MCU Sunday #17 Thor: Ragnarok

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the seventeenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 

 

OK, first off, according to Wikipedia, Chris Hemsworth had started to get a little bored with playing a straightforward serious Thor.  So with this entry you get Hemsworth with a chance to show off his comedy chops. And I like a little comedy in my action movies, although actually I prefer one liners to actual long extended sequences.  But this film doesn't overdo it, even when the sequence is extended (such as the opening tête-à-tête  between Thor and Surtur)

Thor: Ragnarok:

Thor is a prisoner. Surtur (voiced by Clancy Brown). is preparing to initiate the Norse "end of the world" known as Ragnarok. To that effort, he must go to Asgard and unite his crown with The Eternal Flame.  But since it is being kept in Asgard under lock and key, as it were, Thor tells him  that might prove a bit difficult.  But Surtur reveals that Odin is no longer in charge at Asgard, and the throne is empty: Asgard defenseless.  

But Thor is not exactly a prisoner, after all.  He was apparently just lulling Surtur into a state of confidence in his capture.  He summons his hammer, Mjolnir, and does battle with Surtur and his devilish protectors. (all to the background music featuring Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", which any time you get Zep as the background music, the scene improves 100 fold.)

 

With Surtur (apparently) defeated and his crown in Thor's possession, Thor returns to Asgard to find that Odin is still in Asgard....  Only he is idling and watching a play performed by Asgardian actors (and very pitiful actors at that, but that's not due to the REAL actors in the roles... after all, on that stage you get cameos by none other than Chris Hemsworth's brother, Luke, Sam Niell and Matt Damon.  They pull off the terrible acting with panache...)

 

The "play" is one that is a retelling of how Loki, the hero of Asgard, saved Asgard from destruction... Hmmm.  You know it and I know it and even Thor knows it.  That's not Odin.  The king is a fake.  It's really Loki posing as Odin.

Thor makes Loki take him to where Odin is, but Odin is not where Loki left him (a retirement home on Earth, ye gods).  And while Thor and Loki stand by observing the demolition of the rest home where Odin supposedly was, Loki disappears leaving behind a calling card that Thor finds that leads him to...

Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).  And the doctor has basically one goal, to dispense with any perceived threats to the peace on Earth.  So he helps Thor find Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on the agreement that once he is found both Thor and Loki will return to Asgard, thus eliminating the threat to Earth that Strange perceives them to be.

 

In Norway they find Odin who informs them that Thor did not actually prevent Ragnarok.  The Goddess of Death, Hela (Cate Blanchett), is on her way and Ragnarok, which had only been kept from happening while Odin was still alive is now imminent.  (And yes, sorry folks, but Odin must make his exit... sorry Hopkins fans...) And one final reveal from Odin before his departure.  Hela is Odin's firstborn, ac sister that neither Thor nor Loki knew about.

 After Odin disappears (in virtually a puff of smoke) Hela makes he appearance. And proves to Thor and Loki that she is one Hela of a woman (sorry couldn't resist.) When she tells them both to kneel before their new queen, Thor decides that is not an option and tries to show her the error of her ways by throwing Mjolnir at her.  But she dispatches Mjolnir to rubble in quick order.  (OK, now we're really getting somewhere with the Thor saga.)

 

She ends up going to Asgard and naming herself queen, leaving behind Thor, who is not  exactly the same man without Mjolnir.  He ends up on the planet Sakkar, and attacked by warriors. 0And he ends up being captured by  them.  But he is rescued by Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson) who defeats said warriors and captures Thor for her own purposes.  (Gotta love these warrior women in the Thor saga, they are some real badasses,) And what are her purposes?  She intends to sell Thor to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) of Sakkar as a gladiator to fight in his battles, known as the Contest of Champions. Basically the same thing as those entertaining battles the Emperors of Rome used to entertain the masses in Ancient Rome, I guess.

 

He is helped to adjust to his new life by a rock man named Korg (played by the movie's director Taika Waititi). Meanwhile, back on Asgard, Hela lays waste to the entire army of Asgardians who are not so receptive to their new ruler. Not exactly the best way to treat your new subjects, if you ask me.  Killing off all your subjects and you rule a world, sure, but rule over whom? Well, for starters an army of undead warriors brought to life from the power of the Eternal Flame.

