Thor and Hulk smash the theaters in Ragnarok

The new Thor movie, Ragnarok, is a blast. That is my review in a nutshell. It honestly may be my favorite Marvel movie yet, and that is saying something for this super-fan.

The movie starts with Thor inprisoned by a fire demon, Surtur, who reveals to the audience that he is supposed to bring about Ragnarok, the destruction of Thor’s home world of Asgard. From this opening scene, we see this film has been infused with more laughs than you typically see in this franchise, as Thor playfully banters with Surtur despite being his “prisoner.” When Thor obviously makes his escape, he returns home only to find that his mischevious brother Loki has been impersonating their father, King Odin, as we saw at the end of the last Thor film, The Dark World. Thor unmasks Loki, and the two go to find the real Odin, who has been living on Earth in Norway. Odin tells the brothers that he is dying, and that his death will free their long-lost (and unknown) older sister Hela, the goddess of death. As Odin passes, Hela arrives, and the stage is set for the climactic conflict.

If you are a fan of the film series, you’ll probably see this one, so I’ll leave the rest of the movie description off. The main cast is rounded out by the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), and Skurge (Karul Urban). All are fantastic, but Cate Blanchett as Hela really steals the show, and is quite possibly the best villian to show up in any of these movies to date. This movie is funny, without deterring from truly being an action film, and grandiose without being over the top. It also does a great job of telling a single, concise story so you don’t have to come in with knowledge of the previous films, and while the plot is wrapped up nicely, it has just enough of a teaser to make you want to see more. A thoroughly enjoyable film.