Thor: Ragnarok
Directed by Taika Waititi
Based on the Marvel comics
Third in the Thor franchise
Rated PG
Opens October 25 in the Philippines
POSSIBLE SPOILERS BEWARE
Thor cracks a joke. The Hulk cracks a joke. Loki cracks a joke. Everyone cracks a joke. Who knew that Thor: Ragnarok would be one hell of a Marvel-ous comedy of Hela-rious proportions. (See what I did there? Never mind.)
Years after stopping Malekith’s invasion and the defeat of Ultron in Sokovia by the Avengers, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is on a soul-searching adventure to defeat enemies of Asgard when he and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are accidentally thrown into the far reaches of the universe after Hela (Cate Blanchett) the god of death, reappears to take over Asgard and unleash Ragnarok. Only Thor can stop her, but first he needs to defeat the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in gladiator combat and escape his imprisonment in planet Sakaar, ruled by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum.) I must write down that the escape route is through the “Devil’s Anus.”
First off, it’s a comedy. These Marvel films tend to skew towards the less serious with the Guardian of Galaxy subseries as the most fun-oriented of the lot. Not anymore. The third Thor film is the funniest and campiest (and most colorful?) MCU movie to date.
The film is replete with verbal jokes, sight gags and slapstick that’s goofier than those in Guardians and funnier than the ones in the first Thor movie.
Thor is given a healthy dose of humor – quite different from the first two iterations, which was mainly an airy and arrogant brat. The change is obvious because, c’mon, he loses the Fabio golden locks, and his red cape now hangs from one side. Such sass. I’m digging the new look. Loki too, gets funny – although Loki IS the god of mischief, so cracking a joke here and there would still keep him in character.
But everybody gets to drop a punchline – from the childish Hulk to a paranoid gray-haired Bruce Banner donning a Duran Duran T-Shirt, to Goldblum’s trademark dorky camp, to the venerable Blanchett who sneers with her lips the same way veteran Filipina villainess Celia Rodriguez does (a colleague tells me that Blanchett does a Cherie Gil too in other scenes.) Banter is snappy – it helps that the director is comfortable with funny material. We get a Hemsworth and a Ruffalo who are visibly relaxed playing superheroic buddies.
Blanchett and Valkyrie Tessa Thompson have thin character definition despite the exposure, but Blanchett and Goldblum do make their characters their own. Blanchett’s fellow LOTR alum Karl Urban joins the cast as Hela’s subordinate Skurge, who gets his own moment (more on this later.)
The film is awash in color, with an 80s vibe in color blocking and a 70s vibe in neon lights. I’m on the fence with the synth music by Mark Mothersbaugh (following “In The Face of Evil” by Magic Sword used in the trailer) which sometimes adds to the irreverence, but also distracts at times. Theme music Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin plays three times in key moments in the film, so it gets tiring and predictable.
Ragnarok of course refers to the Norse myth about the end of the world and the death of major deities. That in a key scene Odin (Anthony Hopkins) describes Norway as “home” is a nod to the story’s Scandinavian roots is a nice touch by the writers.
The jokes come at a price, though. At no point in the film do the stakes feel threatening, even after the massive body count and destruction, especially in the final act. Any dramatic moment is ruined by an expected punchline, with the only exception of the scene with Odin. It’s as if Marvel hates getting serious.
Blood and gore may have been kept to a minimum to keep the PG rating, but I must register my disappointment with the use of machine guns (“Des” and “Troy”) as the means to achieve Skurge’s ultimate sacrifice.
However, I’m not sure how consequential the events in Ragnarok are in terms of the MCU/ Infinity Wars storyline (move over to spoilers below as to why.)
We can clearly feel that this series is winding down when there are characters getting killed left and right or saying their wistful goodbyes. Or maybe the budgets is just way too big if each of them is given longer screen times. Same same. I mean, there’s Infinity Wars, and the final Guardians film on 2020. But if Ragnarok is indeed the final Thor film where Asgardians are left drifting in space, the final act seems to be weak and anticlimactic compared to the series’ beginning. Any bittersweet irony of a once-mighty race becoming refugees is almost a forced notion, no thanks to the jokes.
This is entertainment for entertainment’s sake – whether or not the story suggests anything deeper or substantial. This is exactly the type of movie experience referred to when people say, “sit back, relax and enjoy.”
Needless to say, this Marvel movie has a couple of cameos (one “strange,” one outright ridiculous.)
SPOILERS HERE ONWARDS
I WARNED YOU
DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED
HERE GOES
(HIGHLIGHT TEXT TO READ)
So. A few questions about the Infinity gems and what happens in Infinity Wars.
Vision has the Mind Stone. Dr. Strange has the Time Stone. The Orb/Power Stone was left under the protection of Nova Prime.
The Aether/Reality Stone was given to The Collector at the end of Dark World, but the archive exploded after the assistant grabs the Orb in Guardians 1. So, where is the Aether?
The Tesseract/Space Stone was in Odin’s treasure chamber (Hela even acknowledges it) but since Asgard is now a goner, where’s the Tesseract?
Speaking of which, if Hela knows that the Gauntlet in the chamber is a “fake” – does that mean she’s aware of Thanos? Or at least of the stones? If so, why doesn’t she seek for them? I can’t make sense of that scene.
Safe to assume that Thanos, who probably already has the Soul Stone, will go to Asgard and Xandar early in Infinity Wars 1.
Finally, are the Asgardians relocating to Earth? the dying Odin seems to suggest that Thor should bring them “home” in Norway.
End of musings.
acid reflects 
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