Review of Thor: Ragnarok (2017) by Frame R — 03 Apr 2018

Hit me with that hammer one more time.

THOR: RAGNAROK.

Well, it's the third MCU movie this year alone. It's well-known in cinema that a genre wears off throughout the years, specially if it's overdone. The parallels between westerns and superhero movies have already between dissected to the core but regardless of that, there is more to the equation than fatigue. Marvel is being extremely consistent but that can happen only to a point with which new ideas can't be brought to the table and there's no chance for renewal. Thus, they call someone like Taika Waititi who imprints such a visible trademark on his movies that diversity was bound to occur. However, as Chaplin would visually showcase, the machine is ruthlessly unstoppable and when men has to deal with it, being given no ability to modify it, the outcome will always seem boxed and part of an industrial process. Therefore, movies made by these visionary directors within the most rigid Hollywood machine seem always a cookie-cut with some strokes of personal vision and not the opposite. Yeah, Thor Ragnarok is a very solid film, as most Marvel films are, and sometimes is funny rather than fun. It's also a visual wonder (sometimes) but I you can't really tell it's a Waititi by its shots or tone. But you can tell by its cinematography, tendency to overcut and storytelling devices that it's a Marvel movie, because the company has a greater voice than the "author". However, I have to say that character work and coaching the actors through a good performance is considerably better than many other MCU films: Thor is more solid and is mutable through the film and Cate Blanchett's Hela is ALL I want for Christmas, being one of the most menacing villains of this year. However, every single character is an archetype that behaves just how you'd expect them to behave. Yet, it's a movie that doesn't treat itself to seriously, it is colourful beyond all possibilities, it's kitschy to a point of being vintage-cool and it's just what you would expect, not more, not less. It's perfectly enthralling storytelling and two great hours of entertainment.