Review by Zac Platt.

Out of Marvel‘s big three, Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor has always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to his own movies. While Thor and The Dark World were not without their charm, there’s no denying that Asgard is bizarrely the least interesting corner of the MCU. With Thor: Ragnarok, however, the studio has flipped the sub-franchise on its head, tossing out the dry grandeur and “Shakespeare-in-the-park” dialogue of the first two films and handing the reins to New Zealand director and indie darling Taika Waititi (Boy, What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople). The result is a bombastic sci-fi/fantasy/comedy hybrid that is immensely entertaining and irreverent. It’s a change that finally gives Thor the sort of high adventure the character has always demanded, but in the process sacrifices some of the character work and emotional weight we’ve come to expect from the studio.

On paper, Ragnarok should be one of the heavier movies in Marvel’s saga. Not only does the third movie in Thor’s trilogy introduce some massive status quo changes ahead of Avengers: Infinity War, just a few months away at the time of release, but the plot itself deals with Cate Blanchett’s Hela, the goddess of death, emerging from darkness to trigger Asgard’s long-prophesied destruction before gaining the power she needs to lead a chaotic campaign across the universe. It also picks up where we left off in The Dark World, with Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) having faked his death in order to seize the throne by posing as his adoptive father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins).

What makes Ragnarok such an oddity is that all the big ideas and implications of Marvel’s greater story arc are really just set dressing for the pulpy escapades Thor hammers his way through. Waititi is clearly more interested in embracing the swashbuckling nature of the character and does his absolute best not to get bogged down in the high-concept family drama that was front and centre in the previous films. Tonally, Ragnarok almost feels more connected to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy than anything else, perhaps even more so than its own sequel. While the tonal shift is definitely jarring, it represents the beauty of the MCU’s episodic structure. As they have long done with their comics, Marvel seems increasingly willing to hand a critical chapter of its franchise over to a creator and let them make it utterly their own while still moving the larger story forwards.

While Waititi’s style does bring with it some problems, which we’ll get to shortly, he proves an inspired choice to give us a movie that captures the sheer metal-ness of Kirby and Lee’s creation. You’ll see Thor battle a colossal rocket-propelled dragon across a molten panorama, as well as tear through a fleet of spaceships with his bare hands in a high-speed chase across the junkyard world of Sakaar. And despite the stakes, he couldn’t be giddier about the whole thing. Much like Iron Man 3 let us see Tony Stark at his Tony-est, Ragnarok cuts to the core of who Thor is: a big, dumb brawler whose heroics are perhaps a little more about his sense of adventure than they are about saving the day.

Hemsworth himself is clearly having a blast here. While he’s been able to enjoy some quiet laughs as a god-out-of-water in previous movies, this rollicking reinvention of his character, along with the film’s heavily improvised dialogue, allows him to take the spotlight as a genuinely comedic lead. It’s hardly a turn that pushes his emotional depth, but after four movies of Thor with a Norse pole up his butt, it’s great to see Hemsworth relishing the character’s charm and bravado. It has also made me far more excited to see Thor knocking around with the Avengers again in Infinity War than I expected after the utterly forgettable The Dark World and his limited role in Age of Ultron.

One of the biggest issues in the previous two entries was the poorly developed supporting cast, with comic favourites such as Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) reduced to glorified extras. Ragnarok still warrants this criticism when it comes to Thor’s fellow Asgardians, but makes up for it with the fun and eclectic characters our hero meets across Sakaar, where we spend most of the runtime. Jeff Goldblum’s villainous Grandmaster turns out to be much more fun than the trailers gave him credit for, and Tessa Thompson immediately jumps out as the hard-drinking bruiser Valkyrie.

Marvel mainstays Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo also get to have some fun adventuring around with Thor as Loki and Bruce Banner/Hulk, respectively. In both cases, however, it feels as though they are mostly there to plant seeds for meatier examinations in future films. But it’s undoubtedly Taika Waititi’s own small but utterly charming role as the rock-monster revolutionary Korg, think The Thing from Fantastic Four as dreamt up by Flight of the Conchords, that steals the show.

Cate Blanchett’s Hela fares a little better than most Marvel big bads, enjoying some snappy dialogue, sporting a cool character design and boasting a power set that makes her feel like a genuinely unbeatable threat, at least when you have a hero whose strategy is mostly made up of punching people and throwing tools at them. She also brings with her some interesting concepts that raise questions about what kind of man Odin was and exactly what Asgard’s role in the universe has been. Sadly, the film spends little time or effort exploring them, ensuring Blanchett doesn’t have much room to transcend the rest of the hammy obstacles Marvel has thrown at its heroes.

Which brings us to Ragnarok‘s biggest problem: it doesn’t really care that much about Asgard or what is happening to it. While Waititi delights in the journey he takes his heroes through, any time he has to return to Asgard or even discuss the A-plot, it almost feels like a chore. This is most evident throughout the extremely rushed first act, which feels almost desperate to get through the set-up and drop Thor into Sakaar. Waititi’s cheeky flair is the film’s biggest asset, but his indifference to the greater story does prove distracting. With all the damage Hela is doing to Asgard and those aforementioned supporting characters, the levity and jokes simply don’t feel right at a few too many key points in the film. Ultimately, Waititi is better at directing comedy than he is at handling big action and melodrama.

While Ragnarok ranks among Marvel’s funniest entries, one poorly executed extended cameo aside, it isn’t just the comedy that makes it a success. The swagger, colourful visuals, crazy concepts and endearing characters all come together to give the film a sense of identity and personality that breathes life into Marvel’s most stagnant property. No doubt this will split fans, and those looking for the sort of character evolution and story payoff we saw in Civil War could be in for disappointment. But if you’ve been waiting for a Thor movie that’s actually fun, this crazy cosmic adventure could be just what the doctor ordered.