Trust Taika Waititi to turn the Marvel Cinematic Universe on its head and take a hard-left from the dark world we’d prefer not to speak of, because Thor: Ragnarok is unlike any movie you’d expect the studios to be comfortable making.
Except, we’ve already been introduced to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in which writer-director James Gunn takes the film and its characters all over the place—both literally and figuratively. The reason Gunn’s film works—and may have dismayed many—is because it is its own radically fun thing that doesn’t follow the usual plot structure one would expect from most films in the decade-long franchise.
With Thor: Ragnarok, however, Waititi structurally leaves most movies—save for Captain America: Civil War, which still stands to be the studio’s biggest filmmaking success—behind for all the good reasons. Giving Thor and Loki the playing-field they deserve, the director makes the characters and their respective journeys a whole lot more fun to see through. That aside, there is the usual inclusion of that-other-Avengers-superhero in Hulk, except, the makers’ decision to focus more on Bruce Banner than the angry green guy is quite the refreshing sidestep.
[Thor: Ragnarok ends up being] an absolutely fascinating blend of buddy-cop movie and workplace-parody in the guise of a potential big-ticket superhero blockbuster.
(Of course, this rather good deed is evened out by that rather Strange superhero cameo just barely serving to further the story, but that’s okay).
Add to the equation the rather talented Rachel House (Moana), Jeff Goldblum (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), and—of course—Waititi himself, playing the literal toughed-up-softie Korg, and you have yourself a perfectly evened out cast in what seems to be an absolutely fascinating blend of buddy-cop movie and workplace-parody in the guise of a potential big-ticket superhero blockbuster.
Thor: Ragnarok might not be as groundbreaking as Waititi’s predecessors, but it still counts as amongst the best the Marvel Cinematic Universe could provide its audience, right behind Civil War—if not on par, of course. This is the Hero with the Hammer like you’ve never seen before; confident, crazy, and a lot more confident than you’d ever expect.
And we only have a certain Wilderperson’s “skux-code” to thank.
PS: If you thought the teaser—set to the beats of Immigrant Song—was the best thing ever, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
