Once on Sakaar, Thor meets all manner of colorful characters, many of whom you can imagine the Guardians of the Galaxy having close encounters with. Thor comes to this place after an unfortunate run in with the Goddess of Death Hela (Cate Blanchett, “ Cinderella,” chewing the scenery like it’s her divine duty), who is determined to take control of Asgard. Governed by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum, “ Independence Day: Resurgence”) and inhabited by all manner of reprobates and degenerates, Sakaar is the junk heap of the cosmos where inhabitants are either enslaved or enthralled to gladiatorial contests between the most powerful arrivals. Far more action takes place on Asgard as well as a new planet Sakaar. Unlike the earlier Thor films, Thor: Ragnarok largely avoids Earth, apart from a brief though very enjoyable sequence featuring Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, “ Black Mass”). Upon returning home, Thor learns that much is rotten in the state of Asgard, as usual due to his mischievous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston, “ Kong: Skull Island”), and the stage is set for much intrigue, bombast and humor. Picking up after the events of “ Thor: The Dark World” and “ Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Thor: Ragnarok begins with our titular hero (Chris Hemsworth, “ The Huntsman: Winter’s War”) narrating that he has spent time searching the universe for the Infinity Stones, before he encounters a fire demon, Surtur (Clancy Brown, “ Stronger”), who predicts the forthcoming demise of Asgard, Ragnarok. The film also provides grand scale action sequences as we expect from this franchise, but Waititi includes his particular wit in these sequences as well, which ensures that the action of this film is far more than various super-powered individuals hitting each other.
#THOR RAGNAROK MOVIE SERIES#
Taika Waititi’s contribution to the Thor series owes more to “ Guardians of the Galaxy” than either Kenneth Branagh or Alan Taylor’s previous offerings, but also introduces a distinct type of humor that sometimes prompts askance views while at other times invoking raucous laughter. Often this reconfiguration is generic - combining “superhero” features with those of other genres - heist, conspiracy, high school, and significantly for these purposes, space opera. The innovation and vivacity of Thor: Ragnarok is perhaps not surprising, as Marvel Studios remain leaders of the genre by continually reconfiguring their product. Thor: Ragnarok, however, delivers an eclectic and electrically charged breath of fresh air by injecting a quirky energy that takes established characters and concepts to strange new places. After so many films, many of which feature recurring characters, superhero fatigue could be expected with innovation and imagination giving way to repetition and over familiarity. Ever since “X-Men” took advantage of digital effects technology to render eye beams and human-generated lightning bolts, the finest examples of superhero cinema have grabbed hold of this opportunity with both hands to deliver innovative and arresting experiences within an established but flexible formula. The unique selling point of superhero cinema is the presentation of superpowers on screen and the exploration of what it means to super and to be a hero.
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