I have missed Thor. And his hammer. It has been ages since we last saw him properly in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which ended with him burning Tony Stark’s garden before being sucked back to Arse Guard. He chose to sit out the civil war one so that he could mentally and physically prepare himself for this, Ragnarok, the third instalment of his own franchise, which sees him trapped on a disco planet where he is forced to endlessly jive with The Incredible Hulk.
Thor: Ragnarok is definitely one of my top twelve films about a Norse god who has to fight his green friend on a planet made of rubbish. And it’s probably my fifth favourite Marvel film, after Iron Man 1, The Ant-Man, Galaxy Quest and Stuart Little 2. It’s an action-packed, cosmic adventure, filled with strobe neon lights and a Fruit Pastilles colour scheme. And it is definitely better than Superman Returns.
With funny Kiwi man Taika Waititi directing, there are some moments of sheer hilarity, like when Thor gets hit in the head with a ball and when Thor throws a can at Loki’s face. The funniest bit, however, is when The Hulk falls over. That made me laugh so hard I ended up snorting my green Tango Ice Blast all over a small child. They didn’t even care because they were also busy guffawing.
Some might say that Thor: Ragnarok is more concerned about being a comedy than anything else, and that it stylistically and structurally shares nothing in common with the previous Thor films. But who in their right mind wants to watch a superhero blockbuster that isn’t basically Laurel and Hardy in space, with an overstuffed plot, vibrant colours that keep you awake and a massive CGI dog? Once I’d got over my fourth epileptic fit I had a great time.
Thor: Ragnarok is in UK cinemas October 24.