Is 'Thor: Ragnarok' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
Director Taika Waititi's direction for "Thor: Ragnarok" certainly won a lot of people over in trailers. The Jack Kirby-influenced visuals and snappy humor are a big departure from the relatively humdrum fantasy elements of previous "Thor" flicks. Will the movie win audiences over when it premieres on November 3? Well, Jeff Goldblum's in it, so how could it not? Here's what the reviews have to say:
There's A Good Amount Of Setup Before Thor's Thrown Into Gladiator Captivity
Back on Asgard, Thor's wizened father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) has gone missing, and his estranged adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is overseeing the kingdom with an egomaniacal grip. Thor thought Loki died at the end of "Thor: The Dark World," and that ruse has become lore that Loki relishes by ordering a hilarious Asgardian play reenacting the earlier movie's rather cheesy finale.
Further competition for Odin's throne arrives in the form of the brothers' long-lost sister, Hela (Blanchett). A Norse terror with a Goth streak who lives up to the title of Goddess of Death, she's been redacted from Asgard's history and isn't happy about it. Once she smooths back her hair and her antler headgear appears, she's capable of laying waste to whole armies single-handedly. While Hela puts a reluctant Skurge (Karl Urban) to work as her henchman, Thor somehow manages to become a prisoner again, this time on the planet Sakaar.
From The Movie's Cold-Open, Waititi's Hilariously Weird Sensibilities Are On Full Display
Waititi's interest in intimate stories was evident in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but it's the knack for dry comedy that he brought to the mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows that shapes the new Thor. He sets the party-on tone in the movie's first, jokey moments. Soon, with a jolt of Led Zeppelin's 47-year-old "Immigrant Song" fitting the action like a custom-made gauntlet, he brings majestic spectacle down to rock 'n' roll showtime.
It's amazing that Waititi — a newbie in the jungle of corporate filmmaking — was able to inject so much of his unique voice into such a committee-approved juggernaut. (As a footnote, he also lends his hilarious down-under line readings to one of Ragnarok's biggest scene-stealing side characters: an alien who looks like big blue pile of quarry rubble named Korg). He's proof that these films can and should get a little weirder.
Rather than taking any of what happens seriously, co-writers Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost seem to have anticipated the film's own "Mystery Science Theater 3000" track, incorporating self-aware punchlines throughout. The script pokes fun at the movie's plot, production design, locations and past adventures.
[Variety]
The Visuals In 'Raganok' Live Up To The Wildest Aspects Of Marvel's Outer Space Heroes And Villains
Ragnarok is a doodle notebook full of teenage daydreams, a neon-infused fantasy of what superhero films could look like. There are gigantic monsters and beautiful women; zombie armies and a big spooky dog; an evil witch and Jeff Goldblum, but this isn't just a wacky movie made for the sake of wackiness. Ragnarok is the child of confident filmmaking and understanding of what the Thor franchise could have always been.
[Polygon]
Sakaar's a remarkable vision that suggests the decrepit outer limits of the "Star Wars" universe, where Jedi rejects go to brood, and the Grandmaster towers over it all as a gigantic hologram in one of the movie's most outrageous images.
Chris Hemsworth's Never Been Funnier As Thor
Hemsworth continues his streak (both in the Marvel movies and in the "Ghostbusters" remake) as a daft performer who knows how to use his almost exaggeratedly perfect physical features as part of the joke. (Balancing, and intertwining, sex and humor make him the 21st century version of Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield.) His comic rapport with Hiddleston, Ruffalo and especially Thompson goes a long way toward making the film such a screwball delight.
[The Wrap]
He really embraces the idea of Thor as a good-intentioned meathead, always trying to do the right things for the right reasons, but never quite as clever as he so clearly fancies himself. There's always been humor in the Marvel films, and in Thor in particular, but this reimagined version of the character serves up a knowing nod and wink for practically the entire film's running time.
The relatively laidback angle on all the murderous spree-ing gives Chris Hemsworth a chance to find the comic groove beneath the title character's beefcake godliness. He does it expertly, and the self-mocking humor is all the more welcome given Thor's essential blandness.
Thor And Mark Ruffalo's Hulk Fit The 'Buddy Movie' Angle Effortlessly
Hulk and Thor have a "Withnail & I in space" vibe where they cannot seem to escape from their vacation together. It ties back to the ending of Ultron and while those plot points seem so long ago, there's a cruelty in their delivery that does more with Whedon's story than Whedon was capable of. That's only a fraction of this movie and I'm still putting together the pieces of how a franchise film can do a weird aside this well.
[Polygon]
The best surprise of Ragnarok? Both sides of Hulk, the rage monster and the insecure genius, get more to do than in their prior two Avengers appearances. Even tonal issues can't upend the magic this movie taps into putting Thor and Hulk together as new best buddies, whether they're throwing down in an arena or having a bromantic heart-to-heart.
Blanchett, Goldblum And The Rest Of The Main Cast All Have A Blast With Their Roles Too
Goldblum's trademark brand of stammering deadpan fits perfectly into this scenario, while Blanchett walks away with the movie; verbally, she plays like Dame Diana Rigg channeling both Joan Crawford and Eve Arden, and her physical slink (in one of Marvel Comics' most wonderfully baroque costumes) calls to mind the sexy evil robot from "Metropolis."
[The Wrap]
Karl Urban gets a noteworthy character arc as janitor-turned-executioner Skurge, Goldblum plays Grandmaster as a combo of Richard Dawson and Skrillex, and [Tessa] Thompson is the rookie standout as Valkyrie, who definitely needs to be around the next time Avengers assemble.
[The Grandmaster is] also one of the Elders of the Universe, a team of knowingly cheesy supervillains best known these days from the "Guardians" movies, but make no mistake — this is Jeff Goldblum, having a blast under wild face paint and eye-rolls galore.
Blanchett snarls and cackles and purrs brimstone threats. And watching her, you can't help but get a sense of deja-vu. After all, she's already done this shtick as the Wicked Stepmother in Disney's live-action remake of Cinderella. She's also essentially doing exactly what Angelina Jolie did in Maleficent and what Charlize Theron did in Snow White and the Huntsman.
If Anything Drags This Movie Down, It's When The Marvel Movie Formula Resurfaces From Under All The Fun
Audiences committed to the ongoing expansion of the Marvel screen universe will come away feeling respected for their devotion, while those who aren't interested in the set-up for the next ten movies in the franchise can have fun and get on with their lives.
[The Wrap]
There are massive battles, world-ending stakes, and massive computer-generated creatures. They're arguably some of the weakest parts of the movie, but not because Waititi can't deliver on the spectacle. He does so incredibly well, injecting real visual flair into the proceedings as he toys with a budget and sense of scale he's never had access to as a filmmaker. But when the film shifts gears into traditional Marvel mode, it prompts a twinge of regret, because no fight sequence can live up to the eccentricity that runs through the rest of the film.
I get the why-mess-with-success impulse. Especially when there's so much money to be made in movies like this. But even the most diehard comic-book fan has to be getting a bit exhausted by a narrative formula that's become as thin and watered down as skim milk.
There's some world-building lore and backstory that fails to answer the complicated questions that the film asks, probably because it just wasn't nearly as much fun as everything else happening on screen.
[Polygon]
TL;DR
There are no sacred cows in Waititi's movie, and fans who prefer their superheroes straight-faced and without meta-commentary might chafe at its irreverence. But the willingness to play with genre tropes is one of the most exciting things about Thor: Ragnarok.
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