Thor: Ragnarok review *Spoilers probably included*

I have been a Marvel fan since 2010 (or around there). I started off, like everyone else at the time, with Iron Man and worked my way from there. It wasn't that hard compared to now. Until it was almost crunch time and I was trying to find all the solo Avengers movies but that's not the story here. While watching these movies leading up to Marvel's The Avengers, I first encountered Thor. And I was very confused. I knew nothing of these myths and legends. I knew Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. I watched it a second time and I understood more and it led me to get interested in Norse myth. Now, six years later and a whole cinematic universe later, Thor is facing the twilight of the gods. Well, not exactly, if you compare the movie to the myth.

Ragnarok is the "twilight of the gods" or, more simply put, death to all the Norse gods. Loki, Thor's brother and god of mischief (played in the movies by Tom Hiddleston), starts it. Not really surprising when you've read the myths and the trouble he'd caused leading up to Ragnarok. Thor fights the Midgard serpent, Odin fights the wolf Fenrir, and Loki fights Heimdall. They all kill each other, opening the door for Hel to destroy Asgard and then everything goes back to normal as the gods are reborn. It's a never ending cycle. Not much of this actually happens in the movie.

So the movie starts with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) being a prisoner to a fire monster that is supposed to start Ragnarok once Asgard's king becomes laid back. Which Thor finds out has happened. When Thor The Dark World ended, people were surprised to see Loki claimed the throne as his own but only by masquerading as Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Thor returns home to Asgard and confronts "Odin" who is watching a play about Loki's "death" in the previous movie (aptly named "The Tragedy of Loki" with Matt Damon playing Loki and Luke Hemsworth playing Thor and Sam Neill as Odin. It's a funny cameo) and has made Asgard incredibly laid back. There is peace (from what we are told) and Asgard has prospered under Loki. Thor knows right away that Odin is actually Loki, even though the audience doesn't quite know how Thor knows, and forces him to reveal himself to the people of Asgard. Thor threatens Loki to tell him where Odin is, which leads them to Earth. Loki is taken by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) because he is a "threat to Earth". Thor gets Doctor Strange to tell him where Odin is which is Norway (a little tie in to Norse myth). Thor can't leave without his brother, so he asks Doctor Strange to return Loki. Loki threatens Doctor Strange who sends Loki and Thor through a portal to Norway (this is actually a pretty funny scene when you consider the fact that Hiddleston and Cumberbatch are really good friends in real life). There they find Odin who tells them he loves them both and that he is proud of them both. He tells Loki that Frigga would be proud of him for having come so far in his magic. Then Odin dies. Which opens the portal to Hela (Cate Blanchett) who appears and, when Thor throws mjolnir (his hammer, if you can't pronounce this don't worry most people can't) at her, destroys the hammer. Loki then calls for the Bifrost to be opened so they can return to Asgard. Hela tags along and throws both Thor and Loki out of the Bifrost to land on the planet Sakaar. There Loki is treated as a guest (Disney gets to throw in a few references here *cough* let it go *cough*) while Thor is forced to fight the champion of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). While waiting for the fight, Thor meets Korg (played by director Taika Waititi) who always wants to start a revolution (they really could have used the Beatles song somewhere with this guy and it would have made sense). Thor is given armor and a haircut (this is where Stan Lee makes his cameo) before having to fight the champion: the Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo and voiced by Lou Ferrigno). They fight, Thor discovers he has the power of electricity, Loki wants to get off the planet than loves watching Hulk hulk smash Thor and a Valkyrie of Asgard watches. After the fight, Thor tries to think up ways to get back to Asgard. He breaks out and gets to a jet from SHIELD that Hulk had used when he crash landed 2 years prior. Hulk follows Thor and eventually he turns back into Bruce Banner, who explains what happened to him in exchange for Thor's story until that point. Valkyrie and Loki have to answer to the Grandmaster who gives them an hour to find Thor and Hulk. They fight and Valkyrie wins. She finds Thor and the Hulk and offers help in getting off the planet. They accept and she gives them a "peace offering": Loki. They, reluctantly, band together with Loki to get a ship to get off Sakaar. Thor plays a trick on Loki and leaves him behind. Thor, Valkyrie, and Banner take off for Asgard. They arrive to find Hela has killed pretty much everyone except for a few who have hidden out with the help of Heimdall. The big fight starts between Thor and Valkyrie against Hela while Hulk takes on Fenrir. Meanwhile back on Sakaar, Korg finds Loki and, again, wants to start a revolution. Loki agrees to lead them and they all head off for Asgard. They arrive just in time for Loki to help Thor and Valkyrie with Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song" playing over the epic fight (memories of marching band in high school that I didn't need kept popping up thanks to this song) while Korg gets the Asgardian people onto a ship to get out. Loki starts Ragnarok by putting a crown in an eternal flame (not before passing the Tesseract. I'll come back to this later.) so Loki still technically starts it. Hela goes to fight the monster that is destroying Asgard. She dies while everyone else is safely on the ship going away from the destruction. Thor decides that they are going to go to Earth and the movie ends. I'm not going to say anything about the post-credit scenes because those are always fun to see after sitting through at least five minutes of credits that always leaves you wishing you had a fast forward option.

