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Thor: Ragnarok (2017), PG-13, ★★★1/2


I have sort of a love-hate relationship with these Thor movies because it is certainly not the strongest bunch of movies compared to Iron Man and Captain America. The first movie was a thrilling origin story for the character and also catapulted Chris Hemsworth's stardom and also Tom Hiddleston's stardom. It was really those two actors and its special effects that sold the movie. The second movie was forgettable along with its plot, villain and some of the humor. This movie is entirely different from those two movies and in the hands of director Taika Waititi, the movie delivers on a jolt of 80s throwback visuals and fun humor that felt more natural than the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy. The level of high-octane energy matches with the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, making it one of the most fun movies of the MCU franchise.

The movie starts two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron with Thor (Chris Hemsworth), failed in his quest to find the missing Infinity Stones. He is found hanging above a fire pit before being brought to the presence of the fire demon, Surtur. Thor learns from Surtur than Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is not on Asgard and uses his hammer, Mjolnir, to escape and fly back. When he returns to Asgard, Thor finds out that his friend, Heimdall (Idris Elba) is replaced as the sentry of the Bifrost Bridge by Skurge (Karl Urban) as Odin was accused of treason and Heimdall fled from Asgard.

After finding Loki and Odin in Norway, Hela (Cate Blanchett) appears from escaping from prison as Thor throws his hammer to Hela and she destroys it. Loki and Thor enters the portal but Hela enters too and throws both of them at different points from Asgard. Arriving at the Bifrost Bridge, she kills the entire palace-guard single-handledly. Thor is put on a planet that is full of garbage and finds himself attacked by scavengers, lead by the bounty hunter, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). She takes Thor to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), who is delighted with his newest acquisition and puts him to fight against a grand champion which will be none other than the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as Hela assembles her new army and to conquer all the realms.


I had a great time watching this retro-80s Thor movie full of some pop songs and a very cool score by  Mark Mothersbaugh that had those synchronized flavor onto that edginess that really meshes with the comic-book looking movie. And, I think this is the second movie this year that felt like a movie that has been made from passion as the director carefully and thoroughly read the comic books. I felt like that a comic strip was brought to life again along with Homecoming. I'm glad that they changed the tone and direction from being so self-serious to having comedic chops mixed with action and stakes because I felt those two movies were more droll compared to this movie.

Waititi works wells with Hemsworth as he is a charismatic character this time around while also using his abilities to take back Asgard. He has fantastic chemistry with both Ruffalo and Tessa Thompson in this movie as this Thor movie feels like a throwback to action buddy-cop movies like Lethal Weapon in a way as it also blended action and comedy quite well. Tessa Thompson is a stand-out as she spews comedic dialogue and kicks some ass to help Thor out to save Asgard. Cate Blanchett gives a solid performance, however, her character does fit the tone but she does not do much in carrying the narrative as much as solidly become the villain. It is debatable whether or not she will be regarded as one of the best villains which I Amy need to see the movie again. I’ll give a shot out to Karl Urban as the inept bench man as he provides unexpected humor.

The movie is golden in tone but is not golden in driving the narrative or the arc forward in terms of the upcoming Infinity War movie. It is a totally separate movie from the Thor franchise and MCU which is ok. Taika Waititi directing this movie is like a young adult rediscovering gold within the franchise. It is easily the best Thor movie by far as it delivers both great action and great fun. Audiences will get a kick out of this in the theaters.

***1/2


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