I know this movie came out a couple weeks ago and 90 percent of my review was written but I had derailed by life. If you haven’t seen this, check it out. If you have, comment on where you agree or beg to differ.
A Thor movie finally arrived and it was worth the wait. This was one of the better Marvel flicks too. I find it unusual how well Marvel does with sequels than introductions because Ant Man and Doctor Strange were photocopies of Iron Man via the hero’s journey. Captain America: First Avenger was different, Steve Rogers isn’t a flawed person requiring humility or another chance.
Moving along, Ragnorak cleverly combines the Walt Simonson-era story arc with (I think) Peter David’s Planet Hulk arc. It’s not a spoiler since the trailers and commercials gave away what could’ve been a great reveal of the Hulk being trapped on the same battle world. If you recall from Age of Ultron, Thor received a disturbing premonition about Asgard. However, it must not have been the first thing on his mind as the movie opens with him fighting Surtur, king of the fire giants. After Thor brings home his trophy, he finally discovers Loki has been on the throne for over two years. As his defense, Loki explains how their father Odin went on walkabout and wasn’t interested in governing. The duo find Odin in Norway with some help from Dr. Strange (this was from Doctor Strange‘s post credit surprise). Despite Asgardians being gods to us Humans, they have finite lifespans too and Odin tells his sons how his time is over so be ready for whatever happens. (A convenient way to get Anthony Hopkins off the Marvel gravy train.) Seems Odin was the only power keeping their older sister Hela, goddess of death, in check.
Once Hela dispatches Thor and Loki, she proceeds to establish her rule over Asgard. Heimdall, guardian of the Rainbow Bridge, remains the last god capable of keeping Hela in check. Without access via his key, she cannot expand her reach to the other eight realms, namely Midgard, aka Earth. Heimdall hasn’t left Asgard, he just fled to the mountains and is secretly taking in refugees.
Meanwhile, Thor arrives on an alien world run by the Gamemaster, a being who shares some traits of the Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy. The vortex which carried Thor also took longer due to Loki having arrived months earlier and the god of mischief found a way to ingratiate himself to the Gamemaster while Thor is stuck being a gladiator with the Hulk as his first opponent.
That’s enough plot synopsis. You’ll have to see how this all plays out.
Marvel took a more humorous route with Thor too. I’ve heard many complain about MCU now just emulating the goofiness of Guardians as the plan with all the upcoming flicks. I disagree. Ragnorak switches between the funny and serious quite well. Otherwise the title would be meaningless (in case you’re unfamiliar with Norse mythology, ragnorak is the battle the gods would fight against the giants in the future and many were predicted to die). What I liked here was how Thor got the prophecy to happen but with a more desirable outcome. If you stick around through the end credits as per MCU tradition, you get a clue on what may happen to Asgard next.
Alamo Extras: Trailer from King of the Vikings; kids playing instruments at a RenFair and they’re damn good; music video to “Lightning Strikes” by the Metal band Thor; clip from the movie Valhalla; Swedish version of The Bozo Show showcasing a superhero dance bit; Alamo provided recaps from previous MCU movies with Thor in them to prep for Ragnorak; music set to Thor’s hammer hitting things; clips from the Sixties Marvel Superheroes Show; Tom Hiddleston doing a bit for Korea’s version of SNL.