Monday, November 6, 2017

Reserved Seating: THOR: RAGNAROK

by Rob DiCristino and Adam Riske
The review duo who are healthy now but sometimes get thor throats.

Adam: Welcome to Reserved Seating. I’m Adam Riske.

Rob: And I’m Rob DiCristino. The seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe™ Is Thor: Ragnarok. It stars Chris Hemsworth as the titular God of Hammers, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Goddess of Antlers, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, God of Unresolved Paternal Angst, and Mark Ruffalo as The Incredible Hulk. On this adventure, Thor returns to Asgard to find Loki posing as Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and lounging on his throne while the Nine Realms fall into chaos. Thor retrieves his father, who tells him and his brother that Hela will soon return from exile to unleash an apocalypse on their people. She does that (destroying Mjolnir while she’s at it) and the Odinsons wake up on Sakaar, a chaotic planet ruled by The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). The scavenger Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson) captures Thor, forcing him to fight Hulk, who’s been living on Sakaar the last two years as Grandmaster’s champion gladiator. Thor must escape Sakaar and assemble a team of warriors who can stop Hela before she destroys Asgard forever.

The funny and colorful Thor: Ragnarok is sure to be a top five Marvel film for many fans. Director Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) slides comfortably into the MCU, bringing the same kind of warmth, wit, and spectacle that James Gunn gave to the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Ragnarok essentially uses that Guardians template to wipe Thor’s dour, overwrought slate clean. It’s a complete tonal reboot of both the character and the world that reflects a significant effort to align the “cosmic” side of the MCU (Thor, Guardians, Doctor Strange) into one cohesive aesthetic unit. Marvel clearly sensed their audience's ambivalence toward Shakespearean melodrama and decided to pull out all the stops to set the franchise on a new path by (literally) tearing down what they’d built and starting over. Ragnarok eagerly sheds — and, at several points, mocks — its mythology, presenting a looser and more charismatic Thor who talks to himself, flirts with girls, and seems to realize that this cape-and-hammer stuff is all a little silly.
Although it’s undeniably fun, bold, and entertaining, Ragnarok struggles to tell any kind of engaging story. It spends its first hour clearing off a messy table and its second hour setting a new one. The plot moves in fits and starts, which, while frustrating (especially in the case of Hela; Blanchett has nothing to do), are made more tolerable by the introduction of new characters and environments every fifteen seconds. By the time the soft-spoken rock gladiator Korg (Waititi) showed up, I felt like a cat watching a dangling set of keys. But, I get it. I’m awful. People are here to follow relatable heroes on wild adventures, and in that Ragnarok mostly succeeds. Plus, Hulk! There’s not a ton to smash once we leave the gladiatorial ring, but Banner is refreshed with a new arc (less sad!) and a new attitude (he talks!), which is On Brand for Ragnarok and fun enough for now. His abbreviated screen time gives more to Tessa Thompson, who, as expected, is the film’s secret weapon. Her self-indulgent struggle with honor and disillusionment is a nice foil to this more self-aware version of Thor, exemplifying the franchise’s maturation beyond the Glory and Power bullshittery. Then there’s Jeff Goldblum, who occasionally shows up in a bathrobe to dance around, mug at the camera, and remind us that this is all a big, goofy farce.

Boy, I’ve been talking a lot! Sorry about that. Adam, what did you think of Thor: Ragnarok?

Adam: First off - thank you for writing the plot summary. I would have had no enthusiasm left for this review had I done that on my own. That’s not just to be a cheap joke; it’s a major complaint I have with the MCU films, which is that I don’t care about the plot in these movies except on rare occasions. They have great characters and that’s where I respond to them positively. Thor: Ragnarok is no exception. Hemsworth is better as Thor than he is as any other movie character. It’s perfect casting and a signature performance that’s a joy to watch. And I echo your statement on Tessa Thompson, who we’re both big fans of. She is a massive upgrade over Natalie Portman’s underwritten, slightly embarrassed take on her character from the previous two Thor films. I laughed a little at Goldblum, but he’s maybe just a hair too in on the joke for my personal preference. Funniest to me was Taika Waititi’s Korg -- moreso the delivery than the actual laugh lines. There’s a lot to enjoy in this movie when it’s played for comedy. One gripe: why isn’t Kat Dennings in this? She would fit in perfectly with this movie.
I struggled for the first half-hour or so of the movie because it feels like it keeps restarting in every new scene and then my least favorite Marvel characters in the MCU share screen (Loki and Doctor Strange) and I am almost entirely checked out. Thankfully, the movie relocates primarily to Sakaar shortly thereafter and it’s a blast. We cut back to Asgard from time to time to watch Idris Elba lead a revolt against Cate Blanchett, who is sporting an antler chandelier made by Mercer from The Circle. #JusticeForMercer #I’mGoingToSignOffTwitterInHonorOfMercer #EveryoneWatchTheCircleSoYouGetTheseJokes.

