The Ipes went to see Thor: Ragnarok on opening night. I’m still not sure how that happened exactly — I mean it’s opening night. I went through Fandango, found some reserved seats at an AMC theater on Rt 1, and booked them. Unexpected good luck, but take it when you can get it.
This is the third Thor film, and directed by Taika Waititi, an indie filmmaker. The story combines some of the Planet Hulk comics storyline with a little of the current state of Asgard at the moment, and that’s all I can really say about that without giving too much away. As you can gather from the various trailers, Thor loses much going up against Hela, and has to find his way back to save Asgard. He’ll meet various supporting characters along the way, like Loki, Valkyrie, and Bruce Banner (semi-stuck in Hulk form.) The villain in the film is primarily Hela, played by vampy Cate Blanchett who spends much of the film chewing the scenery.
In my opinion, the theme of the film is change. The film beats had to change, because it can’t be the same as what has come before. Thor was stranded on Earth and had to prove himself worthy to get Mjolnir back and be Thor again. We’ve had buddy Marvel films before, and nothing really changes or experienced meaningful big stakes that won’t be reset later.
** Minor Spoilers **
In the trailers, we’ve seen that Odin is stranded on Earth. Hela destroys Mjolnir. Thor loses his hair. There’s more, but generally nothing lasts forever. There’s a scene where Thor and Loki are talking about how Thor is always trusting his brother, and Loki is always betraying him. It’s this cycle, and Thor acknowledges that he can’t keep doing that.
** End of Minor Spoilers **
What I liked about the film was Waititi not being afraid to make a different sort of Marvel MCU film. To be free to let go of expectations, and to lose the reset button. No one, and no thing, was the same by the end of the film. Everyone was forced to change. That’s life, and it’s important to talk about it, because expecting things to NOT change is not realistic.
There was a lot of comedy elements in the film, which made it pretty enjoyable. I did find that the comedy at times undercut the serious of the situation, so I think it wasn’t all a homerun. Overall, very good film, and enjoyable.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)