It had been some time since I last watched a superhero film and Thor: Ragnarok was out in theaters with a poster of Thor and Hulk slugging it out. I suppose that would’ve worked well for the marketing. :D Without knowing anything about the basic premise, I reckoned it would be entertaining and I’m here to say that it did not disappoint.
THE MAIN CAST
Chris Hemsworth… Thor
Mark Ruffalo… Hulk / Bruce Banner
Cate Blanchett… Hella
Tom Hiddleston… Loki
Anthony Hopkins… Odin
Jeff Goldblum… Grandmaster
Tessa Thomson… Valkyrie
THE PLOT
Thor returns to Asgard to find Loki playing god with the king Odin stranded elsewhere. Both of them are soon confronted with Hella, Odin’s first born, who has returned from exile, after her father banished her following their victories in the 9 realms. Hella is dismissive of both her siblings (Thor & Loki), even laying waste to Thor’s hammer and they soon find themselves lost in another world, i.e. the land of “lost and found” where characters from other realms come to fight for glory in the arena like Roman gladiators or perish at the hands of a certain “Grandmaster”.
Thor discovers several other characters from other realms in this land and learns that he has no other option but to face the Grandmaster’s champion in a fighting arena. The Grandmaster seems to have some bioelectrical mechanism to maintain control over most people in his land. Thor braces for his encounter with the champion whom everyone seem to deeply fear. When finally in the arena, he is surprised to find the “champion” to be none other than the indomitable “Hulk”. He is both surprised and elated, but Hulk seems to be oblivious of his identity. Unlike the Hulk Thor has come to know.
The rest of the story is also no less interesting indeed! An interesting sequence of events follow which includes Bruce Banner realizing he has been Hulk for a couple of years, owing to him feeling permanently stressed in this land. Thor is adamant about redeeming Asgard from the clutches of Hella, but he realises to do so he must set one monster against another.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FILM
1) I think popcorn superhero film lovers will like this movie a lot as it doesn’t take itself too seriously and offers you the next installment of entertainment in the Marvel universe.
2) It is a reasonably fast paced film. I didn’t get the feeling that things are not moving at any point.
3) This is the first time I’ve seen Thor without his hammer which channels the power within him and enables him to fly around and what not. He fares pretty well without his hammer. We get to see what else “The God of Thunder” has in his repertoire. In fact, he sort of stumbles into an alternative hammer in the arena facing Hulk.
4) This film has plenty instances of humour and it is refreshing. But one gets the feeling at times, that it is too obvious or a tad overdone. It doesn’t harm your perception of watching the film in any way though.
5) This film also deals with the topic of tool / weapon failure with regards to the superheroes. At times, it leads to a funny turn of events. At other times, they just manage with what they have.
6) Cate Blanchett as Hella is very good to watch. She comes across as something like the most bad-ass version of “Maleficent” from “Sleeping Beauty”.
7) This version of “Hulk” is portrayed as all brawn and no brains. Quite similar to “Moose” from the Riverdale universe. In previous Marvel films, we don’t really get the feeling that he’s dumb and whereas he certainly unleashes the monster when in “Hulk” mode in any film, here “Hulk” just has intent but no wits about him.
8) This film also sees a sort of a part re-union between Loki and Thor who mostly work together and have little time for their petty feuds.
9) As a new scenario, we also see Thor and Hulk as roommates for a while and Hulk is happy to find a new roommate in this lonely land. He also doesn’t seem to like his alternative ego, Bruce Banner.
10) The topic of Valkyries of Asgard (like female police officers) have never really been touched upon, in previous films. They deal with this topic in this film. A certain rogue Valkyrie is a key figure in the proceedings.
11) The direction and special effects are pretty apt for the screenplay this film had.
12) Mentioning what role Ragnarok has to play would be jumping way ahead into the film’s proceedings, so I’ll abstain. You would discover that yourself.
To conclude, I’d say it was quite entertaining to watch. This new Marvel installment offers plenty of new scenarios and characters including a gargantuan wolf, one of Hella’s pets. The film shamelessly pits new monsters against old ones and even superheroes against other superheroes, while shaping the direction of its entertaining story. An especially good watch on a 3D-IMAX screen.