A No-Spoiler 12-Item Quickie Review of “Thor: Ragnarok”

Nothing spoilery here that you can’t get from trailers, or information that’s been out about the movie for the past year or two.

1. Yes, this movie is funny. And it’s kind of cool that these characters have been in so many films that you can do films of different tonality. You don’t have to do Cosmic Shakespeare Thor. You can do Funny Jock Thor, too. That’s kind of neat. Marvel not only has plot continuity, but allow tonal differences. Nifty.

That said, the humor here, while each instance is pretty funny, undercuts some of the drama taking place. And there is drama. Family drama mostly — Thor and Loki. Thor and Loki and Odin. Hela. And other drama, amidst the destruction.

There are moments that should be taken a bit more seriously were the dramatic tension is deflated by a joke.

That said — yeah, it’s funny, and that funniness mostly works.

Ironically, the increase in humor hurts Loki. Loki’s sardonic nature, his sarcasm and disdain about the stuff Cosmic Shakespeare thing, all make him interesting. When everyone is being sarcastic, ironic, or defusing the pomp with bon mot, then Loki loses some of his shtick.

2. No, no Jane Foster. Though to give moderate credit, it’s at least referenced in a throw-away line.

3. Yes, those are so Tony Stark’s clothes. Particularly the t-shirt.

4. The resolution of the Big Bad’s plan is telegraphed in a Chekhovian fashion — but is still very, as described, “ballsy.”

5. There are a ton of Easter Eggs and bits of Marvel lore and characters that get pulled into this movie. You don’t need to know them, but it’s that much more fun if you do.

6. Holy crap, there’s a ton of death in this movie. And I’m not talking about Hela. People die. People we know die. And not always in a significant fashion. That’s … a bit disappointing.

7. Chris Hemsworth shows that he’s got definite comedy chops. Tom Hiddleston is, as always, charming. Idris Elba definitely gets more to do. Cate Blanchett does a nice job with Hela, though the character is not as interesting as I’d like her to be. Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is Jeff Goldblum. Tessa Thompson does a workmanlike job as the Valkyrie, Karl Urban is unrecognizable, but does a fine job, as Skurge, even if the character’s story arc is very different (though with strong parallels) from the comic book character. Anthony Hopkins does Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Mark Ruffalo, alas, ends up being more comic relief than anything else; good comic relief, but, still, for a character who is intrinsically full of pathos, it feels a bit quirky.

8. Visually, the movie is stunning — and incorporates multiple aesthetics for different places that all work very nicely.

9. There is a post-Fancy Credits scene and a just-before-the-lights-come-up scene. The former is a nice advancement of the plot of the movie / setup for the next Avengers flick. The latter is a nice cap to the film’s humor.

10. There are some scenes in the trailers that look fairly different in the actual film, which is kind of interesting. In some cases there are additional SFX, in others the scenes were (I read) reshot. I do kind of like the idea of trailers being unreliable narrators.

11. All that said, I like the 1st Thor the best — I like the Cosmic Shakespeare Thor, and the Thor/Loki dynamic is a lot more interesting. But this comes in a close second, more or less depending on your tolerance for humor. (The second film is the weakest by far, except for any scene where Loki shows up.)

12. Watched this in 2D, normal theater. I can see where 3D might add some stuff, but it’s by no means essential.

In sum: a highly enjoyable, visually interesting, dramedy that does exactly what it advertises to do: provide a couple of hours of fun entertainment.

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