Asgardian "Rok" and Roll..!!!

COLINS FILM CLUB REVIEW - Cinema

THOR: RAGNOROK

Pop groups and bands often have what is commonly called the "...difficult second album", which normally follows on from a very successful debut outing and several singles spawned from it. In the Film industry things are a bit harsher, for the first film must not only introduce the characters, have a coherent plot and a good script, but it must be also good enough to stand on its own feet. When Thor first appeared several years ago, his debut film was a bit of a muted affair. This was followed up by the somewhat okay-ish Dark World sequel, and Thor (Played again by Chris Hemsworth) was looking like a more shaky proposition for a third outing, however - it looks like that third time lucky seems to sit well with our Marvel heroes, with both Iron Man and Captain America before him, Thor`s third solo film is a cinematic blast right from the start. Make no mistake, this is Thor like you have never seen him before and its also a Marvel film so "spaced out" that even the Guardians of the Galaxy would blink and rub their collective eyes at. Ragnorok rocks..!!!

Behind all the mayhem, we actually have a very simple story to tell, its premise revolves around the end of Asgard, Thor`s homeworld - in a cataclysmic event called Ragnorok which will destroy it completely, triggered by the arrival of Cate Blanchett`s wonderful Goth-like God of Death, Hela. Whilst Thor plans to take her on and save his home with the unexpected help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), things get a little side-tracked as during his initial encounter with Hela, He loses his hammer and ends up thrown from the bi-frost into Shakeer, one of the nine realms - which looks like the biggest municipal refuse tip you`ve ever seen, but which also is the site of a large arena owned by Jeff Goldblum`s Grandmaster. Thor is captured and forced to fight in the arena where he meets an unlikely opponent, Bruce Banner in full on Hulk mode...!! After escaping the arena and drafting Banner along for the ride, Thor teams up with Loki and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to take the fight back to Hela...!!

Okay, so where to start...

That really is the question here, because I`m going to get this off my chest from the very start of this review and say it out loud right now - THOR; RAGNOROK is brilliant!!!!!!!!!! ...there, I`ve said it. This is the most fun Marvel film yet, even better than Guardians 2 which upped the ante with the humour along with everything else, but here with Thor 3 everything is just so much, well.. better! The comic timing of the delivery of the lines by both Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Thompson and the gleefully fun Goldblum is a joy, and here yet again we have a film in which the Hulk gains more backstory, more nuance and drives his character along, brilliantly played by Mark Ruffalo, so all the main leads are well catered for. As for bad guys, well - girls... Blanchett is a wonderful foil for the humour and menacingly evil when required to be, especially in full Goddess mode with a headdress that even Loki would envy, whirling and throwing blades at unfortunate victims and able to destroy Thor`s hammer too - she is a force to be reckoned with and Marvel`s first female villain on screen. Hemsworth has made Thor his role now, much like Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jnr - his onscreen demeanour as the Son of Odin is like a favourite old coat that he simply slips into with ease, the speech pattern, the mannerisms and illusion of God-like strength he gives his character make it work and its hard to see anyone else play this role in future. Hiddleston`s Loki is more reined in on this ride, he isn't there to steal the show anyway, but he is essential to the plot and your never quite sure of his motives as the film goes on, will he double cross his brother again or will he help him simply because its in his interest to do so..? this ambiguity is lovely and Hiddleston plays it for what it is, keeping us on our toes... New to the MCU is Tessa Thompson and her wonderful Valkyrie, initially a bounty hunter on Shakeer, her true origin is given in the film and its nice to see Thor have somebody his near equal to team up with. The scenes when she keeps zapping him are so funny and the rapport between them is delicious!!

Anthony Hopkins gives us his swansong as Odin here, the veteran actor still holds his spell as the Asgardian ruler and his demise is treated respectfully here too. Ruffalo is not the only CGI actor in this film, for within the arena, Thor befriends the kooky, Antipodean sounding living Rock man called Korg, voiced by Director Taika Waititi himself, and who serves up the mainstay of some of the best lines in the film, from pointing out Thor has a Hammer fixation to carrying around his "dead" mate after he inadvertently stepped on him, only to be totally cool with it when its revealed his friend is alive, Korg is without a standout character and never lost for a quirky little killer line.

If there are any quibbles at all with Ragnorok, it maybe that its relentless pun-laidened ride could be a bit too much given its running time, as it might feel that its running its gags at the expense of some characters or story. This could indeed be true of both Heimdall, played by Idris Elba and also Karl Urban. Although Elba gets to do more than guard the Bi-frost this time around, he get very little in the way of lines and he appears to have become nothing more than a hermit shepherd gathering the Asgardian flock together to hide them from Hela - which he even fails at, so again I felt he was abit left out. Not as bad as Urban, who got to say a few lines and looked kind of fun as a character in his opening seconds of screen time, them spent the rest of the film looking regretful and full of remorse for his actions, before becoming a one-second hero dying very quickly at the hands of Hela towards the finale. Urban needs to chat to his agent I think.

These are though, minor quibbles in amongst one of the most fun and entertaining films of the year and one which has yet again raised the bar for forthcoming Marvel films and Superhero films in general - Justice League, we are looking at you...!!

What we have here is Marvel getting it right, being at the top of their game and giving fans a Thor film that they can be proud of. Just as DC has given the World a definitive role model hero for females to aspire too with Wonder Woman, we now have a Thor film that gives us the God of Thunder back where he belongs, the mightiest Avenger (?), maybe - Banner might not agree, but definitely a hero at the top of his game. Its a game which is getting ever closer towards the culmination of all three Marvel phases so far, and as the end credits roll, we will indeed want to see Thor appear again in The Avengers; Infinity War...

Wacky, corny, and damn funny, Thor taking on the Goddess of Death is a real blast and should not be missed. Just go see it.

COLINS FILM CLUB RATING:

*****