Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Taika Waititi
Rating: 4 Stars (Out Of 4)
Such Twitter-worthy put-downs are not the only wisecracks that may remind viewers of a certain occupant of the White House. Somewhat later, in this cheekily self-aware and richly entertaining live-action comic book, we meet the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who, as fans of the Avengers franchise will recall, has been missing in action since the end of Age of Ultron. "Whatcha been up to, big guy?" he is asked, to which the taciturn green giant replies: "Winning."
Don't worry, the latest movie from Marvel Entertainment isn't exactly political, although it does involve palace intrigue. Hela, the evil sister of the movie's God-of-Thunder hero, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), wants to take over the celestial realm of Asgard, stepping into the power vacuum created by the absence of their father (Anthony Hopkins), who, as the movie opens, appears to have been exiled to a senior-living facility on Midgard, aka Earth.
Thor: Ragnarok Movie Review: Cate Blanchett is the villainous Hela
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) makes a brief crossover appearance to help Thor find his father. That's not the film's only delightful cameo. In one funny sequence early on, Thor witnesses an Asgardian stage play featuring costumed actors portraying him, Odin and Thor's adopted brother, Loki. The casting, which is best kept secret, features two delightful surprises - and one that's very meta.
That's the internecine setup, in a nutshell: Thor, like Abraham Lincoln before him, must put together a team of rivals to take out Hela, who has used her powers to reanimate Asgard's dead warriors, long laid to rest. Much of the film centers on our hero's efforts to recruit an Avengers-like version of Seal Team 6 - efforts that are hampered by the fact that he has been imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, where he is forced to participate in the gladiatorial Contest of Champions by that world's ruler, known as the Grandmaster (a deliciously effete yet cruel Jeff Goldblum). There, he meets a fellow refugee from Asagard, Valkyrie (Creed's Tessa Thompson), and Korg, a CGI character made out of rocks who is voiced by the film's director, Taika Waititi, in one of filmdom's most satisfying examples of self-dealing.
It may sound as if the movie is only for 13-year-old boys, or the Marvel faithful, but it isn't. In these times of heightened stress and anxiety, Ragnarok - a word from Norse mythology that refers to both the end of the old world and the rebirth of a better, new one - could not come at a more opportune time. It's a movie that, to put it in terms that the film's screenwriters might appreciate, is Thor-ly needed.
Four stars. Rated PG-13. Contains fantasy/action violence, brief sexual humor and some strong language. 130 minutes.
Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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