Witty and full of action!

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2018)

Review:
What a great movie! I laughed from the beginning to the end, and the action was top form. I did find the humour slightly strange compared to the previous movies, especially the colourful cinematography used in Sakaar but it was very well written and the new characters, were all a great addition to the Thor franchise. Anyway, the movie kicks off with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) imprisoned on the other side of the universe by the fire demon, Surtur in Muspelheim. When Surtur reveals that Thor's father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), is no longer at Asgard, and that it will soon be destroyed in the prophesied Ragnorak, Thor defeats Surtur, believing that he has prevented Ragnorak. Thor then returns to Asgard, to find his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in charge, so he gets him to tell him were there father is. With the help of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), they meet up with there father, who tells them that his passing will allow there sister Hela (Cate Blanchett), to escape from prison, were she was sealed a long time ago. Odin imprisoned Hela after she became too ambitious while she was the leader of Asgard's armies, forcing Thor to take the realm once Odin became too old to battle. Now with his son's beside him, Odin sadly dies and Hela appears, bringing pure evil with her. During a battle with her brothers, she destroys Thor's hammer, and sends them into outer space to die. Now in Sakaar, a slave trader, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) saves Thor from evil doers, and takes him to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) who forces Thor to fight for survival in the Contest of Champions. The first contestant that Thor has to fight, turns out to be the mighty Hulk, who is very famous in the land of Sakaar for beating all of the opponents that he comes face to face with. After a tight match, Thor finally manages to convince the Hulk that he is truly Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and with the help of Valkyrie and his brother Loki, they fight to get back to Asgard to save the people from the evil Hela. There are many other elements of the storyline that made this movie great, which is why I'm really looking forward to seeing another movie in this franchise. The thing that surprised me the most, was the fact that Thor was just as powerful without his hammer. I also enjoyed watching another side to Hulk, who really made me chuckle when he was in his luxury pad with Thor. Anyway, this is definitely one of my favourite films of last year, close to Wonderwoman, so it is truly a "Must See" from me. Great Film!
Round-Up:
Although I really enjoyed this movie, it did seem a bit to comedic in some scenes, when it needed to be serious, which is due to the wacky director, Tamika Waititi, 42, who also played the role of Korg. With only 5 episodes of the Inbetweeners, What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople behind him, I'm surprised that the powerful Marvel bosses gave this young director a chance to direct this movie! In all cases, the gamble paid off, and I personally haven't heard a bad word about it. With the Black Panther smashing the box office at the moment, and Avengers: Infinity War coming out next month, Marvel can't do anything wrong, leaving the Justice League way behind. I was a bit skeptical when I saw that Disney bought the Marvel franchise but I'm actually enjoying what they have done with the comic book heroes.
Budget: $180million
Worldwide Gross: $854million
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Neill, Iris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban and Ray Stevenson. 8/10