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maltatoday SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2017 40 This Week IT'S finally here. The logical comeuppance of the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. James Gunn's take on the once decidedly obscure space-pirates from Marvel Comics has enjoyed an unprecedented success world- wide ever since it first hit the big screen in 2014, and since then, the word has spread: comedy sells, especially in the realm of super- heroes. So while DC Comics desperately re-arrange the PR of their grim- and-gritty superhero narratives by shoe-horning the Beatles' 'Come Together' into the trailer of the upcoming Justice League, Marvel have actually had the luxury of in- viting New Zealand director Taika Waititi to direct Thor: Ragnarok – which sees the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) race against time to save his realm, Asgard, from the prophecy of Ragnarok – the death of Thor and all of the other gods in Marvel's cod-Norse pantheon – by the hands of Hela (Cate Blanchett), a vindictive god- dess with a link to Thor's father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) who wants to destroy Asgard so as to refashion it into her own image. The quest has him scrambling through the universe, with an unlikely partner in his villanous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sometimes in tow. Landing on the planet of Sakaar – a deca- dent world of haves-and-have- nots ruled over by the hedonistic Grandmaster (Jeff Goldlum) – Thor is glad to bump into Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and considers recruiting him as an ally for his mission. But first, he has to get over the fact that he's meeting the Hulk in the ring... more specifically, in a gladiatorial contest organised by the Grand- master... Thor: Ragnarok is a pure blast of fun that is bound to transcend the boundaries of the superhero audi- ence in the same way that Guard- ians of the Galaxy did... and then some. With the same deft skill at genre pastiche he displayed in vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, Waititi takes what works of the superhero mi- lieu and adds a jolt of real, zany humour. He doesn't lampoon the genre so much as breathe new life into it, using an approach that – really – makes perfect sense given the source material. Because let's not kid ourselves – this is a story about superpowered beings going on an interdimen- sional road-trip to save a magic planet, and most of them are in- spired by that weirdest collection of sagas – the Norse myths. Play- ing a lot of it for laughs cuts away a lot of potential awkwardness from the proceedings, resulting with a more satisfying take on the material that will appeal to almost everyone, not just comic book die- hards. The comedy is laced through pretty much every frame, and Waititi is to be commended for achieving a perfect balance be- tween huge blockbuster studio box-checking and being allowed to go crazy. However, in the fig- ure of Jeff Goldblum's Grandmas- ter, he has found something of an extradimensional soulmate (or at least, spirit animal). Giving the be- loved and mercurial actor leeway to improvise, together they cre- ate a character who could easily have popped out of What We Do in the Shadows – an over-the-top mix of vain, mercurial but irresist- ibly charming, Goldblum's perfor- mance is a perfect metaphor for the film as a whole: an unapolo- getically colourful trickster de- lighting the audience while gods and monsters duke it out in the background. Perhaps the movie's greatest tri- umph, though, is that it doesn't skimp on the more basic pleas- ures of superhero cinema. I have my doubts as to how much of the nitty-gritty choreography was ac- tually handled by Waititi himself – one imagines that kind of stuff to be passed on to the second unit – but both the much-advertised gladiatorial showdown between Thor and the Hulk and the final, multi-faceted climax are executed with aplomb and excitement, mer- cifully shorn of the CGI muddle done to perfunctory beats which we tend to see in this situation from other films of its ilk. But even if the actual kicks and punches were not drafted in there by Wai- titi himself, the quips and key de- tails of the set pieces remain laced with his spirited humour, so that it all feels like part of a seamless, joyous whole. Thor: Ragnarok is living proof that the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy sub-franchise within the Marvel Studios empire is hav- ing an influence that stretches way beyond the confines of James Gunn's quirky-and-heartwarming comedy space operas. By drafting Taika Waititi into their fold, Mar- vel have given an even zanier kick of humour to their superhero uni- verse, one that audiences appear to be – thankfully – lapping up like there's no tomorrow. But there will be a tomorrow for these films, and another one after that. Here's hop- ing that Waititi will be at the helm on at least a fraction of those days. IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Thor: Ragnarok (3D) (12A) 10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 20:50 My Little Pony The Movie (U) 10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40 Blade Runner 2049 (15) 20:50 The Snowman (15) 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 The Mountain Between Us (12A) 10:20, 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00 The LEGO Ninjago Movie (U) 10:30, 13:35, 15:55 Kingsman: The Golden Circle (15) 18:05, 21:00 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Barbie: Dolphin Magic (U) 11:10, 12:45, 14:30, 16:00 Kingsman: The Golden Circle (15) 11:20, 14:15, 17:45, 20:35, 23:25 Thor: Ragnarok (12A) 11:25, 14:30, 18:10, 21:10, 23:25 Loving Vincent (PG) 11:30 My Little Pony: The Movie (U) 11:35, 14:10, 16:25, 18:40 The LEGO Ninjago Movie (U) 11:45, 14:10, 16:25, 18:40 The Death of Stalin (15) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00 The Snowman (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15 The Mountain Between Us (12A) 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:50, 23:10 Geostorm (12A) 14:05, 18:45 Jigsaw (18) 14:10, 16:15, 18:20, 20:30, 22:40 Happy Death Day (15) 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:40, 22:50 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 14:30, 18:00, 20:30, 23:05 Geostorm (3D) (12A) 16:25, 21:05 Raphael the lord of the arts (3D) (PG) 18:15, 20:45 Pretty in Pink (15) 18:30 IT (15) 20:55 Blade Runner 2049 (15) 20:55 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Kingsman: The Golden Circle (15) 11:00, 14:05, 18:05, 21:00 The Mountain Between Us (12A) 10:55, 13:50, 16:15, 18:40, 21:05 The Snowman (15) 20:45 The LEGO Ninjago Movie (U) 11:05, 13:55, 16:10, 18:25 Geostorm (12A) 10:45, 13:35, 16:00, 18:25, 21:00 The Death of Stalin (15) 20:55 Thor: Ragnarok (12A) 10:30, 13:15, 15:55, 18:35, 21:15 My Little Pony: The Movie (U) 11:00, 14:00, 16:20, 18:40 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 11:00, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 20:55 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ THOR ★ ★ ★ ★ SCORE ★ ★ ★ SPORE ★ ★ CHORE ★ BORE FILM By Teodor Reljic THOR: RAGNAROK (12A) ★ ★ ★ ★ The tickle of the thunder god Hellzapoppin: Cate Blanchett Buddies in the saddle: Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo go on an interdimensional adventure in this wacky and utterly joyful take on Marvel Comics lore