Thor: Ragnarok rewrites the rules of superhero movies

The Reelist is a column featuring Kristen Page-Kirby’s musings on movies. For Washington Post film critic Michael O’Sullivan’s review of “Thor: Ragnarok,” click here. Review contains spoilers.

When I was an utterly pretentious grad student, the phrase “I’m a genre theorist” was said more than once. By me. I know. I’m sorry.

What I say now that I’m a more normal, functioning adult is that I’m always interested in how we categorize movies. I’m even more interested in movies that bend the rules, if not subvert them entirely. Two of my favorite films are “The Searchers” and “Fargo.” The former is a Western with either a sympathetic black hat or a problematic white (supremacist) hat at its center, while the latter is a crime procedural about a cop with the steely determination of the Terminator who is also a pregnant woman dusted with a heavy coat of Minnesota Nice.

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I’m a genre theorist (gag), so I spent most of “Thor: Ragnarok” wondering what kind of movie I was watching. Actually, I spent most of it cracking up because the movie is wonderfully campy and utterly hilarious. But during the times I could catch my breath, I thought about it.

Usually superhero franchises progress like so: The first movie is about the hero filling the role laid out for him or her. The second is about what happens when he or she feels the role is too big or small. The third is about how much more merchandise the studio feels it can sell … disguised as a story about the hero growing into his power and personality. Thanks to Thor’s appearances in the various Avengers movies, we’ve seen him do all that, so instead we get an ensemble comedy that just happens to have a bunch of people with superpowers at its center. We also get a kindly Kiwi rock monster (voiced by director Taika Waititi) that steals every scene he’s in. Which is new.

A major rule of the modern superhero genre — particularly the Marvel films — is there has to be an Issue at the center of the movie and a Meaning at its end. I don’t have a problem with that; comics and superheroes have always been a lens through which we can look at ourselves. That said, comics and superheroes are also meant to be fun. “Ragnarok” is built on a foundation of joy and wonder and wit (Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in particular is finally having some fun, which is nice because he’s the GOD OF MISCHIEF, which is different than being a bad guy).

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The movie is silly, but not stupid. It uses physical comedy without the joke ever being “lol that guy fell down” and uses verbal comedy to expand and deepen relationships we thought we already knew. One running joke gives a more meaningful glimpse into Thor and Loki’s childhood than we ever got with any anguished scream of “YOU WERE MY BROTHER.”

So no, “Thor: Ragnarok” doesn’t follow the rules of superhero movies. No angst, no Issue, not even a hint of romantic tension or damsel in distress (Thor and girlfriend Jane Foster have ended their relationship thanks to a “mutual dumping,” says the God of Thunder). Instead, it celebrates the fun and fantasy that gave birth to comics in the first place. Waititi tossed the rulebook out the window and two hours of fantastic fun came flying back.

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