Review by CJ

Director:
Taika Waititi

Starring:
Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson

Other notable appearances:
Idris Elba, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins, Taika Waititi, Luke Hemsworth, Sam Neill, Matt Damon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stan Lee

Running time:
130 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, What We Do in the Shadows

Thor (Hemsworth) must team up with brother Loki (Hiddleston) and the Hulk (Ruffalo) to stop his newly-unbound renegade sister and goddess of death Hela (Blanchett) from destroying Asgard.

Thor: Ragnarok is the 17th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for being humorous, full of action and packed with great characters. Thor: Ragnarok takes that concept and turns it to 11.

The story is zany and delightfully left of centre. Thor: Ragnarok has taken the outlandish nature of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and combined it with the unique vibe brought by Taika Waititi to create something really entertaining.

The whole cast give stellar performances. However, there are two in particular that leap out of the screen.

Hemsworth has owned the role of Thor since first strutting onto the screen in 2011 and has always been funny where appropriate. In Thor: Ragnarok though, Hemsworth’s comedy chops come out in full force and his performance emphasises how far he and the character have come together.

Blanchett nails playing the goddess of death in a way that only a goddess of cinema can. She oozes grace while remaining focused and magnificently evil.

One quick tip I will give people planning on seeing Thor: Ragnarok in cinemas is to keep a close eye on the actors in the theatre scene. They may surprise you.

As with all films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I can’t advocate not watching them all in order before seeing this. There are so many references to the greater universe and there has been so much evolution in the universe between Thor films that even watching the two preceding dedicated Thor films won’t give the casual viewer the full experience. The universe isn’t getting any smaller, so I highly recommend watching the first 16 then heading to the cinemas for Thor: Ragnarok.

Rating:

“I know what you’re thinking: how did this happen? Well, it’s a long story…”