When the movie is focusing on Thor, Banner/Hulk, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Taika Rock Creature, I’m good and the movie is fun, but again this is an ephemeral experience that only exists for me in the moment I watch it. I was hoping with Waititi it would break through into that same rarified Marvel air that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or Captain America: The Winter Soldier does for me, but Thor: Ragnarok is mostly a typical Marvel movie. I don’t even know any more if I mean that as a positive or negative. They’re fun. They’re products. There are so many that it’s frustrating they mean so little. How many times will I watch the same thing before I have had enough? I know what spaghetti tastes like! Since I’m going Mark Ahn on the movie, I want to steer towards the positive a little. What were some of your favorite moments from Thor: Ragnarok?
Rob: I’m sitting here and, I swear, I’m trying to think of one joke or moment from Ragnarok that stood out. I definitely laughed out loud several times in the theater, but this movie is just that ephemeral; it exists in the moment and then disappears. I like it. I don’t love it, and I’ll probably remember even less about it in a few days, but I like it. Not even Guardians has this much straight-up comedy. Remember the Willy Wonka scene? I kept thinking it was one step away from Jeff Goldblum showing up, and then Jeff Goldblum literally shows up. Ragnarok knows what it is, lets its hair down, and has fun with it. Though I disagree with the people calling it the best Marvel movie in years (Spiderman: Homecoming), I can understand why they say that. This is a really, really fun movie that taps into that simple, childlike joy we want to feel from comic books, and I absolutely cannot overlook that. Just because it’s way too goofy and self-aware for me to really get invested in doesn’t mean I don’t understand the appeal. Taika Waititi is an amazing creative force. The synth score is badass. Everyone is having fun. I have a gigantic crush on Tessa Thompson. Mark Ahn. #JusticeForMercer.

Adam: Don’t you mean a gigantic jawn? The best Marvel movie in years claim seems to come with every new Marvel movie (except I remember the pre-release buzz on Guardians Vol. 2 was that it was a stumble, which made it a nice surprise for me to see it wasn’t at all) and I guess that’s a testament that these films offer something different for everyone. I also agree with you entirely on Taika Waititi, who is a rare comedy filmmaker that is really funny without ever trying to be cool or vain. He’s just a silly guy and I love that so much about him. I prefer his last two films to Thor: Ragnarok, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy he has gone mainstream. He deserves the attention (and money) that comes with being a part of the MCU. Maybe next time he can find a way to get Goldblum and Sam Neill in a scene together. This was a good conversation. I think I like the movie a little bit more now. Are you looking forward to next year’s MCU films - Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp? For me it’s yes, eh, no. I’m mostly just pumped for Black Panther because it’s any new Ryan Coogler movie and I’m becoming a Chadwick “Vontae Mack No Matter What” Boseman superfan. That guy can hella act. He should team up with Cate Blanchett for a spin-off called Hella Hela with a theme song sung by Ja Rule. I just read in Trivia that Blanchett did this movie for her kids and her son said it would be a career boost for her. That kid’s awesome.
Rob: Tessa Thompson is no jawn. She’s THE jawn. I’d say my excitement for the next Marvel movies has remained at the same “medium” setting for the last few years. That’s not a knock on them at all, just an acceptance that they’re all going to have a similar level of quality. We’re pretty spoiled at this point. Black Panther has the Coogler factor, which is promising. Infinity War is supposed to be the last hurrah for many of the original Avengers, so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle that. And Ant-Man? I mean...sure. Why not? We’re long past the idea that the series will live or die based on any of the individual movies or heroes. It’s just a big sandbox for everyone to play in now, and many of us are just following the larger story to see how it all locks together. I actually like that you can come in and out of the series at will, taking movies off here and there, and come back to a movie that will catch you up on what you missed. That’s what comic books do best. When (if) this all ends, we’re going to look back at it as one of the most significant achievements in studio filmmaking history. It’s been fascinating to see how the storytelling has evolved and adjusted over time, even if many of the films are less than memorable.

