Movie Review: Thor Ragnarok

Thor Ragnarok Movie Review:

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins

Director: Taika Waititi

Quick take: Superlative superhero film

Rating: 4 stars

They are called comic books for a reason. They're supposed to be fun, engrossing and of course creative in telling the story of superheroes. In all fairness The Avengers movies always felt like sweeping action epics. The DC movies always felt like Chris Nolan thrillers. Deadpool got the whole comic book treatment bang on. But director Taika Waititi's Thor Ragnarok is the most faithful comic boom superhero movie yet. This movie is just the right amount of funny, outrageous, action-packed and tongue-in-cheek. It just feels like the right kind of superhero movie.

The story goes back to Asgard as Thor has to contend with his evil sister Hela. She's a lot more powerful than him and their first confrontation puts Thor to shame and his trusted hammer Mjölnir broken. Thor and Loki find themselves stranded on a planet called Sakaar. This planet is a giant inter-galactic garbage dump and is ruled by Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) who holds galdiator style matches for entertainment and sport. Here's where Thor and Loki learn more of the Ragnarok prophecy where Asgard is destroyed. The brothers learn to work together in order to save their home from doom.

The story is simple and for most parts jist another bridge towards Avengers: Infinity War. Thor Ragnarok is peppered with lots of moments that just point towards the future of Thor's role in the Infinity War saga. But the quirky and zany treatment make this movie a lot more than just an Avengers universe filler. Waititi manages to cram in jokes, characters and set-pieces by the dozen. Whether its Dr Strange's fabulous cameo or the entire Star Trek-esque adventure on planet Sakaar, this movie serves up a lot of fun with a lot of gall. The action set pieces are relentless and fun. The use of music is fabulous too. The inclusion of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song makes things a little too similar to Wonder Woman that released earlier this year.

Thor Ragnarok is a lot of untamed and crazy fun. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston’s chemistry is fantastic. The banter between Thor and Hulk is downright legendary. The way Waititi manages to capture so much activity and energy in every frame of Thor is fantastic. There's never a dull moment, on the contrary, there are some moments that leave you speechless. Thor's ascension into a lightning charged God of Thunder is actually quite epic.

Thor Ragnarok gets the comic book vibe bang on. Its cool, its funny and most importantly its the right amount of outrageous. Its one of Marvel's best. Heck, it just might be the way comic book superhero adaptations should be. It does stutter once or twice with its frenetic editing and screenplay, but for most parts this superhero saga lands all its punches with flair and sass.