Thor Ragnarok

THOR RAGNAROK

Director: Taika Waititi

Year : 2017

Genre : Superhero

Rating : *****

As was also the case for Captain America, the third time most definitely proves to be a charm for Marvel's ubiquitous God Of Thunder as 'Thor Ragnarok', the long-awaited superhero sequel from indie comedy king Taika Waititi, ends up being the most thoroughly entertaining entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far as well as the best film in the disparate 'Thor' trilogy that began 7 years ago. Jam-packed with hilarious dialogue, likable characters, eye popping visual effects, unexpected cameos, gorgeous cinematography and numerous high-octane action set pieces which explode off the screen like a cosmic fireworks display, 'Thor Ragnarok' is everything a superhero movie should be and so much more. 

Deftly resolving the fundamental plot-hole of 'Captain America : Civil War' (2016), 'Thor Ragnarok' sees Chris Hemsworth's Thor facing the bloodthirsty wrath of Hela (played by the super sexy Cate Blanchett), the seemingly unstoppable Goddess of Death who has returned from exile to bring the world of Asgard to an end and lay siege to the nine realms that surround it. However after a disastrous encounter with the horned villainess, Thor finds himself stranded on the strange planet of Sakaar where he is promptly taken hostage and forced to fight to the death in the gladiatorial arenas of the Grand Master (Jeff Goldblum), a foppish yet funny antagonist who has also captured a certain Green hero (played once again by Mark Ruffalo) whose first adrenaline-fuelled appearance serves as one of the movies most hilarious and memorable moments.  

Despite his charisma and innate antipodean charm, Chris Hemsworth's hunky, hammer -wielding Thor has always been my least favourite member of the ever-growing Avengers team - his previous solo effort 'Thor : The Dark World' (2013) is undoubtedly the weakest film in the entire MCU - but under the guidance of 'The Hunt For The Wilderpeople' (2016) helmsman Waititi, he is allowed to fully embrace the silliness so inherent to the character making him one of, if not my favourite Avenger. And boy, is 'Thor Ragnarok' silly. Almost every second of the movie is filled with dazzling colour, crazy costumes, gaudy locations, over the top characterisations and an extravagant soundtrack by Devo's own Mark Mothersbaugh that perfectly reflects the films garish yet strangely suitable 80's retro aesthetic. 

Remarkably, some stone-hearted audience members have reported to have been put off by the overly goofy tone of the picture but, as someone who is most definitely beginning to feel the effects of franchise fatigue, I was fully entertained by 'Thor Ragnarok' from it's hilarious pre-title opening to it's enthralling, CGI laden finale. Oh, there is still a great deal of inherent threat involved here and while the MCU has never provided us with particularly strong or memorable antagonists, Blanchett's Maleficent-like Hela serves as one of, if not the most psychotically dangerous villains in the series to date. But rather than falling into the stygian quagmire of lesser superhero efforts such as Zack Snyder's tiresome mash-up 'Batman v Superman : Dawn Of Justice' or Bryan Singer's disappointing 'X-Men Apocalypse', the cataclysmic narrative of 'Thor Ragnarok' is nicely tempered by Waititi's idiosyncratic brand of high-brow yet often absurd humour. 

Equally silly are the performances from a cast who appeared to have had just as much fun making the film as we have had watching it. With his mythical hammer in his hand and his tongue firmly in his cheek, Hemsworth delivers his best performance to date as the quick-talking yet slow-witted Thor while Tom Hiddleston is delightfully slimy as the distrustful Loki. Together, the two have wonderful chemistry and while their fraught sibling relationship has been used for dramatic effect in past movies, here it is put to great comedic use. 

Added to the roster of old characters are a bunch of new colourful ones which include the aforementioned Grand Master played with deliciously camp relish by the always enjoyable Jeff Goldblum, Valkyrie, a hard-drinking, arse-kicking Asgardian warrior played with gusto by 'Selma' and 'Westworld' star Tessa Thompson and of course, the seductive yet sinister Hela portrayed so perfectly by two time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett. However, it is Waititi himself who steals the show with his riotous performance as Korg, one of the gladiators of Sakaar whose punchy one-liners and non-sequitur observations provide 'Thor Ragnarok' with some it's biggest laughs. 

With such critically lauded releases as 'The LEGO Batman Movie', 'Wonder Woman' and Marvel's own 'Spider-Man Homecoming', 2017 has already been a pretty damn good year for the superhero sub-genre and 'Thor Ragnarok' may just be the very best of the lot. Just when you think that Marvel Studios has finally run out of ideas and inspiration, a film as unpretentiously fun and as ridiculously enjoyable as 'Thor Ragnarok' comes along and shows us all that there is so much more that can be done with this most popular and beloved of blockbuster franchises.