MCU Retrospective: Thor: Ragnarok (2017) by Taika Waititi

*** spoilers below the cut ***

• Directed by: Taika Waititi
• Starring:
  • Chris Hemsworth as Thor
  • Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
  • Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner | Hulk
  • Cate Blanchett as Hela
  • Tom Hiddleston as Loki
  • Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster
  • Idris Elba as Heimdall
  • Karl Urban as Skurge
• Synopsis:Imprisoned, the almighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization. (IMDB)

The Good:

• Chris Hemsworth!!! It seems Taika watched Ghostbusters and realized that Marvel Studios has been going about Thor all wrong the past decade. Hemsworth does his best work when he’s doing comedy. He was adorable and hilarious in this film! Every joke landed (“By Odin’s beard, you shall not cut my hair – please kind sir, don’t cut my hair”.) He played all of the emotional parts well, too. He had perfect chemistry with every single character he came into contact with. Waititi just understands what Thor needed to be and it was fantastic!
• Fight scenes: I’ve seen the film 3 times now and every single fight scene still amazes me. The first fight scene was a blessing! Immigrant Song was the perfect song and they FINALLY found someone who knew how to choreograph a fight scene for Thor and make it both viewable and entertaining! The hammer sound effects were perfect, the clever use of Mjolnir, the use of it’s magic was very well done. Kudos to all the work done here!
• Thor: They embraced the intelligence and skill that Thor has in the comics in this film. He’s not just a guy with a hammer. The lightning comes from Thor’s power and he can wield it, in an even bigger way, on his own. He has magic and can call on his armor as well as the hammer. His hammer can appear as different objects. These are all things I don’t believe we’ve seen in previous films.
  • Thor’s battle prowess was more apparent in this film. In the Grandmaster’s tournament, he uses several different types of weapons. In the last battle, he’s snatching up fallen weapons and using them.
  • Thor can fly alien spaceships without prior experience. Thor understood Bruce’s talk about astrophysis and Einstein-Rosen bridges. Thor is smart.
• Hela: Finally another villain that matters! I will always argue that Obie belongs on that list because he was one of the best villains in the MCU. Vulture definitely belongs there as well but to me, it was just those two and Loki before this film. Hela had a real purpose. They gave her enough backstory that we understood the stakes and in the end, not even Thor or Loki could defeat her. I’m convinced she transported away in the last moment. She was fierce, violent and unapologetic. I actually felt myself lean forward several times because Blanchett was so captivating. Her line “I thought you’d be happy to see me” left me wanting to see her time in banishment. Blanchett was the perfect choice for this role.
• Loki: I hover on Loki a lot because enough Tumblr blogs love him that I never really had to talk about him. In this film, there was several little subtle moments for Tom Hiddleston and he really used them well. Loki was much more comedic and cartoonish in this film. I loved the little play in the beginning. I loved seeing his helm come through the mist and I loved seeing some of his fighting skills. Although the scene with him flipping knives from the trailer wasn’t in the film. He was clever in this film, as usual. Tom had great comedic timing. Especially the “I’ve never seen this man before in my life” line.
• Thor and Loki: This has always been the most interesting part of the Thor films. Tom and Chris have wonderful chemistry and watching them work through betrayal after betrayal somehow remains interesting after all this time. In this film, Thor has kind of given up on Loki ever changing his ways. Anyone who’s ever had to let go of a toxic relationship knows that feeling when you’ve given up trying and that’s the vibe I got from Thor. It still hurt to see Loki’s face when Thor told him it was best they go their separate ways. Loki’s little proud smile at the end was lovely!
• Valkyrie: My girl! My wife! woman of my dreams! I loved her! I loved her from her first moment on screen. Tessa had such a presence that I was drawn to her during every scene she was in, even just in the background. I hope we see her again later because I loved everything about this character. Here was a groundbreaking female character (even more so than Natasha) because:
  • she didn’t exist just to bone the main character
