Much of his great un-Thoring happens on Sakaar, a planetary garbage dump run by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum, comically jiving and dithering), a psychopath Auntie Mame in flowing gold lamé and blue fingernail polish who suggests a low-rent version of Stanley Tucci’s host in “The Hunger Games.” (Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost wrote the screenplay.) Soon after Hela appears, she moves back home and Thor lands elsewhere, allowing her to run amok - kill, strut, repeat - and him to leisurely settle into his new, more lighthearted mode until it’s serious hammer time. The story is an uninteresting thicket of brawls, machinations and useful coincidences. She lusts for Odin’s realm, which remains as drearily amorphous and anonymous as before. The Chatty Cathies also include Thor’s sister, Hela (a vamping Cate Blanchett), an overgrown Goth Girl with smudged eye makeup and killer dominatrix looks who plays very hard. There’s a lot of yakking, some barking at one point, Odin does some god-splaining. That gift is first evident here in the intimate huddles between Thor and whoever happens to be within chatting (or shouting) distance.

It makes sense for all sorts of reasons, including that superheroes can so easily appear to be on the wrong side of history, especially those who look like Aryan cartoons.Īs a storyteller, the director Taika Waititi (“ Hunt for the Wilderpeople”) has a charmingly idiosyncratic human touch and a gift for turning goofiness and gab into personality. “Ragnarok” tries hard to change that profile, and mostly succeeds by knocking its big, blond beauty consistently down to size.

Through no fault of their likable star, Chris Hemsworth, the Thor movies have been largely forgettable, memorable mostly for the upstaging antics of his brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and as a bad fit for Natalie Portman (Thor’s former love interest, now mercifully banished into the storytelling cornfield). Given his earlier stand-alone movies, Thor might have had better luck cracking the code if he’d copped to being the “most boring Avenger.” He needs to make a getaway - he’s neck deep in trouble and plot entanglements - so identifies himself as the “strongest Avenger.” No dice. There’s a nice bit in “Thor: Ragnarok,” the latest Marvel blowout to feature the god of thunder, where he tries to start a jet using a voice-activated password.

Thor: Ragnarok free