Twilight of the Gods: Regarding Thor - Ragnarok

Marvel Studios had never quite been sure how to handle Thor but were at a consensus from all those involved including Chris Hemsworth that things needed to be taken in a different direction after The Dark World's tepid response. The initial reports were that the original script for Ragnarok, the prophesied end of Asgard, was the darkest one written for the MCU yet which didn't sit well with producer Kevin Feige; they'd tried dark fantasy and nobody seemed to care. What they ended up doing was something that was the most metal entry in the expanding canon but also somehow the funniest film in the already light-hearted MCU; it plays more like a sci fi comedy without managing being a total parody of the genre.

A lot of that comes from hiring New Zealander Taika Waititi, best known for writing and directing indie comedies, to helm the third solo outing for Odinson. Under his purview, what could have been a very somber last stand of Asgard became something more akin to Big Trouble in Little China where the protagonist thinks he's a big deal but finds himself over his head in a strange setting. While the principal antagonists of Hela and Surtur were retained as well as the Nordic space kingdom's final fate (I really hope there aren't any Warriors Three fans around), it was decided to give the whole thing a buddy-feel with Thor teaming with Hulk on a faraway planet as the last two films had dealt so heavily on Asgard.

They still have to work out their issues first.

What makes Thor: Ragnarok work really is the fact that Marvel has no problem with Waititi and company poking fun at the entire concept and Hemsworth comfortable with completely deflating the character that made him a worldwide superstar; he is surprisingly one of the consistently funniest actors in the film while the opener with a line-for-line reenactment of the most melodramatic scenes from The Dark World but totally played for laughs let's you know exactly what kind of movie this is. The fact that Hemsworth has such good comedic chemistry with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner is just gravy; we don't even see the Hulk's alter ego until the end of the second act.

Who is hilariously more out of place than his green counterpart.

Of course, it's not all laughs despite the presence of Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster and Waititi himself appearing as cheerful rock man Korg. The entire Asgardian military is laid to waste with magical appear-out-nowhere knives. Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie is hiding out on the alien world of Sakaar where the bulk of the film takes place drinking herself into an oblivion haunted by all she's lost to Hela. Odin himself dies which Thor personally holds Loki accountable for. Watching the Hulk punching himself in the face in a vain effort to keep from reverting back to Banner because he's finally found a place where he's accepted is a heartbreaking sight. The entire underlying theme of the film is how to find home when home doesn't exist anymore. Not exactly a barrel of laughs in that.

What doesn't work is anytime the action isn't on Thor himself. Every time the focus shifts from the delightfully bizarre adventures of Thor and Hulk on Sakaar and back to Hela's conquest of Asgard, the film kind of drags. Waititi gives Blanchett free reign to chew the scenery as Hela and she does it like an all you can eat buffet but none her jokes really land and she's never all that intimidating a foe. To her credit, she's never particularly boring which is more than some other villains in the MCU can muster. Karl Urban's Skurge is fine and he elevates the material above mere buffoon sidekick but we don't necessarily give a shit about him when he makes his last stand. Some of the visual effects in what is the clear slapdash reshoot material (Thor and Loki in Norway) is painfully obvious. But the end product quite impressively balances these lesser elements with comedy and moments that feel like they should belong on an Iced Earth album cover.

I wasn't really feeling a third Thor movie so I kind of rolled my eyes when it was all first announced but it's me so I knew I was going to see it regardless. But there is no MCU movie where I've laughed harder or more often than Thor: Ragnarok. Taking retro-punk cues from Guardians of the Galaxy, Ragnarok boasts a synth-driven soundtrack, Dune-esque scavenger designs matched with Flash Gordon style color schemes, and loads of neon; it's the Guardians sequel I wish we got, in a way. Intentionally absurd because it realizes the whole premise is patently ridiculous, Thor: Ragnarok finally gets the God of Thunder down on the third try.