Thor: Ragnarok
Surtur: "You cannot stop Ragnarok. Why fight it?"
Thor: "Because that's what heroes do!"
release year: 2017
genre: superhero action
viewing setting: home Bluray 2/24/21 and 3/8/18
synopsis: Thor and allies must deal with a death goddess and the potential fall of Asgard.
impressions: As was the case with the other two, this was entertaining (and actually a lot funnier than the others) but got weird with the whole time/space/realms thing. What I mean by that is that the physics and structure of Asgard, etc vs space and planets were never explicitly explained, and so it was a bit confusing. But this movie's purpose wasn't to explain the magic and physical structure of its universe - its purpose was to give us some great battles, redefine much of Thor's life and home, and set things up for the next Avengers movie. There are three big battles to be had here, all suitably grand in spectacle/scope as well as heavy on fun action.
acting: Chris Hemsworth is still doing more thinking than in his first movie, and has to deal with a couple of big setbacks this time, plus rule his people. Tom Hiddleston continues to be great as the conniving, treacherous brother Loki - and now he finally has to choose whether to be useful or part of the problem. Cate Blanchett is the evil death goddess Hela. Tessa Thompson is the bad-ass warrior-woman Valkyrie, who wants nothing to do with Thor or Asgard. Mark Ruffalo is Hulk and Bruce Banner, who play a fairly major role here. Jeff Goldblum is the Grandmaster, a weird alien who likes to play games. Anthony Hopkins is Odin, the all-powerful (but aging/dying) ruler of the gods. Karl Urban is Skurge, a warrior who sides with Hela and betrays his people. Idris Elba is the serious guardian Heimdall, who becomes the savior of his people until the final battle.
final word: Entertaining sequel that both shakes up Thor's world and sets things up for Avengers: Infinity War.
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