Thor: Ragnarok

I knew I'd get around to seeing it eventually. Just had to wait until it hit Netflix.

It's a very pretty movie, lots of bright colors. It was overbearing during the intro to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), but that was intentional. He's extravagant and really irritating, of course the pathway to him would be full of annoying AV work. Actually, I had a similar reaction to the theatrical "tribute" to Loki's sacrifice. No wonder those two got along so well. What a couple of hams.

It's funny, too, all the way through. Chris Hemsworth really does seem better suited to comedy than action hero stuff, physique to the contrary. I still wish his Thor would talk more smack. Maybe it would seem off, given how frequently he gets humiliated in this movie, and he was supposed to learn the whole "humility" thing in the first movie. But I kinda miss Thor bragging and talking shit, even when he's getting his butt kicked. Hemsworth and Hiddleston have good chemistry, where their characters have a certain likeable rhythm and get along, but can't bring themselves to entirely trust each other. Loki continues to not be half as clever as he thinks he is. Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie character is a lot of fun. It's nice to throw someone new into the mix to interact with these characters that are all familiar with each other.

Kind of bummed they offed the Warriors Three so casually. And no Jamie Alexander as Sif at all, kind of a bummer. Guess it's better than her being killed, since I don't expect these Asgardians to do the rebirth thing the way the ones in the comics do.

My brain continued its bizarre pattern of seeing Karl Urban and initially thinking he's Gerard Butler. I still don't know why I constantly get those two confused.

I think the constant humor works against the film in the same way it does in Deadpool 2. Not as badly as it does in that film, since Ragnarok isn't going for nonstop jokes. Banner realizing he lost two whole years of his life while Hulk had the wheel should probably be a bigger deal for him. But it's mostly jokes about his confusion, and how Bruce is not really suited for this situation. I kind of felt the same way about the surprise move to stop Hela at the end. It was a clever move; I figured when the movie used Surtur as a throwaway threat five minutes in that he was going to make a comeback later, but I didn't expect him to be used that way. But it still sort of felt like it was supposed to be funny? Maybe it was Cate Blanchett's "oh crap" look right before the end. Reminds me of the Coyote watching the boulder roll downhill towards him. Or Korg's big speech about home being rendered completely useless two seconds later, although you knew there was a punchline coming.

But the movie goes along at a nice clip, there's almost always something happening or being said to keep my interest. I enjoyed some of the musical choices. The big fight between Thor and Hulk was good. Not my favorite fight scene in a Marvel movie, but not bad at all. Taika Waititi seemed to have a clear idea of the kind of movie he wanted to make, and he mostly pulled it off.

The part where Hela represents Asgard's bloody imperialist past, which Odin subsequently tried to whitewash once he figured he'd conquered enough, that was good. Although I'd always thought it was just that there were 9 Realms, and the Asgardians lived in one of them, not that they ruled all 9. But movies and comics, not the same. We know Odin had warred against the Frost Giants before. He'd no doubt frame it as aggression by them, the Frost Giants being ungrateful for the blessings the Asgardians bestowed upon them. But it's not unlikely they were reacting to past aggression by him. Or maybe the Frost Giants were also a group bent on conquest, the Asgardians were just better at it.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie. Easily my favorite of the Thor films, which is an admittedly low bar to clear. The movie having vibrant colors was going to give it a big advantage over the other two all by itself.