakes, the film is mostly a lark, preferring instead to highlight the absurdity and strangeness of the situations Thor finds himself in. Waititi has a certain lightness of touch that feels distinct from what other Marvel directors have brought to the table, and while he stages some fun action moments, RAGNAROK succeeds most when its characters are bickering, threatening, or coming to understandings with each other. There are so many wonderful exchanges and gags here that the movie is almost an embarrassment of riches. Thor’s continuously-changing relationship with Loki is the strongest element of the story, and all their scenes together are fantastic, but then there’s also Thor’s growing bond with the (now talkative) Hulk, which provides the movie some of its funniest moments. Thor’s dynamic with Valkyrie follows a classic trajectory of “dislike to grudging respect to genuine affection,” but both performers elevate it. All of the performers do some terrific work, really. Hemsworth carries the movie with effortless movie star charm, while Hiddleston and Ruffalo (in the double role of the Hulk and Bruce Banner) continue to find new angles to explore with characters they’ve played for several films at this point. Goldblum is in top quirky form (fans of his very particular energy will be more than satisfied), while Thompson makes Valkyrie an engaging, convincing badass, despite the character being a touch underwritten. And what of Blanchett’s villain? We’ll get to her. Mark Mothersbaugh’s score is another unquestionable highlight of the film. He deftly marries some retro, synthwave-y, electronic coolness with an absolutely massive and unabashedly sweeping orchestral backbone. What it lacks in long-lined melodies, it more than makes up for in scope and harmonic intensity, and Mothersbaugh even brings back thematic material from the previous THOR movies. Some have been waiting for a score with personality from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this has personality to spare. It’s one of the year’s best. So there is a TON to like. However, the decision to move the THOR films in the direction of the outright comedic is a double-edged sword. It’s a terrifically funny movie, absolutely, but there is some collateral damage along with that. The previous two THOR films, while certainly not devoid of humor, had a somewhat grander, more mythic sense of heroic storytelling centered around their lead hero. Thor himself was funny at times, sure, but never in a way that made him seem buffoonish or dense. The Thor of RAGNAROK almost comes across that way in certain moments, to the extent that he kind of feels like a different character than he has been. Surely the intent was to show a kind of character progression - having spent so much time on Earth hanging out with the likes of Tony Stark, Thor’s more Shakespearean edges have been sanded down and his sense of humor has become more “hip” - but it almost feels like there should have been another movie before this one, like there’s a missing Thor adventure that we didn’t see between the end of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (where he last appeared) and the beginning of RAGNAROK. I suspect if a person were to watch those two movies back-to-back, characterization inconsistencies would be readily apparent. But it also has to be said, in fairness, that when big and important dramatic moments come in the third act, they are treated with proper weight, and the climax does feature some of that mythical-type flavor that a Thor story should have, along with a resurgent sense of nobility in the title hero. Could the movie have used more of that before the final half hour? Yes, but that final half hour is really good. Also, to bring up a common complaint about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the villainous plot here is somewhat underwhelming. Hela’s characterization is of a fairly superficial, shallow sort. Blanchett plays the hell out of it, granted, and she makes it work through sheer force of will, but on paper, Hela is almost a non-entity. There is none of the sort of nuance or complexity that have made Marvel’s most recent villains (Zemo in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, Kaecilius in DOCTOR STRANGE, Ego in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, and the Vulture in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING) interesting foils for their respective heroes. Blanchett is arguably more entertaining than those villains, but just on a character level, they all surpass Hela. The script also make the questionable choice of having the majority of the main characters separated from her for the bulk of the story, leaving her with few sparring partners for much of the movie. That all may make the movie sound like more of a mixed bag than it really is. To be clear, it’s incredible fun, despite its few missteps. While it doesn’t belong anywhere near the very top tier of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s more entertaining and flat-out-enjoyable than your typical blockbuster, and it admirably adds more layers of sci-fi/fantasy strangeness to the series in ways that are exciting for what they portend about the future.
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