Let’s be honest; after Thor: The Dark World, there was really nowhere to go back up. That ham-fisted depiction of a superhero torn between two worlds held in place by a girl is overdone. If you’re going to do the same story again, you had best do it better, or at least with a modicum of plotline.
But this isn’t about The Dark World, this is about Ragnarok. Early warning, I gave it maybe a 7/10. It was visually pleasing, I liked the characters, I liked seeing many characters again, and I am never not ready to look at Thor. However, the first half of the movie dragged for me to the point of comatose viewing. I tire of Marvel movies lately (you know, the polar opposite of dark and broody DC, which is another extreme I’m not ok with) and the soundtrack (put down your stones!) irritated me to no end.
Let’s jump right into it. Thor begins the movie with his bulging biceps (honestly, I didn’t even notice) talking to a skeleton about how he got where he got, and then escapes after vanquishing yet another foe back to Asgard, his home. He finds his father, Odin, putting on a play about his supposedly dead brother, Loki, now hailed as an Asgardian hero, and reveals to his people that Odin is actually Loki, and Loki is up to his old tricks again. They go on the search for Odin, with the help of a mildly unconvincing Marvel hero, and when they find Odin, they discover that the prophecy of Ragnarok, which is basically the Apocalypse coming for all they knew (not the weak X-Men one, an actual scary one), must be fulfilled. How do they stop it – especially when the apocalypse is their all-powerful vengeance-driven goddess of death? TEREN!
I liked the villain in this one. The thought of Malkeith still makes me barf a little. I like that Hela is female, and scary, and vendetta filled, and a badass who kicks ass and takes no names. The supporting cast also delighted me, both old and new characters. Again, I am always ready to see Loki, who never ever learns. The action got much better and the back story was good, from the second half. I’m a fan of Thor’s new (though I think they’re trying to hukuz leave us in suspense with that) kind of love interest, and I love that they always link back to other heroes in the Marvel universe.
Which brings me to my Marvel problem. It took me like 6 months to finally get to Guardians 2 – mostly because I didn’t like the first one, and I didn’t see what they were going to offer me in the second one. The answer is, the same stuff (much like Avengers 2. Seriously. Why did they make Avengers 2? Anyway…). I a feeling a bit exhausted by this whole OH MARVEL ARE NOT DC WE ARE THE FUNNY ONES WE MAKE JOKES ALL THE TIME spiel. It’s so tiring. Ama it’s just me who feels like there can be an even balance where all the superheroes don’t have to be clowning constantly? Like in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (one of the best hand to hand combat scenes I’ve seen in a Marvel movie), or in Avengers (THE FIRST ONE), where they hadn’t made eeeeverybody and their mother a funny man. I’m not interested in seeing Tony Stark just replicated in different costumes. And imagine you don’t have to focus a whole movie on Hawkeye, we already know you’re ignoring him and giving the females weak stories. Can we just go back to the original winning formula, which is just doing better at fleshing out and even screen time and just…doing better? We all know that Ultron was just James Spader being James Spader with a misguided sense of justice which is James Spader in everything James Spader ever is in. Quite frankly, YAWN. This wasn’t supposed to be a Marvel rant, but this is where we are now. Don’t get me started on Spiderman, but at least his character is originally a wisecracker. Now these other guys? Ai.
And finally. I know the word Ragnarok sounds like rock but that rock soundtrack irritated me to no end. Norse gods and a cosmically colorful soundtrack just feels like a rehash of…well, Guardians. And we all know how I felt about that…
I totally agree about the MCU’s overly-comedic and lighthearted approach becoming tiresome. It’s a formula they keep using to get the masses into cinemas (and high bluray/DVD/online download sales). While it works to a certain extent (coz it entertains the average viewer who just wants a good, “fun” :-/ time), I feel it detracts a WHOLE lot from the storytelling side of things.
Ragnarok – I personally thought they didn’t sufficiently address the gravity of a looming apocalypse or the darkness that the villain should have brought into the story. She is the *goddess* of death. Not a glorified office clerk in the galaxy’s Death Department.
Sure, they raised the stakes a bit (just a wee bit) with Thor’s eye loss, Odin’s death and Hela killing all those people (though I thought Asgard would have a more imposing military resistance) but at no point did I genuinely worry that things would go horribly south. Seems like it’s all fun and games till…..noope, it’s ALWAYS just fun and games!
More on Hela’s unrealised potential – I’m getting more and more worried about Infinity War and Thanos’ eventual state after he wields the gauntlet. They might significantly water down his power which will inevitably screw up the whole thing! Curious to see how they’re going to go from ‘little to no stakes conflicts’ to ‘all out infinity stone-based devastation’.
So tiresome and I get it but I am OVER IT even though I am still totally going to watch them ALL.
Office clerk LOL
I too was disappointed in their line of defence. YAWA. Also ALWAYS FUN AND GAMES. Basically, they’re going to do to Thanos what they did to Thor. Make him a laughable caricature of evil because that’s what people like to see. He gotsta have jokes.