I have not kept it much of a secret that I am not, for the most part, a fan of superhero oriented films or TV shows. This stems from the fact that it is the new "zombie" craze. Back 10 years ago, and today it continues to a certain degree, it seems that every single film was some sort of zombie something or other. Then when that started to lose steam, they transitioned to superheroes and basically everything was in that genre. I can understand why they did it from a financial point of view, because even bad superhero films were making hundreds of millions of dollars and one of them was even nominated for "Best Picture" at the Oscars. I enjoyed Black Panther a normal amount, but "Best Picture?" GTFOH.
So when Ragnarok was released on Netflix a year ago, I was less-than-thrilled about it but while the memories are a bit shady, I think I watched it because there wasn't much else new that seemed even partially worth watching on Netflix.
Even though the film is mostly in Norwegian, I made it through the entire first season and absolutely loved it. Now season 2 is out and so far, it has managed to not be ridiculous and is in my opinion one of the best super-hero series out there.
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Image chosen because I have no idea what language that is
The reason why I like this series is because it is a prequel of sorts but doesn't involve the usual path that superhero films do
- Virtuous and normally down on their luck man / woman acquires superpowers somehow
- Virtuous man / woman decides to use these powers for good even though I think most people probably would at least do something a bit nasty if they did have said superpowers
- Another person conveniently appears that also has superpowers that has the intention of harming all of mankind
- Virtuous man / woman with said discovered superpowers decides to get some sort of costume, normally involving a senseless cape and fight said baddie
- After a series of struggles the Virtuous man / woman eventually emerges victorious in battle against baddie and poses somewhere near an American flag as the camera fades to black.
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Now I am not trying to suggest that Ragnarok doesn't have any of said attributes listed above and in all fairness it kinda actually has all of them. However, the delivery is slower and it is about a normal kid name Magne, who is slowly but surely discovering that he is the reincarnation of Thor...whose powers are already well-known in mythology. He is just discovering that for some reason, he is the chosen one to eventually become Thor and tries to hone his skills only to realize that he doesn't actually know what his powers are, nor how to activate them.
I think one of the main reasons that I enjoy this one so much is because of the fact that since it isn't in English, you actually have to pay very close attention and read the subtitles or you end up lost very quickly. This isn't something that is really necessary in superhero films made by DC and Marvel because honestly, you could join the film halfway in and completely miss the backstory and it wouldn't even matter. With Ragnarok the villains are not so clearly defined at first and neither are the "good guys." The way in which they are introduced is actually quite subtle at times and you need to stay on your toes if you are going to understand the progression of the story.
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Without context this could actually be a shot from a zombie film
The series isn't necessarily action-packed and honestly, in the first full season, very little in the way of battles even take place. While fans of the non-stop combat situations that I actually find quite banal in Marvel films mean that the pace of the film or series is kept at a high rate, Ragnarok is more like a slow burn and focuses on character development rather than simply turning a normal person into someone that can fly in the first 10 minutes.
The show does have some aspects of teenage drama built in, which is something I could do without but also understand that they would put something like that in there in order to appeal to a wider audience. High school politics are a big part of season one, but then by the time we get to season 2 that is almost completely eliminated from the storyline.
Another aspect of the film I find interesting and new is that there is an internal struggle within some of the "goodies" and the "baddies" that keeps you guessing as to what side they are going to actually be on. Obviously Thor is going to end up being the good guy, but the others seem to have a crisis of conscious about which side of this war they are going to be on. This is perhaps one of the biggest part of Marvel and D.C. films that I have a problem with. The sides are clearly defined from the very start and it is quite obvious what is going to happen next as well as what the ending will be.
This is most interesting in Magne's brother Laurits, who is on a path to becoming Loki. If that seems like a spoiler just know that it is in the trailer so I'm not really revealing anything spoilish here. I think we can presume that Loki eventually becomes a baddie, but at least for now it is very interesting to see how Laurits seems to be a mystery as to which side of the battle he wants to be on. He is presented in the show as being a master manipulator even before he discovers that he too has powers.
Should I watch it?
I say this as someone that tends to stay away from superhero films and series because I am tired of this. I generally do not like them and didn't even finish The Boys (go ahead and hate on me for that) even though it too was a bit different. I tend to dislike films and series where too many people have powers especially if they are wildly over-powered the way that Captain Marvel was. In Ragnarok, at least for now, the powers are a bit more subtle and less crazy and so far, no one is capable of flight and zero of the characters even wear stupid unnecessary outfits. This could all change later of course but as for now, with me being about half-way through season 2, I am thoroughly enjoying the more realistic presentation. However, I will say now that i have finished the entire S2, that it slows down quite a bit in the middle and one and a half of the episodes are kind of boring although parts of it are quite funny.
This could be a superhero series for people who do not enjoy superhero series. That has been the case with me and I believe it will also be for others. I give it the thumbs up and I think that unless you have some sort of aversion to reading subtitles, that almost anyone will enjoy this show.
I just finished season 2 last night. Damn I really love this show. Every character is appealing to me. The whole gods vs giants thing is so enjoyable. Despite it being English dubbed, I still found the acting to be just what I was looking for. I have tried recommending this show to many people, but most won’t give it a chance since it’s Norwegian. They are really missing out. I agree with you, this is my favorite superhero series.
so you watched it English dubbed as well? How did it match up and were the voice actors any good? That is something that disturbs me about most overdubs - the voice actors are often not able to convey the emotion that the actual actors do in the scenes.
I too am looking forward to S3, the cliffhanger and the end of 2 was just awesome, although it was really strange.
I normally watch movies/shows in their original language. I don't mind reading subtitles. Ragnarok began playing in English and I never looked into how to change it. It actually worked very well. I believe that the original actors voiced the English version. That made it feel really good. Sure the mouths were off, but I am really never staring at characters lips. I can't compare it to the original version, but I love this show. That should tell you that the English dub is well done.
ah ok, that is strange that it would default to an English overdub. Recently, at least in my region, the audio selections are much more easily changed than they were in the past, but I watch my Netflix on a PS4 so it might be different depending on how you view it.
Yeah I watch on either my Chromecast or Sony X900.
Nice review dude
Just started this show yesterday with dubbed English and enjoyed the first two episodes looking forward to watching the whole thing, glad to know it holds up the whole season. I tried watching in the original language with subs but It's a bit uncomfortable.
oh, so you have it overdubbed? Normally I don't like that sort of experience but with this one I never tried it. Since most Norwegians speak English anyway it maybe isn't so bad. It might be the same actors actually.