Will Blanchett have the antlers in Hella Hela? Can Rihanna play her sidekick? She can remix “Umbrella” for the soundtrack. Either way, I’m in.

Adam: Me too, especially for your adds to Hella Hela. #HelaBackYoung’nWooooWoooo! Until next time…

Rob: These seats are reserved.

29 comments:

  1. I guess I can understand someone thinking it's too silly to be invested in. But for me, this movie is first and foremost a comedy and DAMN good one. I love going to see a good comedy but I'm totally uninterested in 90% of them these days. For me this is the funniest comedy since The Nice Guys and it also happens to have amazing action and comic book characters I love. This is the coolest Thor has ever been and this is the best Hulk movie ever. Never has Hulk been so close to his comic book version. I absolutely love this movie much more than almost (any?) MCU film.

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    1. You're not interested in a Christmas comedy with moms who are bad and putting Christmas at risk? Or one where so many daddies are home and testing one another's worth as both fathers and men?

      P.S. Thor better be in your top 10 list or else :-)

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    2. I'm not even kidding, I saw Bad Mom's Christmas this weekend because my girlfriend really wanted to go. I actually enjoyed it, so my taste is worthless. :D

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    3. I'm actually with you in enjoying bad Christmas comedies, and it's SUCH a Christmas movie. More than I expected, and I laughed a lot.

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    4. You have my attention. I was thinking of doing a scorecard column for next week pitting BMC and DH2 head-to-head for Christmas comedy supremacy.

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    5. I'm seeing Daddy's Home 2 because of my previously mentioned affection for Christmas, and I'm not ashamed (ok maybe slightly) to say I think the trailers are hilarious.

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  2. Maybe it's because I'm so disappointed with this year's movies so far, but I found Ragnarok to be a pleasant surprise. It's far from great, but so far I would have to put it in my top 10. I thought the humor worked well, and the actors found the right balance. The plot is pretty standard for the MCU, and the 3rd act was a bit uninspired. But I'll take this over almost any other blockbuster this year.

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  3. Those are solid Mercer jokes Riske. I haven't seen The Circle yet but I would recommend the book because it's probably much better while at the same time having bonus ridiculous shit that I'm sure didn't make the movie. (Assuming They Pelican Briefed the sexual relationship in the story).

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  5. I’m gonna be the asshole here, but why even botter with those movies anymore. Is it just clickbait? It’s the popular movie of the week so you have to do it?

    I personnaly like everyone of those Marvel movies, but it seem like you’re just hurting yourselves by reviewing it.

    I much prefer that you do stuff like Table 19 because there might be something there with Anna Kendrick in the lead. Or Baby Driver from a director we all like

    I also want to point out that you never did Blade Runner 2049

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    1. I think reviewing the biggest movie of the week and the biggest movie in the world makes sense. It's not clickbait, just a review.

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    2. Maybe don't be the asshole. If you don't want to read a review then don't read it.

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    3. I have a column coming out later in the week with my thoughts on Blade Runner 2049. Didn't get to it because it's not horror and it came out during SMM. In short, I like it but don't love it. I'll steel myself for the response.

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    4. You guys should definitely do a click bait article for Justice League tho. "10 Mind-Blowing things you NEVER knew about Justice League" then just list off a bunch of stuff from the IMDb trivia.

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    5. I wrote this because i like this column. I do skip one from time to time, for various reasons, but generally i really enjoy it. I guess i don’t like reading something you don’t want to write about

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    6. A few things:
      1) First and foremost, thank you for reading and mostly enjoying the column. Rob and I definitely appreciate it.
      2) We asked to write this review.
      3) When you write several columns per week, it's a struggle sometimes to find topics you are passionate about every time. Even when I don't feel the passion for it though the article is never phoned in because that's unfair to you all as readers.

