The third installment in the Thor series, Thor: Ragnarok once again delivers fans an action-packed, visually-stunning movie experience.
In the Taika Waititi directed film, viewers first find Thor (Chris Hemsworth) attempting to prevent Ragnarok — the prophecy of darkness to destroy Thor’s beloved city of Asgard — by killing the demon beast, Surtur.
After killing Surtur, Thor comes back to Asgard to find that his father has been replaced by his brother, the god of mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Oden (Anthony Hopkins) tells his sons that Ragnarok is still coming in the shape of their sister, the goddess of death, Hela (Cate Blanchett).
While attempting to escape Hela, the two demigods get knocked out of the portal and into another planet where warriors are forced to fight against each other. The ruler of the planet, only known as the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), forces Thor into fighting, claiming that he will let Thor go if he defeats his champion.
A fellow Avenger, The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), soon appears, which sets up a new dynamic duo within The Avengers franchise.
The film does a remarkably good job at completing Thor’s journey to becoming King of Asgard. In the past two movies, viewers have seen Thor find himself be the hero of Earth. Now that his relationship with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has ended, and Earth is protected for the time being, Thor sees this as a good time to focus on his home world and his people.
Nevertheless, Jane Foster’s abrupt departure lacked any emotion. The couple dated for nearly two years, so there should have been more explanation as to why they broke up, rather than a quick and unceremonious sendoff.
Marvel Studios have created a template to how it make its movies, which can make the film’s storyline bland. While most people were probably wanting to see how Thor ended up in the Infinity War, Thor: Ragnarok is more of a filler before the Infinity War hits theaters until next year.
Despite this, Thor: Ragnarok will provide several laughs as its cast has great comedic timing. The humor is easy to understand and comes just in time where it may seem too serious. However, it can seem to be too whimsical at times; after all, they are demigods who are stopping the destruction of their home planet, so there should be times for serious dialogue without humor.
The symbolism in the film plays perfectly with his rise to king — for example, his hammer being destroyed. The hammer is his crutch, and he finds his power beyond the hammer, similar to people finding crutches in things, not willing to let go.
The relationship between Thor and Loki is also captured well through their adventure across the universe. Of course, they do have a very complicated relationship, but at the end of the day, the film shows how they are brothers who care for Asgard.
Overall, Thor: Ragnarok is a great, family-friendly movie with visual effects that make it seem as if these other worlds and dimensions are truly real.
3.5 Thor Hammers out of 4
Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios