Hammer time
‘THOR: RAGNAROK’ TURNS INTO A SMASH HIT UNDER DIRECTOR WAITITI
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) used to be the most boring superhero in the Marvel movie lineup, also known as the Marvel Comic Universe, even though he is also a Norse god.
Now, thanks to the golden touch of Kiwi director Taika Waititi (“What We Do in the Shadows,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), Thor is the funniest and most entertaining superhero, next to the ever-befuddled but always ready to “Smash!” Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). In “Thor: Ragnarok,” the third film in the “Thor” series that began somewhat less than promisingly with “Thor” (2011), the hammerwielding hunk teams with his two frenemies — adoptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and fellow Avenger Hulk, also known as Bruce Banner — to battle first-born sister Hela (Cate Blanchett), also known as goddess of death, and keep her from destroying Asgard.
If it isn't worth the price of admission to hear Blanchett ham it up divinely and strut around in a black and iridescent green catsuit with antler crown costume, I am a pied piper.
Waititi, whose work is marked by a deep love for weirdo characters and a marvelously wacky sense of humor, does not disappoint. Even Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is funny as he makes his divine exit in the form of a swarm of golden sparkles. (What did you think these characters were made of, anyway?)
Thus, Thor, Loki, Hulk and Valkyrie (a charismatic Tessa Thompson of “Westworld,” “Creed”) prepare to take on — Holy “Game of Thrones” — Hela, her executioner Skurge (New Zealander Karl Urban, enlisting a working-class Brit accent), Hela's army of the dead and giant Norse wolf Fenris. This “Thor” movie takes bathing in dragon's blood and turns it into a gooey punchline.
Everyone in the film is a scenestealer. In sequences set on what looks like Planet Landfill, the person in charge named the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) amuses his polymorphously perverse self by forcing a hammerless captive Thor, whom he incorrectly refers to as the “Lord of Thunder,” to get a haircut and then makes him fight in gladiatorial combat. The only way to escape Planet Landfill is to ride — ahem — the Devil's Anus, an interdimensional wormhole.
These scenes also introduce us to a great new character, the rock giant warrior Korg (voiced by Waititi, a seasoned comic actor). An early cameo by Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) himself might seem entirely gratuitous, as do several other cameos, but I'm sure it made the Cumberbatch's agents happy. Only Idris Elba's Heimdall, who tries to save the bewildered inhabitants of Asgard from Hela's army, has to play it straight. But someone has to. Are you ready for Hulk in a hot tub or to kneel before Blanchett's goddess queen? Of course, Led Zeppelin's “Immigrant Song” was always destined to be a “Thor” movie call to arms. “Valhalla, I am coming!”