So ultimately, back on Sakkar, Thor has plans to get his freedom back.  After all, all he has to do is defeat this Grandmaster's ultimate champions and his reward for doing so, as promised by the Grandmaster will be the freedom he wants. 

Where is Stan Lee?

In preparation for his fight, Thor has to get cleaned up. Including a trip to the barber.  And guess who the barber is?  (Man this guy really gets around...)

 

So Thor enters the ring to face the champion.  And surprise, surprise, the Grandmaster's champion is none other than... The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). (You were wondering where he had been all this time, weren't you?} 

 

Although Thor eventually starts to win the battle, The Grandmaster stops Thor from his win.  It seems the Grandmaster is not one who appreciates having to concede anything, especially if it is not in his favor.

Also during this time Thor discovers the true identity of Scrapper 1t seems she is the last of a race of warrior women called the Valkyrie. (And my hopes rise up  that somewhere along the way in this film,  the music will cue of for one of my favorite classical pieces... you know which one I mean...) Thor tries to appeal to her as a former vaunted warrior of Asgard, but initially she refuses to even acknowledge she is a Valkyrie.

Back at Asgard, Hela charges Skurge (Karl Urban) with the task of rounding up all the dissenters to her claim to the throne.  (Author interjection: I liked Urban as Skurge for the most part, but I found his choice of using a Cockney accent for the character a little off-putting.  Every other Asgardian uses a cultured accent for their roles, but he sounds like a dockworker from the  backwaters of London.)

 

Thor and Hulk try to escape from the Grandmaster, and eventually the Valkyrie comes on board to help.  It seems that, as the only surviving Valkyrie who were all defeated at the hands of Hela before Odin cast her into exile, she wants revenge on Hela just as badly as Thor.  Thus Thor forms a group called "The Revengers".

The escape from Sakkar is eminent.  Through a wormhole named "The Devil's Anus" (I didn't make that up... Really.. That's it's name...) Of course, the Grandmaster doesn't like it when he is not totally in charge.  So he intends to do everything within his power to prevent The Revengers from escaping.  The Grandmaster is not really a villain here, he's more like the comic relief of the film.  (And after all, have you EVER seen a movie in which Goldblum was an entirely evil villain?  I find it hard to hate him, even when he is not a sympathetic character.)

On Asgard, the final battle occurs as the sibling rivalry of Thor and Loki has now been replaced with the sibling rivalry of Thor and Hela.  And while Heimdall (Idris Elba) and the rebellion fight Skurge and his army of enforcers, Thor and Hela fight for supremacy on Asgard.  But will Asgard survive to be a realm worth ruling? One way or the other, we get to see a final battle which includes (oh, happy day!) Led Zeppelin's return to the soundtrack.  (OK, I'll try not to let it go to my head...)

 

And the Credits Roll:

In a mid credits scene Thor and Loki discuss whether it is a good idea to bring Loki back to Earth. And a spacecraft appears.  In the post credits, The Grandmaster confronts the revolution to take over Sakkar and proclaims it to be a "tie"... Maybe not.

OK. Final words on Thor: Ragnarok.  At this point it is a fight between Captain America: The First Avenger and this one for supremacy at the top of the rankings.  I haven't quite made my final decision at posting, but both are really good.  You know, if you've been following along this series of posts, that I prefer action over character development, and this one does not disappoint on that level.  I doubt there is anything longer than a 5 minute interval where something cool is not happening, and the battles in this one rival anything in that other movie.

On a personal note; I'm pretty sure that there are many alternate choices to have played Hela and she would have been just as intimidating.  But I don't think anyone else could have pulled off the role of The Grandmaster that Goldblum did.  Even though he is basically just a side story to the actual plot, I enjoyed every moment that he was on screen and was somewhat disappointed when his presence finally came to an end. 

And so, really, the only disappointing part of the film, as I stated earlier my hope, was that the classical piece "Ride of the Valkyries" did not make it on the soundtrack.  Of course, that piece was meant as a battle of multiple characters (it is "valkyries", after all not "valkyrie") so I guess I can give it a pass.

Well folks time to board the spaceship (or it's substitute, the old Plymouth0 and head to Earth (or home, as it were.  Drive safely.

Quiggy