Thor: Ragnarok

“Darling, you have no idea what's possible.” I hope Waititi's next film is an adaptation of the Robot Unicorn Attack flash game, because this wasn’t far from it. Though the New Zealander with a fondness for pineapple-print shirts didn't write the screenplay, I think he deserves credit for how colourful, nutty and stylistically diverse the whole film is. In just the first few minutes, we become witnesses to the protagonist’s self-ironic conversation with a skeleton, a variation on the “Look at my shit” scene from Spring Breakers and a parody of the theatrical, statuesque nature of Thor’s first solo movie. I actually found it regrettable that Waititi had to stick to the Marvel canon and expand the MCU (the scene with Strange was a bit superfluous) and couldn’t construct the whole film as a laid-back buddy movie in which Thor’s patience is gradually tested by Loki, a talking pile of rocks who wants to start a revolution, a perpetually plastered Valkyrie, and an egghead with seven doctorates and a problem with self-control. The characters and their sparkling dialogue draw more attention to themselves than another generic plot with a goddess of death who wants to unleash hell because she has daddy issues. Fortunately, the narrative structure is partially adapted to this. After the main storyline gets rolling, the protagonist is plunged into a world where he has to deal with completely different concerns, so rectifying the situation on Asgard, of which Thor is informed only through hearsay, has to be delayed. On top of that, the protagonist is merely pulled along by fate (or by the Hulk) more than once and cannot freely make decisions; things happen without his input. The subversiveness of this approach, which turns the whole superhero concept on its head, culminates in the climax, when the problem is resolved differently (and by someone else) than you would expect. When you add the actors enjoying their roles (Tessa Thompson and Jeff Goldblum are particularly superb), the arcade-inspired action scenes and the cleverly dumb humour to the methodical rejection (or, as the case may be, commenting on and mocking) of the rules of the game, you get a movie that will either irritate you with its refusal to take anything seriously or thrill you as the most entertaining Marvel movie ever. For me, it was the latter. 85% (10/29/2017)

Colorful, funny and also strangely fateful. Thor has finally found his feet and he’s just the powerhouse that his solo movies needed. Waititi packed the movie full of his unreal director’s individuality which overturns genre rules on a level similar to Guardians of the Galaxy (not always better, but he isn’t afraid to take risks). The childish photos suit the videogame atmosphere and the newly built planets. Inspiration from Planet Hulk is obvious, just the heroes have swapped roles. Great one-liners, ingenious action scenes (the hammer finally has its say) and playful. Cate is real foxy in this movie and her acting is great, although she doesn’t get much room to display her skills. Incredible care is devoted to supporting characters (the theatre scene) and Korg the crusher shines whenever he is in shot. Ragnarok can’t stand alone, but at the same time it didn’t seem like the final part of a trilogy – it’s too high-spirited, but still, it’s the best movie about Thor that we’ve seen on the silver screen yet. (10/28/2017)

Thor: Ragnarok is an absolutely mainstream movie that brings the child-like elements of Star Wars into Thor’s world, while its costumes and makeup make it more colorful than The Fifth Element. But I didn’t really want Thor to go in this direction, as 70% of its runtime is filled with situational, slightly infantile humor that doesn’t address any plot points. Which doesn’t mean that the masses who adore Guardians of the Galaxy are not going to have a great time. And that seems to be the whole point of the movie. (11/13/2017)

After all the embarrassing and serious stories about saving the world, or even the universe, Marvel finally excels at what it does best: a comic book comedy caper. It’s a tad worse than the first Avengers, but the juicier and snappier humour and the great characters (Cate Blanchett with antlers and a painted Jeff Goldblum) are a hit. What is absent, however, is a balanced group of superheroes where everyone has their own. Even so, it's damn catchy, and every time the spoiler from the trailer played, the audience in the cinema giggled with satisfaction, quite rightly so. (10/27/2017)

The funniest and probably also the best Marvel movie I’ve ever seen. Plus there’s even some 1980s music that fits the story perfectly. It was literally as if Daft Punk started yet another movie music orgy after Tron. Anyways, I realize that choosing a very alternative New Zealand director Taika Waititi must have been a big risk. Especially since most of the dialogues were improvised. You could expect anything at all, but once you know what kind of brilliant movies he’s already filmed, you can just hope that Thor: Ragnarok will be a success and so will Taika. Of course, it’s also important whether you like Thor as a character. I’d say it’s currently the best, the most original, the most inventive, the funniest Marvel cinematic universe character. However, the movie has taken this originality and wittiness to a whole new level. I haven’t laughed this hard watching a movie for a long time. The improvisation has brought some amazing scenes to life and I’d be surprised if people didn’t talk about them and even make parodies of them. Furthermore, the story itself is great, Jeff Goldblum is brilliant as a leader of a planet riddled with trash. And Mark Ruffalo as Hulk is probably the most prominent he’s ever been. Everybody has their say; Anthony Hopkins, Karl Urban, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Idris Elba, even Benedict Cumberbatch who has proved that he’s funny with a single scene. Unlike his own – often far too serious – movie Doctor Strange. And don’t even get me started on all the cameos in Ragnarok, one of them played by the director himself, as has become a tradition. Overall, I thought it was more than amazing. I don’t think I’ll see anything better or more fun this year. Or ever. (11/07/2017)