"Thor Ragnarok" review

A war of Space Vikings never looked so colorful.

Lacking the new franchise sheen of some of its recent brethren in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the “Thor” series has perhaps faced the largest uphill battle of the entire franchise in terms of winning over audiences.

The God of Thunder’s humbling Shakespearean origin story hit back in 2011 to a moderate reception, favorable to the character and his concept but mixed towards the makeup of his own solo adventures. As such, despite being a major pillar in “The Avengers” and subsequently an important cog in the machinery working to bring the setting overarching plot to a head, Thor, despite an iconic performance regularly doled out by Chris Hemsworth, has always struggled to hold audience interest, a sentiment only bolstered by the release of its bland, uninspired, paint by numbers, mediocre, forgettable sequel, “Thor: The Dark World,” which still stands as the weakest cinematic entry of the MCU bar none.

Perhaps under those circumstances, it’s only fitting the final solo outing of the character basically dedicates itself to a story about tearing down the foundations of his storytelling.

Whatever the reasoning for its focus on the prophesized Norse apocalypse that sees Thor struggling to save his home of Asgard in the face of the death of his loved ones and the loss of his trusty mystical hammer Mjolnir, the stripping down of the character to basics and subsequent supplanting of the background of his cosmic adventures from extradimensional high fantasy to a humanoid being traversing an equally though aesthetically varied alien landscape ultimately turned out to be the right decision, as the only thing keeping “Thor: Ragnarok” from being the best film of the MCU’s Phase 3 is that “Captain America: Civil War” is still probably one of the 5 best superhero movies ever made.

Forgoing the gravitas of Shakespearean drama and tragedy that has informed the series thus far, “Thor: Ragnarok” instead opts to recognize that its previously established vision just didn’t quite connect with audiences the way that they had clearly desired to, leaving rising talent and director Taika Waititi to basically swing for the fences with a different approach, embracing the fish out of water comedy that the series did excel at across the far more interesting backdrop of the science fantasy oriented cosmos rather than shackling the character to Earth, a critical error of this movie’s predecessor.

The shift in tone and setting may seem odd at first glance but they really do make the characters that make these films so iconic pop in ways that you may not have even realized you were waiting for.

Case in point, Thor himself. Hemsworth probably gives his best performance as the character here since the more tragic sequences of the first “Thor,” and a lot of that comes from the nuance of the character’s life experience, being able to finally be light hearted and jubilant about his adventure rather than self-serious without coming across as debilitatingly arrogant in the manner that set off his entire journey in the first place.

His chemistry with the cast around him is excellent but his already stupendous penchant for strong comedic timing under Waititi’s masterful direction make the cast of primarily C-list comic book characters feel more alive than ever.

Tom Hiddleston turns in another excellent performance as Loki, though this time with more complexity and payoff than his previous appearances.

Meanwhile, newcomer Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie offers what may perhaps be the strongest and most impressive female lead of the MCU in the form of a sardonic and disillusioned warrior that believes in nobility but not the institutions meant to carry them out, and the director himself appears as gladiator Korg, a powerful but polite and kindhearted warrior whose delivery and timing damn near steal the entire show, which is saying something in a movie in which Jeff Goldblum manages to somehow portray a caricature of a caricature of himself to an end that fully benefits the final product.

The actual feel of a new kind of “Thor” movie taking shape never manages to quite evaporate despite the transplant of setting, lack of iconography, and the titular protagonist sharing a major portion of screen time with his Avengers co-star, The Hulk, reprised by Mark Ruffalo in the most fully realized and entertaining portrayal of the character to date.

With humor and heart planted firmly at the core of the production from start to finish and a creative eye brought to realizing action sequences that are fantastical and entertaining without being a production eyesore of CGI overkill, “Thor: Ragnarok” isn’t quite one of the best MCU productions to date but it is one of the most consistently and rewatchably fun and successful with regards to reinterpreting a faithful rendition of its material for a strong stand alone feature while still tying into the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War” in such a way that doesn’t detract from the main narrative but merely excites for what’s to come.

Although the movie has no bones to pick with being the type of high octane crowd-pleaser that it was born to be, the movie isn’t without a few noticeable hiccups, primarily in the structure of the entire Ragnarok concept of the story.

Cate Blanchett is bombshell and a blast and a half to watch as Hela, the goddess of death, who escapes imprisonment to overthrow Asgard’s order. Unfortunately, the mechanics of the plot ground Thor and Loki on the gladiator world of Sakaar for so long, that she never really gets any sort of meaningful development or relationship established with the film’s heroes beyond being an obstacle, which comes off as a massive waste of potential.

Similarly the drama of the Asgardian apocalypse, which so clearly and desperately wants to be taken seriously, is sadly undercut by the movie’s prioritization as a comedy above all else, even when it appears to be on track for executing the weight of the narrative properly.

Make no mistake, “Thor: Ragnarok” knows full well that it is a comedy and there’s not a single joke in the movie that doesn’t land for better or worse. However with the success of that push along with gleefully running with a premise that does see several regular supporting cast members of this film clinically and unceremoniously murdered with no tears shed, its warranted but nevertheless odd placement of drama do come across rather hollowly, which is to say nothing of the fantasy mechanics that set it all into motion, which imply a little bit too much than they probably should have just shown.

The film ultimately feels like an affirmation of confidence in its approach than an effort to address particularly criticisms as though by committee.

“Thor: Ragnarok” doesn’t cross the finish line without taking a few hits but it takes them in stride, confident more in its end result and knowing firmly that it delivers strongly exactly where it counts and that’s all that matters.

8 Rides to Valhalla out of 10