Thor Ragnarok is the funniest superhero movie AND the most fun!!!
It’s a scream, a hoot and a blast! (Plus lark, riot, barrel of laughs)
It’s anarchic and hilarious! A different kind of funny from Guardians of the Galaxy, which is pop culture-centric. Here the comedy springs from the disconnect between the characters’ ideas of themselves, what they say they’re going to do, and what they actually do. And the brightly colored CGI worlds look grotty, which make them seem more real.
It rescues Thor from the bottom of the Marvel superhero franchises! Yes, Thor is no longer the loser in the pack (I saw Thor: The Dark World in Czech and it still doesn’t work), and they saved it by allowing Chris Hemsworth to fall on his face and be funny.
It’s packed with guest stars, including actors not in the Marvel universe!
It has the rare villain (Cate Blanchett being the Anti-Galadriel) formidable enough to wipe out the heroes, plus planet-shaking consequences!
Led Zeppelin in Valhalla! Immigrant Song should be the Thor theme like Black Sabbath’s Iron Man should be Iron Man’s (it turns up occasionally) and Misty Mountain Hop should be Gollum’s (Yes, we all read the same things).
Jeff Goldblum in gold lame!
Taika Waititi is my favorite director name!
It must be discussed in exclamation points!
It has two credit sequences, FYI.
I don’t need to see another superhero flick until Black Panther! This year I’ve seen five good-to-great superhero flicks and will quit while I’m ahead.
Later.
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I wasn’t the oldest person at the cinema (I saw it in the early afternoon, surrounded by senior citizens), but I was by far the happiest to hear Led Zeppelin in the battle sequences. “Hammer of the gods?” “We are your overlords?” Nothing could be more appropriate, not even Wagner, said my friend, a blues guitarist.
Since watching Ragnarok, I’ve been listening to Zeppelin constantly. I miss them. When I was a kid, they were schoolbus music: it was either Zeppelin or disco. Up to the 90s it seemed to me that on every overpass there was a beggar with a tinny amp singing “Stairway to Heaven”. In every dive where a band played, some drunks would inevitably start yelling “Stairway to Heaven”, which was the cue to take cover as bottles would start flying. Ah, childhood. Here’s a playlist.
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It’s just occurred to me that one overarching theme in all the superhero movies I’ve seen this year is fatherhood.
Logan becomes a father.
Yondu isn’t Peter Quill’s father, Ego is, but he is Peter’s daddy.
Diana doesn’t have a father, but Ares does, and he created the Amazons to defeat his son.
Peter Parker has lost his father and uncle and his current father figure is the deeply immature Tony Stark.
Thor and Loki are searching for their father.
Do we read comics in childhood in search of our own fathers, even if the biological ones are sitting three meters away?
October 26th, 2017 at 01:19
Watched it twice and it gets funnier, though the seriousness of the theme Ragnarok diminishes (I read Thor-Marvel comics on Ragnaroks [yes, that was tackled a couple of times in the 1990s up to the 2000s] and these were really bleak times, although Thor et al comes back as usual, like in post Civil War where Thor came back and possessed Odin’s omnipotent powers, the most powerful form).
I am really content that many elements of Planet Hulk were infused due to the fact the overall design of Hulk’s gladiatorial armors, planet Sakaar, and some of the gladiators there were co-created by Pinoy artist Carlo Pagulayan.
And yes, I concur Thor Ragnarok is the best Thor movie yet. I didn’t need to watch the second end credit because I prefer the comics Grandmaster than the MCU version (more intelligent, cunning, strategic and most importantly, not a buffoon).
October 27th, 2017 at 11:47
I don’t know how Ragnarok goes in the comics, but in Norse mythology everyone dies.
October 27th, 2017 at 11:49
Here’s Ursula Le Guin slapping down Neil Gaiman’s “ingratiating” take on Norse mythology.
https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/29/norse-myths-by-neil-gaiman-review
October 28th, 2017 at 03:09
The last one, The Mighty Thor #85, was the last part of the arc entitled Ragnarok (2004). Earth was spared but all Asgardians, including Thor in full-power mode, were gone. Thor himself fulfilled the never ending cycle of Ragnarok. In 2007, Thor (and alter ego Dr. Donald Blake) “returned” and Loki was reincarnated as a lady, but still mischievous and ruthless as ever. And Asgard was floating over Oklahoma.