Have Hammer, Will Travel

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2017)

(RATING: ☆☆☆½ out of 5)
GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: Another comic book hero is given a major reboot with an accent more on comedy than logic sense or real drama.
SYNOPSIS: Thor battles his revengeful evil sister.
JIM'S REVIEW: The Marvel comic book universe is bursting at its spandex seams with all of its superheroes, both major or minor. One of the oddest of the lot has always been Thor, a god steeped in Norse mythology who possesses a magical hammer as his weapon of mass destruction. Thor: Ragnarok is now the third in the series that celebrates this hunky he-man, if one excludes his previous supporting roles and cameos in other Marvel movies of course. (That inter-breeding exists in this installment as well, with other superheroes like Dr. Strange and The Hunk making their entrances with their usual flair. Aside from some funny moments in this outing, nothing is there.)
The nonsensical plot involves Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his bad brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) fighting their even badder banished sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), for ownership of their kingdom, Asgard. The film's narrative sets up major changes in this jocular central character. It updates Thor with a modern leaner look as the filmmakers dispatch his mighty hammer and his shoulder-length tresses at the film's midway point. Many battles ensue and Thor is sent across the universe to meet other perils along his journey to self discovery.
Director Taika Waititi (who also does voice-over duty for one of the movie's creatures) turns up the comedy with mixed results. The overall campy tone works sometimes, that is, whenever Ms. Blanchett takes the reins to reign over our hero and his crusading sidekicks. More often the humor falls flat, particularly whenever Jeff Goldblum minces his way through the role as Grandmaster. (The actor is clueless with his character who should be menacing and a larger threat than the narcissistic power-hungry moron he portrays. Really, can anyone with those traits run a planet? Never mind.) Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins fill out the rest of the cast with as little screen time or presence as needed.
The screenplay by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher L. Yost wants to pound us over the head with the silly hi-jinks and doesn't build any tension in its story because of its comic intent. The comedy simply undercuts the semi-seriousness of its ludicrous plot. It just can't have it both ways. If the film doesn't take itself seriously, why should we? The characters continually leaps from planet to planet, with no apparent reason. So does the script, making numerous leaps of logic to advance its puny plot.
Except for the aforementioned awful performance of Mr. Goldblum, the rest of the cast works overtime to charm its audience. Chris Hemsworth as our slightly dim hero is again well toned and well cast. Giving strong support are Tom Hiddleston as the cunning Loki and Mark Ruffalo as Mr. Bipolar himself, The Hulk, a.k.a. Bruce Banner. The three actors have a nice rapport on screen that really registers. As the conflicted Skurge, Karl Urban adds some nuance to his underwritten character and Tessa Thompson has some some nice moments of female empowerment as Valkyrie, Female Warrior (channeling enough Michelle Rodriguez estrogen and persona into her supporting turn.)
Still with all its flaws, the movie consistently entertains. Its most effective sequence in the entire movie is the gladiator inspired arena war between Thor and his green adversary which the director stages quite well. This set piece mixes the drama and comedy elements to full advantage. But too often, the many battle scenes are blurred and photographed upfront and personally in-your-face technique that obstructs the action. The CGI is mostly above average, although the best visual effect by far is Mr. Hemsworth's muscular physique in his shirtless scene.
Thor: Ragnarok will awe its target audience, but this reviewer needs at least a hint of intelligence in its storytelling. Just how often do we need to leave our brains at the door whenever we step into this genre.