Rating: 4/5 Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok starts with fire. In the first of his cinematic adventures, released in 2011, Thor went to Jotunheim to fight the Frost Giants, ancient enemies of Asgard. So it seems apt that his latest adventure, when his story comes full circle, begins with a battle against hordes of fire demons led by Surtur, king of Muspelheim. The fight is short-lived thanks to Thor's faithful hammer Mjolnir, which always comes back to his hand when thrown, although Thor admits he should learn to time the weapon's arrival a little better. Once Surtur is defeated, Thor takes his crown back to Asgard to have it locked up in Odin's vault. As Surtur explains, should the crown be placed over the Eternal Flame, he would regain the full extent of his immense powers and bring Ragnarok, the End of the Gods, upon Asgard. The Eternal Flame is also kept in Odin's vault, so Thor's decision doesn't sound like a great plan. After all, the thinker between the two of them has always been Loki. Speaking of the trickster god, upon his return Thor uncovers Loki's latest prank. Placing a spell on Odin and casting him out to Earth, Loki has been disguising himself as the King of Asgard. However, instead of harnessing this ploy to conquer the Nine Realms, all he has done while parading as Odin is having a statue built in his honour and watching a theatre play called The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard. Following from Thor: The Dark World, where he was much more inclined to have fun than to impose his rule over another planet or to commit genocide, Loki's character development reaches its peak in Ragnarok. He is now the mischievous god we know from Norse myths, not your average (misunderstood) revenge-thirsty villain of Thor and The Avengers. Thanks to Tom Hiddleston's masterful performance, he doesn't lose any dramatic tension. For example, the family reunion with Odin and Thor at the beginning is particularly heart-breaking, for it's the one and only scene where Loki – despite the nickname "Silvertongue" – doesn't utter a single word. Although the bittersweet brotherly bond between Thor and Loki is explored with delightful humour and authenticity, Loki is sorely missed in the role of Thor's nemesis, because the new menace – Hela, Goddess of Death, as she never gets tired of repeating – fails to impress. She could have been an interesting character if only her back story hadn't been explained through awkward exposition in a couple of minutes. What's even more disappointing is that she spends most of her screen time gloating or walking around Asgard, though, admittedly, no one could blame her. She can manifest weapons of any kind and size, masters magic, and sports a great punk-ish look. It's hard to worry when you are all-powerful. However, her strength becomes her biggest weakness; she's too invincible to be interesting. Despite the disappointing bad girl, Thor: Ragnarok proves a more than enjoyable ride. The most interesting aspect is the variety of settings. From Muspelheim to Asgard to Earth to Sakaar, we get to see a lot more of the Nine Realms and the cosmos than ever before. On Sakaar, Thor and Loki are joined by Valkyrie and the Hulk, and have to escape the clutches of Grandmaster, who, played by Jess Goldblum, can only be described as the live-action doppelgänger of Kuzco, the main character in The Emperor's New Groove. With perfect symmetry, the final battle is a mirror image of the first one, except this time Thor has come to the end of his journey of self-(re)discovery, prompted by the loss of Mjolnir. Even the soundtrack – The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin – remains the same, highlighting the beginning and end of Thor's quest for identity. Thor: Ragnarok may be a little over two hours long, but it's never boring. We can almost excuse the ridiculous amount of exposition. If it hadn't been there, we would have needed a couple extra hours of screen time – or perhaps an entire movie dedicated to Hela's past. Though few would complain about two extra hours of Asgardian shenanigans, Ragnarok remains a worthy successor of Thor and The Dark World as it is, wrapping up all loose ends and paving the way to Infinity War Part I, due for release in 2018.
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October 2017
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