Thor: Judgment Day - Blu-ray

Movie: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), god of thunder, has a problem: the death of his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) has freed his firstborn Hela (Cate Blanchett), goddess of death, from her prison. Now she not only sees herself as the legitimate heir to the throne, but also aspires to subjugate the entire universe for herself. This, of course, Thror must prevent. But in his attempt to get to Asgard before Hela, he ends up on the planet Sakaar. On this inhospitable garbage planet, he not only meets his half-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) again. He is also thrown into the gladiator arena by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), the ruler of Sakaar, to face the most powerful of all fighters. He's an old acquaintance, though: Hulk!

Probably spurred on by the huge success of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Thor now gets to come across as more colorful and fun than his two predecessors in his third solo adventure. Thor: Judgment Day entertains with wonderful dialogues and wonderfully bizarre ideas, which the New Zealander Taika Waititi (5 Room Kitchen Coffin) has implemented with refreshing ease. The fact that the whole thing also works well in the more action-packed and serious moments is a testament to the studio's extremely good hand in choosing a director. But it's not just Waititi who has ensured that this has become Thor's best cinematic performance to date.

The actors also contribute significantly. Chris Hemsworth constantly lightens up the action with plenty of self-deprecation, while Cate Blanchett displays a playfulness as the diabolical goddess of death that has made Hela one of the best antagonists in the Marvel universe to date. Watching her try to summon Ragnarok - the twilight of the gods - is just plain fun. And then, of course, there's the delightfully weird Jeff Goldblum, the unbeatable Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and Tom Hiddleston, who has become the secret star of the Thor movies. Further supporting this already fine ensemble is newcomer Tessa Thompson, who fits much better alongside Thor than Natalie Portman, as well as Idris Elba, whose appearance, while brief, is more significant than in the previous films.

Admittedly, the film doesn't really offer much that's new. The effects are first-class, the pace is fast and the action is quite thrilling. But really big surprise actually offer only the amusing guest appearances, which of course should not be revealed here. Still, even if the story lacks originality, its execution does not. Thor: Judgment Day lives up to the genre of comic book adaptation in every way. The film is a colorful adventure that takes itself just seriously enough to avoid degenerating into a flat laugh riot. Taika Waititi has directed a great piece of cinematic fun, which has given its hero an extra jolt of coolness precisely because of its tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre. And Hulk has never been as great at the movies as he is here. Even if his solo films have so far failed to convince, he is literally unbeatable as a sidekick.

If you like the Marvel cinematic universe and appreciate the humor of the Guardians, you're guaranteed to love Thor: Judgment Day. For that, it definitely gets a: Absolutely worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The Blu-ray's image is absolutely clean and has very good overall sharpness, bringing out smaller details well even in dark scenes. The color scheme looks extremely powerful as it accentuates the gaudy look of the film very well. The Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 provides a real amount of movement on the surround channels, especially during the action-heavy scenes like the arena fight, but at the same time transports the dialogue out of the speakers with good intelligibility. Very good!

Extras: The bonus material starts with an extremely amusing audio commentary by director Taika Waititi. The filmmaker uses the first few minutes primarily for delightful gags before he also has many amusing as well as interesting anecdotes to share later on. The film continues with a series of featurettes, which together make up a making of of around 34 minutes. This entertaining documentary talks about the director, the Korg he portrays, Hela and Valkyrie, Sakaar, and a journey into the mysteries of comics, among other things. Aside from the usual promo praise, there's actually a lot of interesting stuff to learn here - and in a highly entertaining way.

A few bloopers from the shoot (approx. 2:18 min.), as well as the quirky short Team Darryl (approx. 6:08 min.) are also still on offer. A brief look back at 10 years of Marvel Studios films follows (approx. 5:23 min.), followed by some additional or extended scenes with not quite finished effects (approx. 7 min.). Two sequences with an 8-bit retro look, as well as a short director's intro to the main film round out the good additional offerings.

Conclusion: Thor: Judgment Day is exactly how a good comic book adaptation should be: Colorful, fun, and action-packed. The fact that the film takes itself far less seriously than its two predecessors does this third solo Thor appearance a lot of good! The Blu-ray presents the fantasy spectacle in very good picture and sound quality and also has some entertaining extras on board. All this adds up to a clear bottom line: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp