HAMMER TIME: New Thor a success

This year has been a good year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

In his third solo film, Thor: Ragnarok, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has got a lot on his plate.

The goddess of death, Hela (Cate Blanchett), is seeking to take over Asgard, Thor is imprisoned on the alien planet of Sakaar, and Asgardian apocalypse Ragnarok, is drawing closer.

Though he may be without his hammer, Thor has the help of the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), the hard-drinking warrior Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and his usual troublemaking self Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

As the 17th film, the MCU knows to make fun of itself to keep audiences entertained.

It had the perfect blend of comedy and action. One minute you’ll be laughing your socks off as the film prods fun at Thor’s overly heroic attitude, then the next you’ll be on the edge of your seat, wrapped up in a thrilling action scene of Thor and Hulk having gladiator-style battle.

The entire main cast stole the spotlight and Cate Blanchett was a truly intimidating villain, who you had no clue how Thor was going to defeat.

We also get an excellent cameo from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). His scene is incredibly entertaining, but he doesn’t out stay his welcome or pull the spotlight away from Thor.

I don’t have many complaints for this film, though I was wondering why no one ever mentioned where Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif was. I understand there were scheduling conflicts with her TV series Blindspot, but it felt odd that no one ever gave a brief reference to where her character was.

Overall, this was an entertainingly zany film that managed to incorporate Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” not once, but twice. The characters were great and most of what happened really took me by surprise. Definitely a film all Marvel fans must see.