This movie wasn't like the other Thor movies. It had more attempts to be funny. Many of the gags were funny but there were some that weren't (one had me cringing while everyone else in the theater laughed and two others had me questioning if this was still supposed to be the kid friendly movies that Marvel always made as well as how those jokes even made it into a Disney movie). For those who see this movie and question why Thor seems more familiar with things from Earth, especially jokes and technology, the answer is he spent two years on Earth and he most likely picked it up from there. It took me a while to figure that one out. I liked the movie overall though. There were a few parts I didn't really like but overall the movie was good. I do have some questions though. Like:
1. What happens now? Thor says they are going to Earth but how are they going to get there if they don't have the Bifrost? I get they have a ship but won't it take them a while? Can there be a movie of just them trying to get to Earth? That should be fun. Or is this on purpose so the Guardians of the Galaxy can get brought in?
2. Does Loki take the Tesseract? He slows down and almost stops when he sees it in the treasure room. Loki has always been attached to it so this leads me to think that he took it. How could he not? But there is also the idea that he didn't full stop when he saw it. He was just distracted by it and carried on with the task at hand. And the scene cuts in a way that leaves it open to the viewer. I say he took it based on previous knowledge of the movies and of Loki in general. Loki is one of the few characters that is insanely close to the mythic version of himself which leaves very little to the imagination when it comes to "what would Loki do?". This leads me to think that he does take the Tesseract and that he intends to do something with it but we just don't know exactly what he is planning.
3. What is going to happen to Loki once they get to Earth? Doctor Strange wanted to make sure Loki wasn't on Earth since he had been in a threat in the past and was therefore still a threat. I'm sure SHIELD wouldn't be too thrilled to learn Loki is back, even if he does agree to behave.
4. How does this tie in to the next Avengers movie? Is Thor still going to be an Avenger? Is Loki going to join him? What happens with the other Avengers? One of the post-credit scenes kind of sets up the next Avengers movie but it is still unclear about what happens exactly. And there is supposed to be another Avengers movie before Infinity Wars so no one but Marvel really knows what is going on.
5. Is this the last solo film for Thor? I love the Thor movies but it does seem like they are running out of material and are just making movies because they have to. As much as I don't want them to end, it almost seems like they have to.

I love these movies and I love how Hemsworth and Hiddleston are able to play their characters so well and take them through so much and make it look so easy to play such complex characters. These characters have become so well loved and I'd hate to see them go. But there are whispers that this phase of Marvel is coming to an end and I can see why both actors, as well as a bunch of other "Phase 1" actors (like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, and Scarlett Johansson) are kind of relieved that they won't have to play these characters anymore. To the original Avengers and the villain, they get cast in new movies because they played these characters. They start to get type-cast and I can see how that is frustrating to them. Especially since the new wave of Marvel Cinematic Universe actors are being cast based off of things they've already done. For example, Benedict Cumberbatch has come in after doing things like Sherlock and The Imitation Game and so much more. They even brought in Martin Freeman in a similar way. Most of the original MCU actors became household names because of these movies. Show of hands: who knew Tom Hiddleston prior to seeing him as Loki back in 2011? Or Chris Hemsworth as Thor? Or even Chris Evans as Captain America? But people know Cumberbatch. They know Martin Freeman. They know Paul Rudd (Ant-Man). But I also see actors who have played the characters I've come to love. I don't want to see them replaced. I know and love these characters the way they are. I know Tony Stark the way Robert Downey Jr. made him as an arrogant man who set out to change himself and the world over the course of 9 years. I know Loki the way Tom Hiddleston has made him the villain with a hero complex. I know Wolverine the way Hugh Jackman makes him a man who was once an animal but learned there was more to him (yes I know this is 20th Century Fox and Marvel (AKA Disney) does not actually have the rights to the X-Men but they are already talking about getting the rights back and recasting Wolverine and I don't like it). I see both sides but to me, the same old character with a new face will just be a remake. And you can't remake something so it is better than the original. These actors have become their characters and their characters have become them. As much as some of them may hate it (or love it. Depends on who you are.), this will follow them for the rest of their lives. And for the rest of those whose lives they have touched.