A Hilarious and Mighty Movie

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2017)

Right from the first scene you know this is a different Thor. Cheeky, colorful, and laced with hilarious dialogue the movie screams fun! The mighty Thor seems to have had no trouble moving on from saving the world with the Avengers. Twice. There's no hidden pain or angst that Tony or Cap are dealing with. He even brushes off a mention of his now ex-girlfriend. It's definitely not a Captain America: Civil War kind of a sequel but more along the lines of Guardians of the Galaxy. And if you relish those movies you'll have a blast here as well.
The Thor films haven't been the strongest in the Marvel Universe. The first two, while fun, were certainly not as memorable as other great Marvel outings. A quick haircut and a giant heaping of humor later we have Thor 2.0. Voila! No spoilers here but as we saw in the trailer even his hammer gets a new lookif you can call it that. Asgard, Thor's home, is under the control of the powerful Hela as he is captured and sold off to the Grandmaster (a terrific Jeff Goldblum) who forces him to fight his all mighty champion. And who might that be? Well we already know it's the Hulk. Taking on his 'friend from work' while worrying about his planet being destroyed Thor has a lot on his plate but as he casually says it's always a mess yet it ends up working out.
Taika Waititi has done a bang on job revamping Thor and making it into an entertainment spectacle. From the graphics and costumes to the never ending laughs (Revengers lol) it's a rollicking ride. Chris Hemsworth lets his hair down (yes, yes, it does get chopped off) and his comic timing fly. He's endearing in the best way and he knows it. Tom Hiddleston's Loki is pretty consistent as usual. I have to point out his reaction to the Hulk which brings the house down. Moments like that remind me how fun it is to have this connected universe. I really enjoyed Mark Ruffalo in both his forms. The Hulk is given a ton of personality, much more than we've seen previously, and Bruce is such a likable guy. Tessa Thompson as the drinking, fighting Valkyrie does a fine job kicking ass. And it's a treat to watch Cate Blanchett playing the big bad Hela. Her power and general villainy is oh so fun!
I willsay that I enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming a tad more earlier this year and the Cap/Iron Man showdown was more my jam but this is still a solid outing that holds its own. Marvel has added a new layer to their movies recently. Characters flow in and out of stories and worlds leading to some superb cameos. There's bonding and then there's fighting but seeing superheroes together always gets fans excited. We're leading up to Infinity War. The stage is set and I can't wait!
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