Waititi, gods & Ragnarok’n’roll.

Poor Thor. Despite being a founding member of the Avengers and a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Strongest Avenger™ has always felt like a fringe player, even in his own adventures. While functioning as perfectly solid comic book movie fare, Thor’s first two outings in the MCU never quite hit the mark with the character; often painting him in rather blundering and bland tones, while his mischievous brother, Loki, proceeds to steal the show right out from under his nose.

Despite Chris Hemsworth’s best efforts, Thor has always felt like a bit of an outlier in an ever-expanding Marvel universe. The God of Thunder is a hefty title for anyone live up to and, so far at least, things haven’t been as thunderous as expected for young Thor Odinson and, to avoid the character becoming set adrift from his avenging peers, you know something drastic had to be done.

Step forward Taika Waititi - the bringer of fun and colour. Best known for quirky, low-budget indie hits What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Waititi felt like an odd choice to helm a superhero blockbuster about a Norse god but, in hindsight, we needn’t have worried. The director’s injection of colour, humour, and some good, old-fashioned fun is unlike anything Thor has seen before and, oddly for the final instalment of a trilogy, Thor: Ragnarok feels like the start of something rather special.

Two years on from the Battle of Sokovia, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns home to find Asgard under the covert rule of his devious brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). With Odin (Anthony Hopkins) AWOL and Asgard in turmoil, the brothers must put aside their differences, however, to combat a whole new danger. Threatening to take back what’s rightfully hers; Hela, the Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett) banishes Thor and Loki from Asgard, before seizing control of the realm and laying waste to those in her way. Set adrift in time and space, Thor crash-lands on the backwater planet, Sakaar, where he’s swiftly taken captive by its hedonistic ruler, Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), and forced to compete in the gladiatorial Contest of Champions. With all hope lost and his trusty hammer destroyed, The God of Thunder must battle fellow Avenger, Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), to win his freedom and make it back to Asgard before it’s too late.

Taika Waititi was made for this film. Many will question why a director as distinctively comedic as Waititi would be handed the keys to something as morose as a god apocalypse, but for those more familiar with the director’s work and his versatility as a filmmaker, the Thor: Ragnarok’s ultimate success was never in any doubt. As the cinematic equivalent of a slap upside the head, the pairing of Thor and Waititi may not make sense at first but roll with it and you will ultimately be rewarded.

By boiling Thor down to the fundamentals Sir Kenneth Branagh established in his first outing, Waititi dispenses with everything that’s bogged the character down through the years, while using the bare essentials as a launchpad for shooting the hero into the cosmos. In turning Thor’s volume up to eleven, Waititi has managed to breathe new life into the character, while turning in one of Marvel’s most entertaining films to date.

Though wrapped in superhero blockbuster packaging, Thor: Ragnarok is, at its heart, a comedy and there’s zero wrong with that. While the mere suggestion of such levity will send many a mouth to foaming-mode; for those among us that don’t demand grittiness with every comic book film they come across, this lighter tone is something to cherish.

In an era where bad news is fed to us on a drip, the occasional chuckle really shouldn’t be a bad thing. Both cinema and comics are, after all, pure escapism and, while there’s certainly room for films of all sorts in this world, there’s a lot to be said for walking into a cinema in the knowledge you’ll be leaving with a huge smile on your face. As masters of pure, unadulterated escapism; Marvel have nailed it once again and, in Taika Waititi, they’ve found themselves a kindred spirit to join them for the ride.

Waititi has carved himself quite a reputation for idiosyncratic, oddball comedies throughout his career and, despite some fear that he was about to compromise his style for such an enormous franchise, nothing could be further from the truth. It may look like a mega-budget, studio blockbuster but don’t be fooled, Ragnarok is the biggest oddball comedy you’re likely to meet.

Operating at maximum-Waititi, the director has taken the MCU sandbox and bent it to his whim. In much the same way What We Do in the Shadows Frankensteined the horror and mockumentary genres together with incredible success, Waititi has taken a giant, bombastic Hollywood blockbuster and filtered it through his own, leftfield brand of comedy. Many will arrive at Ragnarok clueless to the true comedic potential of Thor Odinson but, thanks to Waititi’s magic touch, they will leave with little in their mind.

Comedy is clearly where Waititi feels comfortable but a deep-dive into the director’s filmography suggests that there’s far more to his game than that. One need only dig a little beneath Ragnarok’s dayglow exterior to find an emotional core that remains consistent throughout the work of both Waititi and Marvel films themselves. As a film studio, Marvel’s M.O. has always been to entertain first and foremost yet striking that balance between levity and emotional resonance is where the gold resides.

