Wait — what — “Thor / Ragnarok” is a zombie film?!?
Uh … YEAH!
Remember when Hela, Thor’s older evil sister played by Cate Blanchett, raised the former soldiers of Asgard?
Yep … ZOMBIES!
The undead Asgardian army (or more appropriately the Berserker Army makes Thor: Ragnarok a zombie film. Considering that most modern Z-films have ‘infected’ zombies, these ones being raised by Hela’s powers (magic, whatever) is closer to the original voo doo zombies.
Frankly, as zombie films go … I have to rate this one Yellow Puss. It’s a considerably bad-ass movie, but the zombies have too little to do with it. In fact, I think they were only shown about twice in the film. They didn’t even particularly seem to have anything to do with the Norse concept of zombies — better known as a Draugr.
The Old Norse meaning of Draugr is a revenant. The details of these buggers and their abilities are many. In simple terms, they are animated corpses with physical bodies and similar physical abilities as in life. Draugrs have superhuman strength, are able to increase their size at will, and give off the stench of decay … basically it’s a cross between a 2 year old and a teenager. How do I know this? Because they guard what they treasure, wreak havoc on living beings, or torment those who wronged them in life …. in other words, their parents. Don’t believe me? Well, they also have the ability to enter into the dreams of the living. They live in their grave or burial mound, usually guarding the treasure that was interred with them. When they do rise from their grave, they come out as wisps of smoke and “swim” through solid rock.
Now — I’m telling you — a film with these zombies would be INCREDIBLE …. and frankly, in this regard Thor / Ragnarok fell severely short. Sorry Disney … I guess you don’t just screw up Star Wars films (specifically TLJ / ROS) — you screw up Marvel films as well.