I have a bit of a confession to make; the last film of the
ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe that truly lived up to the hype for me was
2012’s Avengers. That’s not to say subsequent instalments were bad or
anything—it’s just that, for example, while many praised Guardians of the
Galaxy as the greatest thing ever in the history of ever, I just found it a
decent enough popcorn flick with a fair few fun moments but some noticeable flaws.
I’ve definitely enjoyed certain entries more than others, like Captain America
2 and Ant-Man (hell, I’ll even say I liked Iron Man 3), but as the MCU expands
its increasingly complicated web, it’s become harder for its showings to
stand out to me.
For me, the standout superhero films of recent times were
Logan and Deadpool, for straying away from the Marvel formula and the DC
formula of doing what Marvel does but less coherently and with dour colours.
Logan in particular had the satisfaction of a series and a character finally
putting itself to rest with a manly tears-inducing climax, something that the
Marvel films, all of which are building up to the next super duper mega
crossovers, kind of lack. And with that in mind, let’s take a look at the most
recent one, Thor: Ragnarok, currently well on the way for assembling a new swimming
pool of money for Disney.
The opening doesn’t waste much time dumping a whole lot of
plot on you, catching up on the exploits of Chris Hemsworth as the titular
Norse god of thunder and many a pinup poster for the ladies. Very rapidly we
get a catchup with his half-brother and recurring Marvel bad guy Loki, their
father Odin, an extended cameo from Benedict Cucumberpatch as Doctor Strange,
and a lowdown on new villain Hela, played by Cate Blanchett. Then before you
know it Thor is cast across time and space to the junk-covered arena world of
Sakaar as Hela starts mopping floors with bodies on his home of Asgard. Oh, and
then Hulk shows up.
Yeah, there’s a lot of plot crammed in here, some of it
executed decently, some not so much. I’ll admit I liked Jeff Goldblum, er, ahm,
uh, playing, erm, himself, as, hem, the Grandmaster, and honestly found him a
better antagonist than the main one, as I’ll get to. Thor and Hulk’s ‘reunion’
is a nice standout scene with some funny callbacks, and in general, the film makes
it clear it’s going for a much lighter, Guardians of the Galaxy-type tone. I
did like the 80s scifi comic book look of Sakaar and the appropriate synth
soundtrack that accompanied it all.
Hemsworth certainly does a good job as playing Thor as a
lovable lug, although the character does kinda oscillate between being a
thick-headed comedic dumbass and then suddenly knowing the intricacies of
cross-dimensional travel. The supporting cast is mixed; Tessa Thompson plays
the drink-chugging badass exiled warrior Valkyrie, Mark Ruffalo is great as
Banner and Hulk, and Karl Urban plays turncoat Asgardian warrior Skurge, whose
arc is honestly fairly predictable and the character doesn’t really seem to add
much. Idris Elba has a bit part, though he makes it memorable with his usual awesome gravitas. Director Taika Waiki plays the voice of Korg, a gladiator who pretty much
exists to spout quips, and while he’s vaguely amusing at first, he got
progressively more annoying for me as the film went on, especially at the end.
Hela herself has a somewhat interesting backstory, but in
all honesty, it isn’t as followed on as it could’ve been and she comes off as
yet another fairly generic MCU bad guy with the personality of ‘bwahahaha, look
how evil I am’. Her powers are fairly cool, but with her fairly generic eye shadow overusing villainess look, I doubt I’ll remember her like I did
Obadiah Stane from the first Iron Man or even Hugo Weaving as Red Skull. The
problem of forgettable and under-developed antagonists is honestly a big one
for Marvel here, between the limp-wristed likes of Ronan and That Guy Christopher
Ecclestone Played in Thor 2, and it’s getting annoying. But at least here we
have, erm, ah, Jeff Goldblum, hm, to make up for it.
Probably my biggest complaint is that the tone doesn’t know when
to adjust itself; the gags are fine enough earlier on, but the climax deals with
some fairly serious and heavy stuff, and there, they just start to feel
obnoxious. Thor has to save the population of Asgard—numbering just a few
hundred apparently—but it’s hard to feel investment when it’s playing out jokes
that I honestly saw coming. And true to the title, we get some real cataclysmic
stuff to end on, that’s actually fairly big in the ongoing story, but it’s almost
ruined by the Korg guy spouting off more lame jokes. Just for a moment, I wanted
things to just play out as they were—I point to Avengers for getting the
balance right. Imagine if the final scene of the end battle in that film was
marked with Steve Rogers making a gag about airline safety or something as Tony
Stark falls to earth.
All this being said, it’s an enjoyable ride for the most
part, and definitely above the largely forgettable first two Thors. Much like
most recent Marvel films, it’s a perfectly fine popcorn flick, but not really
matching the stellar hype some people are giving it. I’ll do my best to follow
the MCU up until the upcoming Infinity war crossover, but after that, I’m not
sure it’ll still have the momentum and excitement left for me.
Unless, of course, they finally make a new Howard the Duck
movie that’s not a strange fever dream, and give that character the justice he
deserves.
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