Director Taika Waititi
Genre Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Cast Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Kate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo
Rating PG-13
Release Date November 3rd, 2017
“Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.”
From director Taika Waititi, the man behind What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok is the third entry in the franchise of solo Thor films. New Zealand native Waititi is quite the unique talent as he tends to play a role in some capacity in each of his films. In What We Do in the Shadows, the hilarious vampire spoof film, he plays one of the best characters in the film. In Hunt for the Wilderpeople, an amazing yet extremely underappreciated gem of a film, he plays a small but nonetheless hilarious character (if you have yet to see it I highly recommend it!). Waititi's career really began at Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand, where he met Flight of the Conchord's actor Jermaine Clement, and together they formed the comedic duo known as "The Humourbeasts," and well, the rest is history. Clearly humor is very important to Waititi when it comes to his films, and so far early critic feedback has pointed out the significant impact he has had on the Thor franchise. In Thor: Ragnarok, The God of Thunder finds himself imprisoned and thrown into the ring to face off against his former ally, The Hulk aka Bruce Banner, in a fight to the death. The cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Kate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel House.
Hilarious, light-hearted, and oozing with acting talent, not only is Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok arguably the most complete Marvel film to date, it is an absolute blast to experience. I was already psyched about the next Thor film as a fan of the Marvel franchise in general, but once I found out that one of my favorite up-and-coming directors would be leading the way, I was like a kid waiting for Christmas morning to finally arrive. I fell in love (it's not weird I promise) with Waititi as a director after watching last year's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and after Chris Hemsworth himself raved about the film and suggested people go see it, it made sense that Waititi and Hemsworth would cross paths sooner or later. Well they crossed paths alright, and let's just say it was basically love at first sight. Thor: Ragnarok is amazing, and what I really liked is how much of the New Zealand vibe Waititi was able to bring to the film, from the soundtrack to the casting decisions, right down to his general directorial style, it is clear from the get go that this is a Taika Waititi film.
This very well may be the funniest Marvel movie I have ever seen, with Captain America: Civil War the only other film even in competition with it. Personally, I feel like Thor: Ragnarok deserves the nod considering the fact that Civil War had just about every single Marvel superhero at its disposal, and Ragnarok was able to essentially make a mountain out of a molehill (that is still a saying right?). In no way am I saying that this film lacks the level of talent Civil War had, it is just a smaller group of key players as opposed to the entire team sort of speak. It includes so many classic lines that during the ride home my girlfriend gave me the "I know, I watched the movie" response, complete with the piercing dirty look, as I continued to quote line after line during the ride home. She had a rough day so I let it slide, but it certainly didn’t stop me from continuing down that road- I couldn’t help myself! I am actually tempted to start writing about some of my favorite scenes but I can't break my promise of a spoiler-free review, so I will save it for another time. I wish I could narrow down what I enjoyed most about Thor: Ragnarok, but everything came together seamlessly to the point where it is very difficult to focus on just one positive aspect. The fact that I can't seem to think of anything negative also helps. I feel like Waititi's vision and directing style allowed the cast to truly become their characters and just have fun with the roles they were given, and it really shows. I browsed through a ton of photos that were taken during filming, many of which include Waititi engaging in conversation with the cast, and in each and every photo the actors are either laughing or smiling ear to ear. It just seems like he is a joy to work with and I am really glad he was given this opportunity, because it’s very well deserved.
Considering it lacks the majority of the fan favorites from the Marvel Universe, the cast in Thor: Ragnarok is basically a dream come true. I mean come on now, the combination of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jeff Goldblum (every time I hear his name I think about Pineapple Express), Mark Ruffalo, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, and a scene-stealing role by director Taika Waititi, what's not to love?! As soon as it was officially announced that Waititi would be taking over directorial duties for Thor: Ragnarok, he was very open about the fact that he would be taking full advantage of what he called the extremely underutilized comedic talents of Hemsworth. And well, he was right! Hemsworth is an absolute riot and his comedic delivery is on point each and every time. For anyone who dismissed the all-female cast of the Ghostbusters remake out of sheer anger, you missed out on a classic Hemsworth performance proving that he is more than capable of getting well-deserved laughs out of an audience. Thor: Ragnarok reminds us why he was given this role in the first place. Tom Hiddleston is great and I really enjoyed the unique chemistry that has developed between him and Hemsworth over the years. So much has happened within this very complicated sibling rivalry, and this time around the audience gets a heavy dose of the hilarious back and forth.
Go ahead, chalk up the casting of Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster as yet another genius casting move for the Marvel franchise. Goldblum has that rare ability to always be entertaining when he is on-screen and he makes it seem so effortless. I hope he continues to make an appearance in the franchise going forward. New Zealand born actress Rachel House has perfect chemistry alongside Goldblum and I loved her as The Grandmaster's "right hand". Kate Blanchett was exceptional as the films villain and I once again really enjoyed Mark Ruffalo continuing his dominance as The Hulk/Bruce Banner. This is easily my favorite Ruffalo performance in a Marvel film. Director Taika Waititi is slowly becoming a household name, and if you are familiar with his previous films you know that he tends to take on supporting roles in all of his movies. I challenge you to try and watch any scene with Waititi's character without a smile on your face, it is literally impossible. His New Zealand accent brings true joy to my heart, and trust me when I say this is not an exaggeration. He is the epitome of a dual-threat and very well may be my favorite director who also takes on a role in his films. For fans of What We Do in the Shadows, it was recently announced that they are working on a TV version of the film which Waititi is directly involved in, so keep an eye out for that.
Thor: Ragnarok is an amazing addition to the vast collection of amazing Marvel films, and hardcore fans will surely be ecstatic. I also feel like viewers who maybe could care less about superhero films in general, or just simply have yet to see any of the other movies can still walk in to the theater and leave with a smile on their face. Thor: Ragnarok is a perfect example of pure filmmaking as it transcends the big-budget or the impressive CGI, and at the end of the day this is a beautiful work of art. As it stands right now, Thor: Ragnarok is the highest rated Marvel film, for good reason, and by early 2018 my guess is it will stand neck and neck with the next blockbuster of the franchise, Black Panther. I can't wait to see what Taika Waititi takes on for his next project. So do yourself a favor and get out to see Thor: Ragnarok as soon as possible, you can thank me later. I will be seeing it for a second time very soon and this will be added to my Blu-ray collection on release day. Highly recommended.
"All I've got is creativity, that’s it, that’s my job. At the moment I happen to be a filmmaker, but that’s not my job. My job is to express myself, and to share my ideas and my point of view. It happens to be I'm using filmmaking right now". – Taika Waititi
