[7]

After a mediocre beginning and a truly shitty-ass sequel, Marvel has made the wise decision of scrapping the Thor character as originally conceived and giving him a personality make-over. And that’s why it feels like Thor has been possessed by Star Lord from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. It’s a calculated move, for sure. But does it make Thor more interesting to watch? Hell, yes.

The third movie is overall kinda funny and amusing, almost to the deteriment of some big dramatic moments that land like banana peels. If I really cared about Thor movies, I’d probably be pissed at how these dramatic moments (no spoilers here) are dispatched, but I don’t really like the Thor movies, so let’s just call it collateral damage in a much needed reinvention. Director Taika Waititi keeps the movie moving briskly, but purposefully, even if it seems he’s a bit haunted by the spectre of James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy). Is it bad that Thor: Ragnarok is a total tonal and stylistic rip-off of Guardians? Maybe. But I’d rather watch warmed-up Guardians left-overs than more of those first two Thor movies.

What’s the movie about? Unlike the truly shitty-ass sequel, I could actually tell you about this movie’s storyline! But why bother? Seriously. These Marvel movies all have the same over-arching storyline. Bad guys come and threaten to destroy the world, and whoever’s starring in the movie has to stop them. This time around, it’s Cate Blanchett who plays the big bad guy, and the world she’s trying to destroy is Asgard, the planet of rainbows and waterfalls where Thor is from. What James Gunn figured out — and what Waititi is copying — is that you can still give an audience a good time with a rote, paint-by-numbers plot if you imbue it with enough character. Thor is fun here. And past character favorites Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are along for the ride. There’s even a new funny character made of stone who gets a lot of the best laughs. So the lesson here is: if you have a been-there-done-that story, you better have character. And Ragnarok has enough to lift it out of mediocrity.

Other stand-out aspects of the movie are Blanchett’s performance as the bad guy. She looks kinda dumb, but Blanchett is bad-ass. She also has some great comic timing. Jeff Goldblum nearly steals the show in his supporting role — I desperately wanted to see more of him. And Mark Mothersbaugh almost delivers a memorable, retro-80s synth score — if only Marvel didn’t insist on keeping their boot on the throats of all their composers. People will be talking about the score, but trust me — it could have been even better. (For starters, how about turning it up so you can hear it over the sound effects?) And finally, we do get to see a shirtless Hemsworth in this movie. The pecs, abs, and other muscles are finely chiseled, and Waititi circles this god-like torso two or three times before letting the movie continue. That’s worth 2 points right there.

With Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Tessa Thompson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Karl Urban.