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    7. Thanks for the explication. I guess i didn’t think that can’t get the perfect movie every time. Which is funny because that’s what i say to my friends when they don’t like a movie and feel angry about it: ‘they can’t be all Citizen Kane’ or ‘if you never saw it, you’d never know if you like it’.

      Indeed, it never felt phoned in and that’s why i like the writings on this site

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    8. I just interpreted it as a lighthearted vibe. #HelaOnWheels #FreeMercer

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    9. Looking forward to your Blade Runner 2049 review, Adam. It seems I liked it more than most.

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    10. As an objective observer, no one was being an asshole here. Just movie geek view divergence. Peace out.

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    11. Ok, knunider, that was a little harsh. You can't go criticising Adam for reviewing a movie. Dude is a work horse. Patrick obviously has the handle on the podcast, but no one has written more about movies here than Adam. He's a freaking blessing, and we should all be thankful that he gives so much time and thought to his pieces. Dude puts his heart and soul into this place.

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    12. I'm just going to answer the first question brought up here of "why even bother with these movies anymore?" Well, because we want to know what they think of the movie!

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    13. It's all good. Let's go to virtual IHOP for pancakes.

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    14. It came out wrong, but it was a genuine question.

      I’m seeing the movie tonight. I know i’ll like it because i always like the marvel movies

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  6. Even though Thor Ragnarok is as ephemeral as all the MCU movies I really really dug it. Very funny (no surprise) and visually stunning (slightly more of a surprise given the grounded look of Waititi's other films). Even if it was a lot of CGI beating up CGI the action set pieces felt epic on a different scale than, say, the airport fight in Civil War. It's probably unfair to say these Marvel movies should be reviewed apart from other movies, since they are more chapters in a story than actual standalone films, but that's how I consider them. It's both a strength and a weakness that these movies feel like issues of a comic book series — fun, large scale storytelling, that's nearly impossible to appreciate apart from the series as a whole.

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  7. I saw this movie in Portugal (subtitled) because my flight landed at 6 AM and while I'd managed to waste 5 hours dicking around at the airport, my hostel check-in time wasn't until 3 PM. No Black Panther preview, and I fell asleep at several points so I'll probably see it again when I return to Canada's tender embrace. I do remember wishing we had Frigga instead Odin, and angrily thinking "Too many jokes" at one point but maybe I was just not in the mood for comedy. I vote a tentative Mark Jawn.

    Fun fact: Portuguese movie theatres do intermissions! They're super abrupt and totally kill the momentum of the movie! They only seem to last about five minutes! The theatre played Lucy Pearl's 2000 classic "Dance Tonite" during said intermission! I still know all the words!

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    1. Mark Jawn is fantastic.

      I would never leave Portugal if they played Lucy Pearl music during the intermission of the movie I was watching. I love that song! Did you have that as an association to Thor 3 for the rest of the movie? Like, did it become the Grandmaster's unofficial theme?

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  8. Going to be a while before I get a chance to see this one because Disney seemingly has as low an opinion of people who work for movie theaters as they do for L.A. Times reporters, but as always I enjoyed reading the column.

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  9. Great column as always guys! Just got out of my showing, and while I seem to have enjoyed it a bit more than you, I agree with all of your criticisms. When I asked my wife what she thought of it, she looked at me, shrugged, and said, "It was good, but it's a Marvel movie" and I think that about covers it. Enjoyable and entertaining to watch, this one particularly funnier than the rest, but still plagued by the MCU formula and likely forgettable in the long run.

    I do however love that Waititi's fingerprints are all over this thing. His work as Korg was great, and I liked how he managed to subvert certain expectations to great effect (see: Bruce Banner's not-so-epic landing on the Bifrost). I'm bummed that while Blanchett gave a great performance and seemed to be having fun, they saddled her without much to do. Each time the film cut from Sakaar to Asgard I checked out. Like Guardians Vol. 2, I was surprised by how small the actual villain stuff was in relation to what else was happening.

    Overall, I'd say the film is in my top 5 MCU films, but that's honestly not saying much. I generally view them as "these 5 I really like or even love, and the rest are... fine."

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