The Humerous Mighty Thor

In the last blog movie review I wrote that featured “Wonder Woman” and “Spiderman: Homecoming”, I went on a rant about the preview I saw of the new “Thor: Ragnarok” movie that featured another “good vs. good” battle, this one between Thor and the Hulk. This, coming off the heels of Batman vs. Superman and Captain America vs. Ironman battle manias in 2016, seemed like an odd trend that was starting to form among the writers of the super hero genre. Well, after watching Thor, I’ll be the first to admit that I jumped the gun on this one. Sure, they did fight, temporarily, but it was mostly tongue-in-cheek and actually pretty entertaining.

And the same thing could be said about the entire movie.

By far the most humorous of the Marvel super hero movies to date, all of the main characters in the movie apparently decided to take a chill pill in this third movie of the Thor trilogy. At least compared to the intensity they portrayed in prior Marvel films. Particularly Loki, the brother of Thor, who makes his first return to the big screen since getting his butt kicked in the first Avengers movie back in 2012 and his ho-hum guest appearance in the second film of the Thor trilogy (Thor: The Dark World) in 2013. In those, he was about as ruthless as you can get. No hesitation to kill or destroy anything. Seemingly having no conscience. Completely untrustworthy and unpredictable. In the Avengers, ruling earth was his only objective, and nothing was going to stop him. In Thor: Ragnarok, however, Loki has lightened up significantly. In fact, when we first see him, he is on Nasgard pretending to be his father Odin (Loki can change his appearance, if you remember) watching a theatrical rendition of Thor, Loki and Odin butting heads in a very funny parody (be sure to check out the guest actors playing the roles of the three Norsemen in the play). Hilarious. As in the past, Tom Huddleston does a great job portraying motivationally-questionable Loki. He’s actually my favorite character in the Thor films.

Chris Hemsworth, as Thor, had the unique dual role of super hero and comic relief specialist. He was not only involved in the many actions scenes and bad guy confrontations, but he would crack a joke when things got too intense. Very considerate! And speaking of bad guys, that’s where we come to what I consider the weakest part of the movie. Cate Blanchett, one of the best actresses around, portrays Hela, the never mentioned before more powerful and older sister of Thor and Loki who has quite a bone to pick with her younger brothers.  Hela awakens an army of zombie-like creatures who have been lying dormant in the depths of Nasgard and prepares them for the “Ragnarok” invasion, which is meant to destroy Nasgard and everyone in it. Helping her is Skurge, played by Karl Urban (aka, Dr. McCoy in the new Star Trek movies), who is only doing so to stay alive. Thor and Loki obviously cannot allow their world to be destroyed, or at least Thor, as we’re never quite sure with Loki.  Joining them in the battle is the Hulk, who Thor unintentionally reunites with while imprisoned on some planet on the other side of the galaxy (run by an entertaining Jeff Goldblum). How did Hulk get there? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. To escape imprisonment, Thor must defeat the champion of this prison planet. You guessed it…that would be the Hulk. Hence the confrontation between the two of them. Needless to say, Thor escapes, taking the Hulk with him, and they both head to Nasgard (along with Valkeriye, another Nasgardian) to stop the dreaded Hela.

So the battle field is set:  Thor, Loki, the Hulk, and Valkeriye vs. Hela and her half dead thugs (shows you how powerful she is). What happens and how does it happen? You'll have to watch for yourself, as that would be giving too much away. But you can probably take a pretty good guess.

Getting back to Cate Blanchett as Hela and why I thought she was the weakest part of the movie. Simply put, I just didn’t think she was that effective, as she over dramatized the part. Probably because she’s just too good of an actor to play such a shallow role. I don’t know. But she kind of did the same thing in some of her other villainous roles, like in 2015’s Cinderella and especially in the 2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 

That aside, this was a very entertaining movie, and certainly one of the better Marvel super hero movies. It kept you on your toes, kept you guessing, and most unexpectedly, kept you laughing. Who would have thought!  Look for all to reappear, probably for the last time, in 2018-19's two part

"Avenger's: Infinity War" flick.