The Marvel Cinematic Universe can boast with the reputation of the most commercially successful series in film history, but it's still hard to shake the impression that it's built on shaky foundations. Or, to put it more precisely, many of its parts function only as part of a larger whole, while on their own they fall far short of the quality expected of Hollywood's biggest golden goose. Perhaps the best example of this might be Thor, who could be described as the most popular and likeable of all Marvel's Avengers, but whose first two standalone films in the series have relatively quickly faded from the memory of audiences who aren't among the most passionate fans of Marvel comics or Chris Hemsworth. The third film, titled Thor: Ragnarok, was entrusted to Taika Waititi, a New Zealand director who had won over critics and cinephiles with the wacky low-budget vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows.
In Norse mythology, Ragnarok signifies the destruction of the world, or at least of Thor's homeland Asgard. Such a catastrophe is supposed to be brought about by the fire demon Surtur, whom Thor manages to defeat, but it turns out that Asgard is still in danger. The reason for this is the death of Thor's father, the god Odin (Anthony Hopkins), after which there is no one left to keep a check on his millennia-imprisoned sister Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of death. Against her, even Thor with his hammer Mjolnir stands no chance, and she arrives in Asgard, seizes power and gains the ability to threaten all Nine Realms, including Earth. In an attempt to oppose her, Thor ends up on the planet Sakaar, where he is captured and sold to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), the local ruler who entertains his people with spectacular gladiatorial games. Thor could become one of the stars of the arena, provided he survives a clash with the Grandmaster's top star, who turns out to be none other than the Hulk. Thor must not only win, but also try to awaken in the Hulk his true character as Dr Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), so that together with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) they can try to save Asgard.
The screenwriters of Ragnarok still adhere to the formula used in most Marvel films, so the main hero still has to confront a demonic supervillain threatening to destroy one or more universes, naturally accompanied by a heap of apocalyptic destruction aided by CGI. On the other hand, although they have kept this basic framework, they have allowed themselves a little more creative freedom, both in playing with the comic book source material – so characters and locations that one would expect to survive until the end credits disappear – and in the film's structure itself. Ragnarok thus seems like two films: a routine 'Marvel-esque' and 'serious' epic about saving the universe, into which, somewhere in the middle, a far wackier space adventure is inserted that more closely resembles Flash Gordon or The Fifth Element. Fortunately, this 'wacky' part takes up most of the film, and some of that wackiness lingers on towards the end, where in the obligatory climactic showdown there is room for some unexpected humour.
This time the screenwriters have also been quite generous towards Thor, giving his character some exceptionally good one-liners, and Hemsworth even manages to overshadow Tom Hiddleston in the role of Thor's mischievous brother Loki, who is fun in Ragnarok but ultimately not that important to the film. The choice of Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster also proved excellent; his character – a bumbling yet charismatic villain – manages to quite overshadow Cate Blanchett and her role as the evil goddess. The music by Mark Mothersbaugh, former keyboardist of the band Devo, also makes a rather good impression; his techno sounds provide a refreshing touch and help the 'offbeat' atmosphere considerably. On the other hand, some characters are underused, most notably the Asgardian warrior Skurge, from whom the unrecognisable Karl Urban only manages to get something out of at the end. The same can be said for Idris Elba, who turns in a routine performance as Heimdall. Ragnarok is essentially a good and mostly entertaining film, but the mini-cliffhanger ending, which tells us that the real challenges for Thor and the rest of the Avengers lie in the future, clearly points to the main drawback of films that don't mean much without the wider context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version is available here.)
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*Everything is awesome! Everything is awesome when it is part of Thor: Ragnarok!*
*Few people remember Thor's time as assistant to the regional manager at Dunder Mifflin, Inc.*
*Ho hum. It's just a giant Hulk attacking an even more enormous fire demon. Yawn.*
