Thor: RagnarokKnowing the difference between ruling a land and leading a people is what makes a true sovereign. Thor: Ragnarok is a superhero movie featuring the "God of Thunder", Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who is forced to contend with the invasion of Asgard by his elder sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), recently released from her millennia-long imprisonment and bearing a colossal grudge against the family that put her in exile. Stranded on an intergalactic hub and garbage planet called Sakaar with his brother and rival, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor must recruit a party of warriors--including the sole surviving Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and the incredible Hulk, a.k.a. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)--to storm the gates of his homeland while the prophesied end of Asgard, "Ragnarok", looms on the horizon.
|
|
Thor: Ragnarok is a part of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, a collection of films featuring superheroes like Thor and the Hulk, which has been operating successfully since 2008. But with the exception of entries like Doctor Strange--whose eponymous protagonist (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) makes a cameo in Thor: Ragnarok--the supernatural or magical had heretofore largely been justified as highly sophisticated technology. Between Hela's seemingly limitless power, assorted artifacts like the "Eternal Flame", and immortal fire giants like Surtur (voiced by Clancy Brown), simply writing them off as such in the MCU is no longer possible. But rather than spend time rationalizing these supernatural powers--as was the case in Thor: The Dark World--Thor: Ragnarok wholly embraces all elements cosmic in its fantasy-rich tapestry, hearkening back to an era in the source material more interested in the grandiose than being rooted in reality, with elaborate depictions of strange and fantastic realms and creatures. Thor: Ragnarok opens two years after the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron; Thor is imprisoned within Muspelheim (the realm of Surtur), and converses with his only companion (a skeleton), providing cursory exposition in a moment of coy introspection. The Marvel movies are multi-million dollar extravaganzas, and the Thor films often incorporate a bevy of special effects, like the rainbow-tinged Bifröst Bridge--but Thor: Ragnarok goes even further with a kaleidoscopic barrage of eye candy. After Thor escapes Surtur's clutches, he races away from a fiery dragon that blazes behind him at supersonic speed. When Thor is ejected from the Bifröst by Hela, he lands on Sakaar--the whole landscape is strewn with colorful wreckage, and the skyline is adorned with the high-rise palace of "The Grandmaster" (Jeff Goldblum). This decadent (if passively tyrannical) ruler with the immodest moniker hosts arena battles he calls the "Contest of Champions" in a massive stadium. Sakaar's atmosphere is peppered with wormholes to other dimensions, although it is harder to get out than it is to get into this intergalactic dump. Asgard is a majestic realm that wouldn't be out of place in "The Lord of the Rings", despite Hela's incursion and subsequent slaughter of the warriors defending the realm. More than any other entry into the MCU, Thor: Ragnarok deliberately combines the aesthetics of vintage sci-fi and cosmic fantasy, including everything from laser rifles, starships, bizarre aliens, and more, recalling a particular brand of escapist filmmaking from of the Eighties, alluded to by the title font and color palette.
Thor: Ragnarok also takes a page from Marvel's own sci-fi series, Guardians of the Galaxy, offering a greater ratio of humor to drama than its predecessors. This seems paradoxical for a film with an apocalyptic, world-ending event as its subtitle, but Thor: Ragnarok alternates its focus between Thor's occasionally absurd quest to escape Sakaar and Hela's brutal assault on Asgard. Hela--and her outlandishly spiky helmet-hair--savagely rips through Asgard's defenders, recruiting a cowardly "executioner" named Skurge (Karl Urban) to facilitate her reign in blood. She tasks him with reclaiming the missing sword to activate the Bifröst after Heimdall (Idris Elba) absconded with it during his exodus with the survivors from her invasion, subsequently turning them into a resistance force to defend Asgard from her. Hela is a villainess who Odin (Anthony Hopkins) refers to as the "Goddess of Death"--saying this with a brackishness that tells of a partnership that ended poorly. Hela's resentment for her father recalls Loki's feelings of inadequacy; she indignantly proclaims that Odin buried the true, bloody legend of the advent of Asgard beneath a false veneer of peaceful dominion. Hela's imprisonment in some nether-realm for millennia has done nothing to soften her rage, which she enthusiastically vents on any who stand in her way. She is given to bouts of smirking diabolism, proffering caustic barbs of dialogue before impaling her opponents on blades manifested from thin air. If Hela's scenes are more tragic, Thor's interactions on Sakaar are light-hearted comedy by comparison. This includes gleeful inside jokes, like when Thor is sold to The Grandmaster, and before meeting his new keeper, he experiences a vivid and unnerving display of light and sound deliberately designed to recall Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory--complete with the melody from "Pure Imagination" playing in the background. This underscores that Thor: Ragnarok eschews dull realism for a full-blown binge of escapism. Thor: Ragnarok also prominently features Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in a pair of climactic battle scenes, heightening the rush of the on-screen action, with lyrics describing the Norse gods in their element. (This is quite a feat, considering that the band had often expressed disdain for licensing their music for use in commercial ventures.) Thor has come into his own as a protagonist, and often indulges in one-liners or comedic turns of phrase to consistently keep the audience enthused. Even moments that hint at personal disappointment are played for laughs, like when he debates with Loki who dumped who concerning his ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster. When Thor and Loki visit Earth to bring their father home, they are intercepted by Dr. Strange, who tells Thor that there are other forces at work--even "wizards" like himself--that hold power in the universe which he has yet to understand. Thor professes that he has been seeking the Infinity Stones, setting the stage for the next entry in the Marvel movies, Avengers: Infinity War. Thor: Ragnarok is a vibrant and often uproarious counterpoint to both prior and subsequent episodes of the MCU featuring Thor, where the trip away from reality is a wild and exciting adventure.
