Taika Waititi breathes life – and plentiful humour – into Thor: Ragnarok, a fun, yet patchy entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor, who must make peace with brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in order to stop Hela (Cate Blanchett), their evil, long lost sister who’s sent them packing from Asgard in the hopes of wreaking destruction. Essentially two films that run concurrent to one another, Thor: Ragnarok is a mish-mash of elements held together by Waititi’s own brand of wit and the flair applied to many of the scenes on Sakaar, a rubbish planet where Thor battles a work friend. These scenes are by far the best the film has to offer. The hilarious dialogue and one liners makes it seem as though large chunks have been improvised, and the inclusion of Jeff Goldblum as an alien authoritarian ruler is inspired. It’s a shame, then, that when everything comes to blows in the third act, it’s an underwhelming conclusion to a film that has wit to spare but is weighed down by its connections to Marvel’s bigger picture.
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