Thor blimey! It’s a total Marvel
Thor: Ragnarok is the third of the stand-alone films to feature the Marvel Comics’ version of the long-haired, hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder. Played by the hunky former Home And Away star Chris Hemsworth, he’s also featured in two of the Avengers films and at least one of the postcredit sequences that I normally forget to stay for. That’s a lot of Thor, given that the first film was only released six years ago.
But, for once, there is no need for this sort of familiarity to breed contempt. Because Thor: Ragnarok, directed by the up-and-coming New Zealand director Taika Waititi, isn’t just the best of the stand-alone Thor films, it’s one of the best Marvel adaptations ever. It’s funny, spectacular and wonderfully faithful to its comic-book origins.
A welcome shift in style and direction is heralded by an opening that, for once, does not feature Anthony Hopkins’ Odin banging portentously on about the ‘nine realms’, ‘frost giants’ or ‘dark elves’. Instead, we’re straight in with the banter and the fun, as Thor locks flaming horns – and hammers, of course – with the giant demon, Surtur. You’ll recognise him from previous films – about the size of a mountain, filled with fire, big horny crown on his head… that’s the one.
You’d think Thor would have
no chance, but this is the Marvel universe, of course, so with one bound and several swings of that mighty hammer, he’s free. And we’re off on what turns out to be a free-wheeling and somewhat episodic adventure underpinned by one big central idea – that Thor must prevent Ragnarok, the ancient prophecy that foretells of the destruction of his home planet of Asgard. Put like that, you might imagine that all portentousness has not been cast entirely aside but you’d be wrong. Waititi’s last film might have been the arthouse comedy Hunt For The Wilderpeople, but he cut his comedy teeth with Flight Of The Conchords and it shows. He knows what funny is, a matter put beyond doubt when he also provides the wonderfully unassuming voice for Korg, the rock-covered behemoth who’s one of the film’s funniest characters. The film is packed with cameos, some very much part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, others less so… as far as we know. So while an early playwithin-a-film sequence allows the likes of Matt Damon and Sam Neill to sneak fleetingly into the fun, Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow) and Benedict Cumberbatch (as Dr Strange) also briefly grace the screen although, for the latter, I’m struggling to explain why.
A game Cate Blanchett has a more central role. Channelling a bizarre Goth-themed mix of Marilyn Manson, Edward Scissorhands and Tim Curry in Legend mode, she plays Hela, Thor’s elder and very powerful sister who just happens to be the Goddess of Death. Which she dispenses liberally as she attempts to take control of Asgard.
Channelling a more obvious mix of his unmistakeable self and Donald Sutherland as President Snow in The Hunger Games is an onform Jeff Goldblum, who plays the Grandmaster and who buys Thor to fight in his beloved gladiatorial games. But there’s something very familiar about his opponent – in a very large, very green, very angry way. Oh look, he’s in the trailer… it’s Hulk.
Look out too for Rachel House, the New Zealand actress who plays the Grandmaster’s no-nonsense sidekick. She’s scene-stealingly good, somewhat overshadowing Tessa Thompson’s slightly underpowered Valkyrie.
The visual effects don’t always convince – especially when it’s one character taking on a computer-generated cast of hundreds – but they’re not meant to. They’re meant to be fun, which they certainly are, and they rise to the occasion too, especially in the arena, where Loki (yes he’s back too, played by Tom Hiddleston) enjoys seeing his brother on the receiving end of some very rough treatment, and for the final battle, which is properly splendid.
At over two hours, the film is at least 15 minutes too long and the pace does drag occasionally, especially on the Grandmaster’s planet. The decision to also pursue laughs at almost any cost (I can’t even tell you the crude name of the wormhole they all escape through) robs the story of much of the poignancy and romance that it might otherwise have had a chance of delivering. But these are minor quibbles – Thor: Ragnarok is great superhero fun and, if that’s your kind of thing at all, pretty much unmissable.
‘It is packed with cameos, some very much part of the Marvel Universe, others less so...’