The emotional core of any Thor film has always been in the fraught relationship between Thor and Loki, but it’s their shared bond with Odin that lends Ragnarok its biggest emotional hook. In an early moment of quiet, familial contemplation by the Norwegian fjords, the three take time out from the chaos for a spot of ancestral reflection, in a scene that works well to ground everything before we’re promptly shot, headfirst, into the aether. As the shenanigans ramp up, emotionally resonant moments such as this become far less visible, but they certainly remain and, as with all Waititi films, loss and sorrow run as a steady current just beneath all the laughs.

Thor’s third outing is all about balance and, with emotions adequately poised, Waititi works hard to ensuring that Ragnarok’s two distinct storylines operate in perfect tandem. As is implied by its title, Thor’s classic comic storyline, Ragnarok, has a huge part to play in the film but that’s far more to it than that. While keeping Ragnarok the primary focus, Waititi performs a mightily impressive juggling act as he folds in the equally iconic Planet Hulk story, to create a hybrid that operates as a surprisingly cohesive whole.

As we swing back and forth between the Asgard and Sakaar plotlines, things can often feel a little disconnected in style and tone, however, through some whip-smart writing and a huge dollop of plot convenience, the two halves hold together well enough. While Waititi clearly had more fun on Sakaar, putting everything into creating a planet of truly inspired imagination, there’s still a lot of love to be had for Asgard.

There’s a lot to enjoy in Hela’s bloody coup d’état of Asgard, with some welcome shade added to the motivations behind the Goddess of Death, as well as some impressively executed battle scenes; including a fist-pumping and poignant final showdown on the Bifröst Bridge. For all the insanity, hilarity, and gladiatorial shenanigans with Hulk on Sakaar, Waititi makes sure to keep Ragnarok Thor’s film through and through, with Asgard a crucial ingredient in that.

With Ragnarok split between Sakaar and Asgard, Waititi has precious little time to include Midgard (or Earth to you and me) in the equation and this shift in focus towards galactic affairs feels like a breath of fresh air for the series. The insistence on staying Earthbound has tended to bog down Thor films and, despite a cameo from a certain Bleeker Street-dwelling doctor and the previously-mentioned Norway scene, Ragnarok thrives precisely because of its insistence on staying cosmic.

Cutting ties with Earth early doors, Waititi is allowed the freedom to let rip with the kind of space opera insanity that’d make Flash Gordon blush and the result is oddly liberating. By distancing Thor from Earth, destroying his beloved Mjolnir, and threating the end of times on Asgard; Ragnarok is effectively a soft reboot for the character, one that allows Chris Hemsworth a new lease of life and finally lets his character become the God of Thunder we knew he could be. Taika Waititi has effectively reinvented Thor and, in doing so, the director has inadvertently pushed well-established MCU players like Loki and Hulk to another level altogether.

Marvel are the current masters of the ensemble blockbuster and Thor: Ragnarok epitomises this. While there’s no doubting this is every bit Thor’s film, with Chris Hemsworth owning the role like never before, Ragnarok allows almost every member of its extended cast some time to shine.

Cate Blanchett’s Hela is a menacing presence one of Marvel’s strongest villains to date; Jeff Goldblum operates at peak-Goldblum; the Waititi-voiced Korg and his tooled-up bug-buddy, Miek, are a thing of comedic beauty; Mark Ruffalo adds new dimensions to his inner Banner/Hulk turmoil; and even Idris Elba gets the chance to finally let loose as the freshly dreaded Heimdall. The only real underservicing comes with Karl Urban’s Skurge who, while great, feels lost around the film’s fringes, and The Warriors Three, whose short shrift is majorly disappointing, especially considering their prominence thus far in the series.

Of all the fresh faces though, it’s Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie that steals the show. Pitched as Ragnarok’s Han Solo, Valkyrie is equal parts powerful, wily, smart, funny, and vulnerable; with the actress playing it all to perfection. While Marvel will be the first to admit they’ve had their fair share representation problems with women in the past, Valkyrie feels like a leap in the right direction and hopefully an indication of progressive things to come from the studio.

It’s been a long time coming but after six years, two solo films, and two Avengers appearances; we finally have the Thor we’ve all been waiting for. This is not only the definitive MCU Thor, but every inch the definitive Taika Waititi Thor. Injecting some much-needed spark into a character that’s often felt like an outlier on the Marvel landscape, Waititi has managed to add new dimensions to the hero with his trademark sense of humour, penchant for fun, and eye for the spectacular. Despite a slight lack of cohesion in the film’s two distinct storylines, the result is a thoroughly satisfying cavalcade of colour, action, and laughs. Thor: Ragnarok is an 80s arcade game, Saturday morning cartoon, and heavy metal music video rolled into one large, bouncy ball and, while the continual stream of jokes may be exhausting for some, it’s precisely the dose of colour and light that this dark world needs right now.