Part 48 – Thor: Ragnarok

[Originally posted 6/26/20.]

Part 48, a tragicomedy….

Thor: Ragnarok:

–“I cannot die, not until I have fulfilled my destiny and…” …stopped Plankton from stealing the Krabby Patty formula.
–In Norse mythology, Surtur is actually a jotun; he just has a flaming sword. It makes more sense to depict him as a being of fire, though.
–“Immigrant Song” is the most appropriate possible needle-drop for Thor.
–The jig is up; Surtur spilled Loki’s secret.
–With Luke Hemsworth as Chris Hemsworth, Loki from Dogma as Loki from Asgard, & Alan Grant.
–A mutual dumping, aka “Natalie Portman is not in this movie.”
–Love that Thor though Loki had turned into the business card for a second.
–The refilling mug is a reference to a Norse myth.
–Love seeing Strange completely dominate Thor & Loki, & just as much love seeing Thor get his revenge calling back Umjobrellanir.
–Odin’s death is a very sincere & serene moment in what’s otherwise a full-blown action-comedy.
–Thor & Loki’s transformations are cool.
—Hela’s whole vibe. (With a touch of SCP-076-2.)
–I didn’t realize you *could* fall out of the Bifrost.
–RIP Volstagg & Fandral, but that was way too fast.
–Valkyrie’s ship is really freaking cool.
–These obedience discs remind me a lot of the Kree inhibitors that Kasius will use on Inhumans & Yon-Rogg used on Carol.
–One of the heads on this tower is Beta Ray Bill.
–Hogun at least got a few seconds of action…& a couple lines.
–“Pure Imagination” playing in the creepy slideshow tunnel is genius.
–Jeff Goldblum is in this movie, but for real this time.
–Moana’s grandmother is in this movie too.
–Goldblum is actually playing this freaky keyboard thing; he’s a legitimately good musician.
–Director supporting role: Taika Waititi’s Korg is a genuine gift.
–We did see this gauntlet in the first Thor film, but it didn’t match the one Thanos actually put on in Age of Ultron, so this takes care of that continuity error.
–2 more realms are shown in this movie: Muspelheim (Surtur’s dominion) & Niflheim (Hela’s prison). That’s 8 down, 1 to go.
–Hi, Stan!
–The trailers totally ruined this reveal, but Hulk’s introduction is really well-done.
–The fight is great, a real good opportunity for both Hulk & Thor to show off their strength in ways we haven’t seen before.
–Heimdall kicks a lot of butt in this film. He got cool moments the last couple movies, but here he gets a whole cool subplot. I especially like his remote conversation with Thor.
–“How’d you get here?” “Winning.” Hulk isn’t stupid; he’s just uneducated. But he’s actually very clever.
–Hulk butt. Just…Hulk butt.
–I’m surprised a rubber ball was even able to make that much of a crack in the glass.
–“Sokovia, Ultron, that was two years ago.” It’s definitely late 2017.
–The shot of the Hulk recording’s face over Banner’s real face is really good.
–This inversion shot with the reflective floor is absolutely flipping gorgeous.
–The flashback to the fall of the valkyries is pretty solid. A whole different visual flair & narrative format, with pretty strong emotional performances considering it probably had to be done in just a big greenscreen room.
–Tessa Thompson does all these little subtle movements that are really captivating.
–The snake story might be the best gag in the film. It really highlights Hemsworth’s comedic chops which have been so badly underused prior to this film (& Ghostbusters).
–“Prisoners with jobs” wouldn’t be another name for “slaves” if we took that vile “except as punishment for crime” loophole out of the 13th Amendment.
–“Get Help” is a top-tier slapstick bit.
–Thor is just done with Loki’s illusions.
–This 3-headed dude is Hemsworth, Waititi, & a mo-cap actor.
–I don’t get why Hela has to keep putting her hair/crown up & down.
–There are a precious few callbacks to The Incredible Hulk in the MCU, most of which are just name-drops of the Abomination, so this one is much appreciated.
–Fenris is called Fenrir in the Norse myths, & was destined to kill Odin in the battle of Ragnarok. Here, Loki has thrown a wrench into destiny by causing Odin’s death before the battle could begin; Fenris has to settle for making Hulk bleed before being yeeted into space.
–It’s telling that Odin’s best moments as a father are at & after his death.
–Thor learned a thing or two on Earth from playing Street Fighter.
–Ragnarok is inevitable, but it can be timed to be a good thing instead of a bad thing.
–Of course, Loki is tempted by the Tesseract.
–Hela takes a giant flaming sword through the face. No amount of insta-blades are gonna help her there.
–I see a lot of people who don’t understand gallows humor complain about Korg’s final speech about the foundations of Asgard. I, on the other hand, love it.
–Mid-credit scene: They must’ve been cruising for *MONTHS* at this point, but Thanos is finally catching up to the plot.
–I thought this score was very Devo, & I was right.
–Post-credit scene: The Grandmaster.

Executive summary: I recently watched the film What We Do in the Shadows for the first time, & Taika’s visual style & cadence of dialogue is very much present here. It serves Thor much better than his past overly-seriousness; though I still really appreciate what Branagh did with the first movie. The examination of colonial imperialism is also deeper than I expected from a movie about alien vikings.