Road to Endgame: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

I don't know about you, but when Thor: Ragnarok was announced way back when, I was far from hyped. The first two Thor movies were bland, small-scale fantasy movies and the titular character was absolutely nobody's favourite Avenger.

The man, the myth, the legend.

Of course, Ragnarok had one man that none of the other MCU films had: Taika Waititi (right). Director of quirky, independent New Zealand comedies such as Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Eagle vs Shark, it was probably his 2014 vampire mockumentary (and his best film, in my opinion) What We Do in the Shadows, which he co-directed and starred in with Jemaine Clement, which caught Marvel Studios' eye and showed he had an aptitude for fantasy material. It even contained a joke based around a Marvel character, Blade, as did Boy, wherein a character likens himself to the Hulk. Marvel had so much trust in him, in fact, that they allowed him to have a large amount of creative involvement, resulting in Ragnarok feeling more like a Waititi film than any other Marvel movie.

It's no surprise, in hindsight, that this film is great. See, this is what happens when you a) hire an accomplished writer/director, and b) just let him do his/her thing. Nothing is accomplished by helicopter parenting these movies.

The best stylistic choice in Ragnarok was leaving the semi-realism of Earth-based MCU behind, along with the Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy of the first two Thors, and embracing the weird and wonderful nature of comic book science fiction, with a bit of Star Wars and Flash Gordon thrown in for good nature. I, for one, miss the days when sci-fi was about adventure and fun. The greatest sci-fi film of recent years is, arguably, Blade Runner 2049 (released in the same year as Ragnarok), and while that film is an absolute masterpiece, it'd be nice to have more movies in the vein of the original Star Wars and the things that inspired it.

The Grandmaster: one of
the many roles Jeff Goldblum
was born to play.

Ragnarok definitely scratches this itch. The worldbuilding is fantastic and the action set-pieces are effortlessly creative. The scenes on the gladiator planet Sakaar are where this movie really shines. Here we are introduced to a plethora of distinctive, hilarious supporting characters, including the Grandmaster, played with understated egoism by Jeff Goldblum (who hasn't had a role as perfect for him in years), my personal favourite Korg, a humanoid pile of blue rocks voiced by Waititi himself, and Valkyrie, a former Asgardian warrior played by Tessa Thompson.Valkyrie in particular is a nice change of pace from the uber-perfect female MCU characters as a depressed, hard-drinking ex-defender of Asgard. I had a memory of Ragnarok being the movie that ruined Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, but no, his character arc in here feels like a natural progression from Age of Ultron (it used to bother me that one of SHIELD's quinjets was able to fly from Earth to Sakaar, but in Captain Marvel earlier this year, we saw that a Skrull modified one of them to fly into space, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that the organisation later standardised that technology). Banner still hates the idea of turning into Hulk and losing control, and this prospect is made even scarier by the fact that he might not be able to regain control if it happens again. That's why him jumping out of the Commodore on Asgard at the end is such a sacrifice. Yes, it's played for laughs, but Banner could be killing the human side of himself to save the Asgardians. It's a shame that none of the other characters acknowledge this.

Thor 2.0

Ragnarok is perhaps most notable for its revamps of already established MCU characters. It takes Loki and turns him from uninteresting antagonist to kind of a buddy cop for Thor. Tom Hiddleston plays brilliantly off Chris Hemsworth here. The most famous revamp is obviously Thor himself, whose dusty faux-Shakespearean personality is scrapped off-screen for a more jokey, somewhat clueless yet amiable persona. I would like to say that this is a very lazy way to do character development, to completely change a person's personality between movies, but it's hard to complain about because Thor 2.0 is so much better than Thor 1.0. He's immensely likeable and is a much more compelling protagonist. He's also a much better character, as the 'perfect man' of the original Thor (who was basically the most powerful Avenger) is taken down a few notches. He's much more believable and interesting without his overpowered, magical hammer Mjolnir (took me ages to learn how to spell and pronounce that). The changes to his character are also visualised with the cutting of his long hair and, in the finale, the loss of his eye. Thor is finally a character that we can look forward to seeing in the MCU.

That's without mentioning the screenplay. Swapping out screenwriters with venerable comic book writers (who have a better handle on the material), the script is fast-paced, funny and at times touching. The first-act problems that have plagued the other three films I've rewatched for this series are nowhere to be found here; Thor: Ragnarok hits the ground running and barely ever lets up. The visual effects are on top form. This is probably the MCU movie with the best CGI, and as a result, each frame is brimming with colour and unrestricted creativity. There are also a couple of standout VFX sequences, such as the silhouetted scene where the dragon chases Thor, and the flashback battle between Hela and the Valkyries. These moments look more like epic storybook pages or concept art than something out of a film. They blew my mind.

I can't even quantify how great this movie looks from a VFX standpoint.

If the movie has a weak link, it's Asgard. Though the final battle is a lot of fun, whenever the film cuts from Sakaar to Asgard there is a big loss in energy and momentum, because compared to the hyper science fiction of the former scenes, Asgard seems boring by comparison. Hela is also not a very good villain at all. I appreciate that there were motivations established for her character, but she gets all the worst lines, so much so that she feels out of a different movie. Her horns, though they make for a distinctive silhouette and shadow, are very distracting in dialogue scenes, and, in a movie with great special effects, the CGI model for her in fight scenes is painfully obvious. It's also far from Cate Blanchett's best performance (I should know, I come from the same country as her). Karl Urban's Skurge, despite a very funny first scene, also has little more to do than stand there and gape at whatever Hela's up to.

Still, Thor: Ragnarok was a very welcome change of pace from the other three movies that I've watched, which didn't have much style to them. It has a swagger about it, and a sense of humour that no other MCU film could hope to match. Paired with stunning visuals and an engaging story, this is by far the best movie I've watched in this sort-of marathon thus far.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2