Thor: Ragnarok

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I saw Thor: Ragnarok, and I loved it. Not only is it fun and not unbearably stupid, it also has colors!

- So many colors, I love colors. Even the trash planet was colorful! The Grandmaster's space ship has a disco setting with fireworks. Amazing.

- This movie was so much fun. Loki's fricking theater! Amazing. "Get help" was another favorite, or Loki watching Thor and Hulk's fight. Thor himself was a lot of fun too. The movie didn't take itself too seriously and it was wonderful.

- This is I think the first movie where I really got a good sense of Thor and Loki being siblings. Which seems a bit weird because this is the third Thor movie, but still. In the first one Thor was clueless and Loki resentful, in the second they were both angry, and in this one they were on more even footing. I loved how Thor immediately recognized Loki in his Odin disguise (to be fair Loki wasn't that subtle about it, and it did not make the rest of Asgard look very smart.) Thor and Loki on Earth were perfect, the scene with Odin was great, the elevator scene, Loki's failed betrayal and Thor's idk-how-deliberate reverse psychology, the end, of course, and many moments in between.

- I'm annoyed that "Valkyrie" doesn't have a name. It's the name of her regiment, her former regiment, even, it's not her name. Hmpf. I liked her a lot. (Also how adorable is tiny!Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie.)

- I liked Skurge too. Some people aren't heroes, some are survivors. When he knelt to Hela he didn't even know her plans yet and after that backing out would mean immediate death.

- The Grandmaster was fun, though I'm not as enamored with him as large parts of fandom seem to be. I really liked the "slaves/prisoners with jobs" conversation.

- So Asgard has a hidden imperialistic past! That explains a lot about their culture. Odin got off lightly. It also made me wonder about Frigga: I can't imagine Frigga, as portrayed in the MCU, being Hela's mother, but I'm still curious how much she knew.

- Speaking of: Hela was great.
The movie made me really curious about the "nature" of gods. I can't remember it being important in previous movies, but here it was. It seemed to say that gods are in some ways influenced by their nature, but it was really unclear: is it something they choose, are there outside influences, to what extent does it influence their character/being? It seemed a bit odd to say that Loki can't help being the god of mischief and that Thor should concentrate on what being the god of thunder means (lightning, obviously), but not once mention what being the goddess of death meant for Hela. Odin shaped her, failed to control her and then discarded her, and she's been imprisoned for centuries, no wonder she's angry and hungry. Even if being the goddess of death is something innate from Hela, Odin was the one who turned her toward conquest. He is such a terrible parent.
(Now I'm wondering about Hela vs. Thanos AUs...)

- Heimdall was great. Does the sword have a name? It seems like it should have a name. "Bifrost sword" seems a bit unspectacular.

- I'm glad I wasn't spoiled for the ending. I didn't see it coming and I liked it a lot.

- I want fic where Thor remembers his conversation with Bruce and Bruce being afraid that the Hulk will never let him out again, and then talks to the Hulk to persuade him to let Banner out every once in a while.

Comments

[sholio]

I loved it too! :D I agree, this is the first movie that really gave me a sense of Thor and Loki as siblings - it's also the first movie that made me genuinely like Loki and feel invested in the Thor-Loki relationship, and I really liked where they ended up at the end. I don't remember if you were in White Collar fandom with me, but the feeling I got from Thor and Loki by the end of the movie was similar to what I liked best about that show, when it was at its best -- that they had found a way to meet in the middle, with each of them accepting the other for who he was and managing to coexist without it being a constant series of betrayals and heartbreak.

I wanted a name for the Valkyrie, too! I think part of the problem is that Valkyrie is her name in the Marvel comics, because Marvel, and the MCU wiki stuff gives her a name, but would it really have killed them to mention it once or twice in the movie? However, I kind of liked the idea that with all the rest of her sister warriors having been killed, she basically adopted the name as the Last Valkyrie, which is kind of cool. Anyway, I really liked her.

Anyway, yes, it was colorful and fun and had a lot of heart. :D I've really been happy with the superhero movies this year.

[worlds_of_smoke]

+1 to the logic on Valkyrie's name. XDDD I was just going to type up THAT EXACT SAME COMMENT.

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Huh, yeah, the White Collar comparison works. With more attempted genocide and stuff ^^

I didn't know she had a name on the wiki. That's at least something, but yeah, they could have mentioned it. Hopefully in the next movie. Her taking Valkyrie as a title works for me only now, after Hela is defeated. (Also, headcanon, Sif is still alive because she was on a ~secret mission somewhere else and when she finally finds the surviving Asgardians she has a huge embarrassing case of hero worship because she too always wanted to be a Valkyrie as a kid.)

I just realized that I saw three superhero movies this year even though it feels like I skipped at least half of them. There are so many... Those I watched I really enjoyed :)

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Brunnhilde? That just... Idk why it's Brunnhilde that's tripping me up because I know the name from myths and stories when I had no problem with Thor and Loki, maybe because I didn't expect it. I'll probably get used to it, but right now it seems odd.

[dhampyresa]

COLOURS! It was so NICE to see.

[princessofgeeks]

We watched the same movie!

[tielan]

I think the AO3 tag for her was originally "Brunhilde | Valkyrie" which might be why your brain is casting that up to you.

[schneefink]

I never saw the AO3 tag. I think it's just that I'm more familiar with the Nibelung saga than with the myths of the Nordic gods.

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It was fantastic. Even more colors than the first two Thor movies, which at least had Asgard's golden buildings and not grey. Maybe having everything in grey or very few colors was new and exciting when Dark Knight Rises came out, idk, but by now I can barely stand it.

[tamsin]

Yes, Loki's theater was one of the funniest parts of the movie. Loved Heimdall as well.

is it something they choose, are there outside influences, to what extent does it influence their character/being?

Thor says at one point that Loki will always be the god of mischief, but that he could be more. That indicates that there is an element of choice in it.

Love your fic idea. Most of what I've seen on AO3 so far has been Thor/Loki fics.

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It was a good movie :D I'm rarely interested in extras but for this one I think I'll get the DVD.

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Maybe it's odd, but I was more (still not much but more) interested in Thor/Loki after the first two movies. In this one I got a stronger sibling vibe and I'm much more interested in exploring that aspect. Especially now that they have another sibling... So much great AU potential.

You're right, that does indicate choice. And I do like that. I'm not sure mainly because of the conversation between Hela and Thor, where she mocks him about what he's the god of. I'm not quite sure how to read that scene, I think I'd have to watch it again. Oh no, what a hardship ;)

[tamsin]

I didn't get much of a shipping vibe from them either. I'm more interested in Bruce/Thor and all the Valkyrie fic.

I don't remember, is it ever mentioned how it is determined who's going to be the god of what?

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I don't think so. I think so far we've even only seen four named "gods": Odin, Thor, Loki, and Hela. I can't even remember if Frigga was explicitly named a goddess, or a goddess of something. Clearly in the MCU not all Asgardians are gods; is it a royal family thing? Hm.