  • she had an in depth backstory
  • she had flaws
  • she took down several ships on her own before Thor decided to help
  • she was given enough screen time that she had a personality. She even got her own suit up scene later.
• Hulk/Bruce Banner: I have a soft spot for MCU Bruce Banner. I actually like the Edward Norton film, even as I appreciate Fluffalo’s Banner. This film was so great at exploring the dichotomy between Bruce and the Hulk and it balanced humor and sadness so well. While Age of Ultron’s Bruce/Nat plot made me vomit, I think Waititi handled it very well. There is a part where Hulk’s face looks so anguished and I actually felt it pull at my chest. Hulk was tired of being used to fight battles and the events of Age of Ultron were some of the worst moments of his life. He was used by Wanda to attack innocent people and then Nat, someone he trusted, tossed him into a pit to use him yet again. I think Hulk hates Bruce/being Bruce because he blames Bruce for getting them into the situation that led to them being used like an attack dog. The fact that he hits himself to stay the Hulk was just painful. I love this little guy so much and he deserves better
  • They let Ruffalo be funny in this film too and that was great! He was adorable (“These are Tony’s clothes. Is he here?”), he was believably upset (“I’m sorry. I’ve been stuck inside a monster for 2 years. You can understand why that might make me a little weird”) and he was hilarious (“How many PhD’s does the Hulk have? 0. How many does Banner have? 7.”). I loved him telling Thor off and defending himself because he’s right, Banner is useful. The little bit of him pulling on Tony’s pants because they were too tight was so funny!
• Val and Hulk/Bruce: I adored this friendship! It was so cute and born out of Val befriending Hulk; not Bruce. “Hey Big Guy”/”Hey Big Girl” was so cute and I loved their little play fighting! I wanted more of them! I loved Bruce meeting Val and asking Thor “What are those lines on her face? Are those people she’s killed? She’s so beautiful and so strong!” Same, Bruce. Same.
• Hulk/Bruce and Thor: I love so many things about their interactions but I especially loved that, unlike Nat, when Bruce told Thor he didn’t want to change, Thor accepted it. He wasn’t happy but he continued to protect Bruce and respected his wishes. Their interactions in Hulk’s room were great and so telling of Hulk’s time on Sakaar. He acted indifferent towards Thor at first but when he believed Thor couldn’t leave, he gives a relieved smile and says “Thor home.” He was lonely for a familiar face. He loved Val but he missed something about earth. Hence him chasing after Thor when he thought Thor would really leave. Listening to him say “Thor stay” over and over again broke my heart.
  • “Hey Big Guy, the sun’s getting real low” killed me! They kept it up as a running gag and I loved that! I loved confirmation that it’s not just Nat that did that and I loved that Thor thought they were magic words.
  • Their conversation (“But Hulk like real, raging fire. Thor like smoldering fire”) in the room was perfect. They threw things at each other (loved Thor’s line “Friends don’t throw shields at each other”) and then talked it out after. It’s nice to see Avengers come together after several films of them fighting each other.
• Heimdall: They actually let Heimdall matter in this film. He was out saving Asgardians and hiding them underground. He lent Thor his sight for a moment which is not something I knew he could do. He was badass as hell in this film and I was so pleased.
• King: When Thor became king at the end, I wanted to stand up and cheer. He totally earned it, he was a dedicated hero and he was level headed enough to rule. Perfect ending.

The Bad

• Angela: This change to Hela’s origin makes me think there’s no way they could ever do Angela of Asgard. Loki and Thor have 2 unknown sisters that were banished? Yeah, it seems to me that they just blended that story with Hela. It all makes Odin’s actions in the first Thor film make more sense but I’m sad.
• Needed a little more of Loki: I understand he’s adopted but this movie made it look like Loki’s abilities were no where near Thor and Hela’s. I wish they’d shown more of his magic and of him shapeshifting.

Those are really the only negatives I have. I adored this movie from start to finish. It bumped Iron Man for my favorite MCU film. It’s that great and it’s definitely a recommend from me.

Score: 10/10

If you’re curious, to me:

Thor: Ragnarok > Iron Man > Captain America: The Winter Soldier > Homecoming > Iron Man 3