‘ THOR’ WINNER
Loose, funny new Marvel movie succeeds by making the God of Thunder far from invincible
their big crossover moment in 2018’ s “Avengers: Infinity War.”
“Ragnarok” begins with Thor saying goodbye to his father, Odin ( Anthony Hopkins), shortly after reuniting with brother Loki ( Tom Hiddleston), who isn’t dead after all because Tom Hiddleston is far too fantastic playing Loki for the Marvel movie universe to really and truly kill off Loki.
Loki and Thor have gone through more estrangements and reconciliations and betrayals and rinses and repeats than sibling characters on a 1980s daytime soap opera. Thor even points out the act is getting old, and he’s got to stop falling for Loki’s sincerity act only to get the rug pulled out from under him once again.
For a while the boys do team up — against Hela, a casually murderous goddess who costumes it up like vintage Vegas Cher and speaks in grand tones, as if Will Shakespeare has written her lines.
Cate Blanchett is as great as you’d expect her to be playing Hela, who is actually kind of sad and tragic. Yes, there’s the whole Goddess of Death thing, and that’s not nice, but Hela’s brothers didn’t even know of her existence until recently, and that really irks her, and she doesn’t have any real friends save for the giant zombie warrior dudes she recently resurrected from the grave, and even if she assumes her rightful place on the throne in Asgard, where’s the fun in that if everyone is dead or in chains?
At least Grandmaster loves his work. ( And nobody does a better Jeff Goldblum impersonation than Jeff Goldblum. He’s flat- out hilarious as the always upbeat dictator.)
Screenwriters Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson and director Waititi also came up with a clever way to make the Hulk more interesting. For two years running, we learn, it’s been all Hulk, no Bruce Banner — but a slight trace of Banner’s wit and personality has managed to work its way into the Hulk’s DNA. Hulk now funny. Tessa Thompson makes for a badass Valkryie, Idris Elba is perfectly cast as the selfless and fearless Heimdall and Karl Urban has some shining moments as Skurge, whose survival instincts clash with the instincts of his better self.
What an outstanding cast. They all came to play.
The only thing I enjoyed more than the comedy in “Thor: Ragnarok” was a climactic battle sequence synced perfectly to Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” The hammer of the gods We’ll drive our ships to new lands To fight the horde, and sing and cry Valhalla, I am coming! Damn straight.