Recommended for: Fans of a superhero movie that juggles dramatic tension with comedy--from one-liners to anachronistic quips--set amid vivid sci-fi and fantasy vistas that are a wonder to behold. Between Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Marvel suggests that space is a pretty funny place to be on the whole, compared to Earth and all that awkward "superhero registration" stuff.
Thor: Ragnarok also takes a page from Marvel's own sci-fi series, Guardians of the Galaxy, offering a greater ratio of humor to drama than its predecessors. This seems paradoxical for a film with an apocalyptic, world-ending event as its subtitle, but Thor: Ragnarok alternates its focus between Thor's occasionally absurd quest to escape Sakaar and Hela's brutal assault on Asgard. Hela--and her outlandishly spiky helmet-hair--savagely rips through Asgard's defenders, recruiting a cowardly "executioner" named Skurge (Karl Urban) to facilitate her reign in blood. She tasks him with reclaiming the missing sword to activate the Bifröst after Heimdall (Idris Elba) absconded with it during his exodus with the survivors from her invasion, subsequently turning them into a resistance force to defend Asgard from her. Hela is a villainess who Odin (Anthony Hopkins) refers to as the "Goddess of Death"--saying this with a brackishness that tells of a partnership that ended poorly. Hela's resentment for her father recalls Loki's feelings of inadequacy; she indignantly proclaims that Odin buried the true, bloody legend of the advent of Asgard beneath a false veneer of peaceful dominion. Hela's imprisonment in some nether-realm for millennia has done nothing to soften her rage, which she enthusiastically vents on any who stand in her way. She is given to bouts of smirking diabolism, proffering caustic barbs of dialogue before impaling her opponents on blades manifested from thin air. If Hela's scenes are more tragic, Thor's interactions on Sakaar are light-hearted comedy by comparison. This includes gleeful inside jokes, like when Thor is sold to The Grandmaster, and before meeting his new keeper, he experiences a vivid and unnerving display of light and sound deliberately designed to recall Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory--complete with the melody from "Pure Imagination" playing in the background. This underscores that Thor: Ragnarok eschews dull realism for a full-blown binge of escapism. Thor: Ragnarok also prominently features Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in a pair of climactic battle scenes, heightening the rush of the on-screen action, with lyrics describing the Norse gods in their element. (This is quite a feat, considering that the band had often expressed disdain for licensing their music for use in commercial ventures.) Thor has come into his own as a protagonist, and often indulges in one-liners or comedic turns of phrase to consistently keep the audience enthused. Even moments that hint at personal disappointment are played for laughs, like when he debates with Loki who dumped who concerning his ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster. When Thor and Loki visit Earth to bring their father home, they are intercepted by Dr. Strange, who tells Thor that there are other forces at work--even "wizards" like himself--that hold power in the universe which he has yet to understand. Thor professes that he has been seeking the Infinity Stones, setting the stage for the next entry in the Marvel movies, Avengers: Infinity War. Thor: Ragnarok is a vibrant and often uproarious counterpoint to both prior and subsequent episodes of the MCU featuring Thor, where the trip away from reality is a wild and exciting adventure.
Recommended for: Fans of a superhero movie that juggles dramatic tension with comedy--from one-liners to anachronistic quips--set amid vivid sci-fi and fantasy vistas that are a wonder to behold. Between Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Marvel suggests that space is a pretty funny place to be on the whole, compared to Earth and all that awkward "superhero registration" stuff.