OK, before we get into discussing why you should see Thor: Ragnarok, we’re going to ignore for a moment that the title of this post misspells “ragnarök” as “ragnarok.” I’m sure if it were a section of Taika Watiti’s Thor movie, there would be a “devil’s anus” joke to riff on here. And I’m a bit disappointed that a movie willing to use Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” not once, but twice, didn’t get an umlaut in its title.
But such petty concerns are beside the point. I loved this movie. It was exactly as fun as I hoped it would be.
And, in its many departures from Norse mythology, it actually uses them to make a point. Unlike the first two Thor movies (which I enjoyed in their own right), Taika Watiti’s Thor: Ragnarok finds a way to make the Marvel superhero Thor both epic and funny. (In Thor, he was funny, but not epic. In Thor: The Dark World, he was epic, but not exactly funny.)
It calls back to (and subverts) Thor and Thor: The Dark World
Kenneth Branagh’s Thor was, at its heart, a family drama. Branagh, an actor’s actor, put together a stellar cast who were note-perfect. But there was an acknowledgement in the movie itself that Thor, as a superhero, was a second-stringer. Who is this guy? Why should we care about the god of thunder? Why aren’t we getting a good Spider-Man movie? But the movie established the interior conflict between Loki, Odin and Thor that has been a mainstay in the three movies. Is Odin telling the whole truth about things? Is Thor making the wisest use of his power, or just messing things up? And come on, whose side is Loki on, anyway (or: what would make for the most amusing outcome)?
Thor: The Dark World marked a shift in tone to epic fantasy, spending less time in our world (a.k.a. Midgard) and more in Asgard and the Nine Realms of Norse myths. But the story included plenty of ties to our world, with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) as Thor’s love interest and, essentially, the film’s macguffin, once dark elf Malekith infuses her with the “aether” which is given a veneer of backstory via Odin’s narration at the opening of the movie. Like the first movie, The Dark World indulges in the ridiculous, with shoes being dropped between worlds, dimensional rifts causing bizarre problems for Thor’s hammer Mjölnir as it tries to return to his hand, and other quirks. But the strongest part of the movie remains the shifting nature of Thor’s relationship with Loki, and Loki’s with Odin.
In my opinion, one of the strongest aspects of Thor: Ragnarok is how it riffs on the first two movies while subverting both of them.
It plays fast and loose with Norse mythology, but that’s OK
Thor: Ragnarok is also a blast.
Which is why I can forgive its loose-at-best grip on the myths. Hela as Odin’s daughter? (And whom no one knew about except Odin? HOW DO YOU KEEP A GODDESS OF DEATH SECRET?) Gah. Fenris? FENRIS? IT’S FENRIR, YOU MORONS. As well as the all-new backstory for Asgard, which apparently only Hela and Odin were aware of. As Hela taunts Thor later, while revelling in her cruelty and destruction, Odin set the template for Asgard as a rapacious, conquering nation: “Where do you think all this gold came from?” Considering one’s home country’s sordid-and-now-whitewashed history is one of the thought-provoking nuggets laid in among the often-madcap adventuring.
The first two Thor movies began with Odin (Anthony Hopkins) doing the heavy lifting of exposition. In Thor, he explained how the Aesir, or Norse gods, fought against the Frost Giants to protect humanity. In Thor: The Dark World, he laid out the earlier history of the universe to explain who the Dark Elves were and what they wanted the world-destroying aether for. (Given the “aether” it’s pretty clear The Dark World was also playing fast and loose with Norse mythology.)
But in Thor: Ragnarok, it’s Thor himself who gets to tell the story. From the beginning Waititi makes it clear this is going to be a different type of Thor movie, with Thor imprisoned and chatting up a skeleton. His interrogation by Surtur, Fire Giant, who is destined to destroy Asgard in Ragnarök, is played just as lightly. The battle that follows, with Led Zeppelin’s bombastic “The Immigrant Song” blaring, finishes setting up what audiences can expect from the rest of the movie: humour, action, and the end of the world.
It’s also willing to upend a lot more of what we “know” from previous Thor movies. The Warriors Three from Marvel comics are shuffled out of the story unceremoniously. Jane Foster is written out as having dumped Thor (“It was a mutual dumping,” he protests to his fans). And Sif (Jaimie Alexander) is nowhere to be seen.
Thor: Ragnarok lets the actors (and audience) have fun
I won’t rehash all of my favourite moments, or this post will go on far too long. (Though it will be a crime against cinema if Anthony Hopkins doesn’t get an award for playing Tom Hiddleston playing Loki playing Odin.) This Thor movie, however, still finds time to explore the Thor-Loki dynamic, show what Thor can do bereft of his hammer, and gives audiences the Thor-Hulk buddy movie they never knew they wanted.
There are plenty of moments between the core characters Thor and Loki, Thor and Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) as well as Valkyrie and Hulk/Bruce Banner, and Valkyrie and Loki. Oh and let’s not forget Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster. If you wanted a superhero movie in which the actors are stealing scenes from each other left and right, look no further.
One of my favourite parts in the latter half of the movie comes during the elevator scene where Thor shows a lot of insight into Loki’s character that Loki clearly didn’t give him credit for.
The Marvel movie Thor has grown up a lot, in Waititi’s handling of him. For one thing, he sees through Loki now, clearly having learned from the previous two outings. (I don’t include The Avengers, since it seemed the writers of that movie never quite knew what to do with Thor or Loki, beyond lining them up on opposing sides.) Thor and Loki taking an elevator up to where they are about to stage a daring escape is one of the best quiet scenes in the movie.
One phrase: “Let’s do ‘Get Help'”
And then the scene caps off with the ridiculous suggestion that the godlike brothers pull one of their old ploys, mysteriously referred to as “Get Help.” Even before we know whats involved, there is a lovely moment between Thor and Loki, in which Thor seems eager to play god of deception for once, and Loki pushing back.
They made ‘The Immigrant Song’ work not once but twice
I knew from the moment Led Zeppelin’s iconic, wailing, growling song about vikings and Iceland popped up in the first teaser trailer that this was going to be a different kind of Thor movie. That promise was borne out. And, thanks to its apt use during Thor’s battle with Surtur in Muspelheim, the tune becomes somewhat of a theme song, which is called back to during the climax of the film. (Also: consider where the Aesir are left by the end of the movie. “The Immigrant Song” is appropriate on many levels.)
It didn’t get bogged down in Marvel mythology
The obvious callback to both Norse myths and Walter Simonson’s defining run on Marvel Comics’ Thor was the introduction of Surtur. In the comics, Simonson spent the better part of a year building up the character’s arrival. In Thor: Ragnarok, we have barely five minutes with Surtur at the beginning. So, it’s not exactly “The Surtur Saga.” There are other connections: Skurge (“the Executioner”) is an old Marvel character whom Simonson gave an epic exit, battling Hela’s forces. In Thor: Ragnarok, Skurge (Karl Urban) gets a similar moment of truth. There is another callback, when Thor refers to Loki having turned him into a frog. Thor-as-frog was one of Simonson’s more famous mini-arcs.
Still, trying to compress the greatness of Simonson’s run into an entire series of movies, never mind a single movie, would be a fool’s errand.
Just see it
In conclusion: it’s great. One of the best Marvel movies, up there with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (if vastly different in tone).
What did you think of Thor: Ragnarok? Let me know in the comments!
