Welcome to The Daily Cup a movie blog/writing project by Kyle B. Dekker, presented by Hot Chocolate Media. You can read series concept here. The basic rules, Kyle must watch 365 movies in 2018 and write about all of them. 292 of them have to be movies he's never seen before. Thanks for reading.
Welcome to Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Roleplaying Game. Today’s session is Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Our Dungeon Master (Director) is Taika Waititi. Let’s meet the players:
Chris Hemsworth is playing Thor, a 20th level Asgardian Fighter/Deity
Tom Hiddleston is playing Loki, a 19th level Frost Giant Illusionist/Fighter
Mark Ruffalo is playing Hulk, a 20th level Gamma Barbarian
Tessa Thompson is playing Scrapper 142, a 19th level Asgardian Cavalier
Karl Urban is playing Skurge, a 12th level Asgardian fighter
Remotely Skyping in is Idris Elba as Heimdall a 19th level Asgardian Fighter/Seer
I absolutely love this movie, I saw it three times in theaters and just watched it again last night. It’s still a blast, it feels like a MCU movie made just for me and my own comedic/taste preferences. While I think the Black Panther is the best story told in the MCU to date, Thor: Ragnarok is the most fun I’ve ever had watching an MCU movie. The big reason is that it feels like a live play RPG session with a group of good friends who love to joke around and have epic fights. It’s full of absurdity, Led Zeppelin, and butthole jokes.
I can see the playstyles and goof em up moments so familiar to me when I play D&D with good friends. When Thor smashes the ball against the glass of Hulk’s penthouse to break free, that’s a classic critical failure roll that results in a nut shot. Everyone joining in to call the giant wormhole The Devil’s Anus is a recurring joke everyone would keep making if the DM made the mistake of calling a geographical feature that in their game. When Hulk jumps into the fray to fight Sutur, he’s the classic kick the door down player who is as much a danger to themselves and the rest of the party as they are to the enemy.
Heimdall is the classic player who is awesome, but whose attendance is spotty. The DM writes his character to be off doing awesome things (because the player created such a good character), but we only get a few cool sessions with them. Valkyrie is the new player who comes out of nowhere to be awesome, and add new life into the campaign (which so also did for the Thor franchise). The Grandmaster is the classic super serious villain that your goofy DM buddy can’t quite pull off the evil part. Yet somehow he surprises everyone with a total badass villain that scares the hell out of every player with Hela (Cate Blanchett FTW). Hela feels like revenge on the players for laughing at The Grandmaster. Loki is your friend who always makes a character with the primary goal of messing around and seeing they can get away with. They are always ready to be the good guys in the big battle, but they are looking for the next opportunity to steal all the best loot and set themselves up as king of whatever land you are currently setting your adventure in.
Taika Waititi takes this D&D game esque set up and weaves an immensely funny tale that is also a serious look at the terrible consequences of colonialism. Sometimes the only way you can make people face the harsh realities of the past is to wrap it in farce, Jack Kirby visuals, and a helping dosage of jokes. Immensely fun from beginning to end, Thor: Ragnarok is a masterful comedy with some truly amazing action sequences that tell an amazing story about a group of friends that come together to save the day and be big damn heroes.
Tally
Movies new to me watched: 43/292
Other movies: 10/73
Total movies watched: 53/365
Have your own thoughts or opinions on this movie? Comment below or contact Kyle at kyle@hotchocolatemedia.net or on Twitter at @kbdekker.