Also, I was displeased with my recording of this and thus will be looking into new equipment very shortly, if you desire to know the actual reason for this sudden reversion.
From here on, there be spoilers. You have been warned.
Ragnarok picks up with Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) in the clutches of the demon Surtur (Clancy Brown) recounting a bit of what's happened since the end of Age of Ultron: looking for the Infinity Stones without success, before he ended up where he is now. After a conversation with Surtur that goes around and around (literally) and learning that Odin is no longer in Asgard, Thor defeats Surtur and takes his skull back to the Realm Eternal...with a little help from Asgard's new gatekeeper Skurge (Karl Urban).
He exposes Loki (Tom Hiddleston) for his treachery in replacing Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World, and the pair go to Earth to find Odin, which gets the attention of Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who happily points them in the right direction. Upon finding Odin, he warns them that his death is upon him and, when he dies it will release his firstborn daughter Hela (Cate Blanchett). After a short fight in which Hela effortlessly destroys Mjolnir, they attempt to use the Bifrost to escape, both Thor and Loki getting kicked out of it and both ending up on a planet called Sakarr while Hela heads to Asgard.
While Loki gets in good with an enigmatic being known only as the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), Thor finds himself forced into his Unworthy Thor look and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena against a very familiar, green foe (Mark Ruffalo/Lou Ferrigno). Now, Thor has to find a way to join forces with the Hulk as well as new ally Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to get back to Asgard and stop Hela before she becomes nigh-unstoppable.
Now I'll go in saying that I'm not a big fan of Thor's comics and never had been, but I have enough passing familiarity with both the mythological Ragnarok and the one in Marvel to know that several things were either changed or left out: and that's ok. People often seem to forget my very useful Rule of Adaptation, and that this is a movie. Things are inevitably going to be condensed. Now, there are certain things even I don't like about this: namely where is Jormungandr? Y'know, the giant serpent that's destined to kill Thor?
Bunch of water in Asgard and not even a cameo. C'mon, Marvel!
But yes, some things were bound to be left out or heavily condensed. If they didn't, Marvel would be making Ragnarok Part II at some point, and I think we're all sick of the multi-part film crazy that Harry Potter started with the necessity of telling a single story of length and no other film has had the need to do so since.
As for the cast, we have most of the Thor stable returning. Chris Hemsworth is still the best at playing Thor, both in the comedic and dramatic moments. Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki and, much likes Chris, he's become quiet comfortable in his role and plays it well. Sadly, as good as he is, Anthony Hopkins is severely wasted in what will most likely be his final film in the franchise. He only has a handful of scenes and, again, while he's good, I wish more had been done with him for the final send off. Heimdall (Idris Elba) also returns, leading a resistance against Hela once things get hairy and trying to keep things together long enough for Thor's return.
And now, we come to the newbies, although we start with one we already know: The Hulk. It seems that the Hulk's been through quite a bit since leaving at the end of Age of Ultron. He's ended up on Sakaar and become the Champion of the Grandmaster, destroying each and every opponent set up against him with ease. As the film goes on, we find out that he's been the Hulk for the full two years now, only changed back to Banner (Mark Ruffalo) once he hears a recording of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) from the end of the last film he appeared in. It seems that the transformations are getting more extreme, Banner's not really sure he'll be able to come back if he transforms into the Hulk again...something that is discussed and them promptly dropped to be explored in later films...or so Word of God says.
And yes, despite the poorly forced romance between Banner and Romanoff, I do have to give props to Marvel for sticking to their guns and trying to make it work. Of course, this entire problem could have been solved with a Hulk or Black Widow movie, but it's not like Marvel is a company that would care about giving solo films to their prominently featured, popular charac-OH WAIT!
No, by the way, I won't be letting this go. If you're going to have two characters in a romance, establish it first!
If you don't care to do that, why should your audience?!
Holding the Hulk's leash is the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Much like the Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy, the Grandmaster is one of the Elders of the Universe, beings of incalculable age and power who are still trafficking with lesser beings. Unlike the Collector, who has a plan to get all the Infinity Stones, the Grandmaster seems content to just hang out on his planet with his slaves (sorry: "prisoners with jobs") and have them fight for his amusement. He also seems to have been taking a few pages out of the Evil Overlord's handbook in that he isn't playing the stereotypical evil boss. He legitimately seems like he'd be an awesome guy to work for.
That may also have to do with the fact that he's Jeff Goldblum, who I'm convinced it made of some strain of pure awesome, but that's neither here nor there. He brings a lot of the levity to the film, either by accident or design.
Another newbie is Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). She is, as her name dictates, one of the Valkyries - all-female warriors who once defended the throne of Asgard. This was, however, until Hela killed them all brutally. As the only survivor (or one of them, it's not stated outright), Valkyrie has taken to being a bounty hunter for the Grandmaster, which is how she eventually joins up with Thor. She's good. I really don't have any more care for a black woman taking the role of Valkyrie than I did the Ancient one suddenly having a sex change from an Asian male. I will say, I do actually like her character and her doing bounty hunting and hard drinking to keep the pain of her past does seem a little cliche, but is rather believable after you end up being the sole survivor of a massive battle.
And finally, we come to Hel-oh, Skurge. Right. I forgot he was in this movie. One of the major complaints that I have in this film is the inclusion of Skurge. Karl Urban does a fine job with this as he does with every film he's in. In fact, his version of Bones in Star Trek (2009) is one of the only redeeming things about the Abrams films. But here...well, I'll just come out and say it. There is no reason to have Skurge here. At all. Not one. In the comics, Skurge the Executioner was the right hand of Amora the Enchantress (Amora, oddly enough, not having made the jump to the MCU despite her younger sister doing so). Amora needed him because she was not a combatant, she was a magic-user.
Here...Hela is clearly a combatant on par with or (arguably) better than Thor. So why does she need him? More to the point, Skurge isn't even allowed to develop a character beyond trying to seduce two Asgardian women with things he's stolen by use of the Bifrost and later having a turn against Hela that gets him killed. There's even a scene where it seems like he's going to be given a chance to give some sort of motivation...and he gets cut off from explaining anything about himself to just give the generic "I want recognition" motivation.
Seriously, why are you going to waste Karl Urban like that? It's a crime. Seriously.
And now, Hela. The firstborn of Odin, the self-proclaimed savior of Asgard, all that jazz. She makes a very good first impression, beating the snot out of Thor and literally throwing Loki out of the Bifrost as well before going to Asgard and killing off two of the Warriors Three in rapid succession before she starts laying a smackdown on Asgard as a whole. And of course, it's Cate Blanchett, so there's plenty of speechifying to go around. However, she has a presence and a menace that both Loki in the first movie and Malekith from the second completely lacked. She sets herself up early as a credible threat and keeps pushing the envelope, so kudos there.
On the whole, the movie is good. I see a lot of people cracking jokes about it being a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but humor has always been a thing in the MCU. It's just the popularity of Guardians that has seen it turned up significantly. Seeing as the mythological Ragnarok is literally about the death of the Norse Gods, I feel as though the comedic additions were...well, kind of needed, in a way. Marvel did a darker toned movie with Civil War and, given the source material, Infinity War is going to be a massacre of the highest caliber. I tend to view Spider-Man: Homecoming and this as the breather episodes.
Little jaunts in the wacky before we drop back into a more serious tone.
...also, seriously, Thor loses an eye. Onscreen.
C'mon, people!
Thor: Ragnarok is now in theaters from Marvel Studios.
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