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Thor: Love and Thunder
(Marvel Studios)
By Lucas Allen
Phase 4 of the MCU continues to roll along between the theatrical movies and the Disney+ shows, despite a few hiccups. The hilarious Taika Waititi returns to direct, co-write and co-star in the follow-up to his 2017 hit “Thor: Ragnarok” with Thor: Love and Thunder. With the character facing many highs and lows since his 2011 big screen debut, let’s see how high he’ll go that can take him further.
While Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has been continuously saving the galaxy alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy, he’s been contemplating what’s ultimately missing in his life. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is battling stage 4 cancer and makes a desperate decision to go to New Asgard and use the broken Mjolnir as a solution. Then the evil god butcher Gorr (Christian Bale) shows up with his shadow creatures to kidnap all the Asgardian children as part of his vengeance scheme. When Thor and Korg (Waititi) show up for battle, they’re then joined by Foster, who’s now The Mighty Thor.
With the children kidnapped, the two Thors, Korg and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) join forces to try to defeat Gorr. To do so, they need the help of the almighty Zeus (Russell Crowe) to raise an army. When that doesn’t work, they instead stole his thunderbolt as a primary weapon and traveled to the shadow realm on their own. Once they reach there, they’ll realize that Gorr has a greater plan that could destroy the universe.
Fans of Ragnarok will likely enjoy more of Waititi’s signature brand of crazy humor plus bringing the same colorful energy as the original Marvel comics. This time, however, he gets help from the rocking sounds of Guns N Roses to liven up the soundtrack. Hearing Slash’s guitar licks in “Welcome to the Jungle” and “November Rain” during the action sequences certainly enhances the experience.
While a lot of the movie is fun and hilarious, it sometimes dabbles into the melancholy drama especially with Jane’s story arc. Though Jane’s subplot works fine, it becomes tonally awkward with the humor. It seems the movie was trying to recapture the first two film’s stellar drama within Waititi’s fun style moments, but such emotional drama in the writing doesn’t gel entirely.
Things get too weird when part of the story’s tone dives into romantic comedy. It’s not just with the main characters, but also with Thor’s recurringly odd relationship with his weapon the Stormbreaker. Was Waititi trying to satirize the rom-com genre in his own unique way? Because that whole thing is just weird.
Much like the heavily divisive Eternals, this one certainly goes out there with its cosmic elements including brief appearances by the giant celestials. Despite its own tonal issues, this one improves on the earlier film by having more fun with the characters traversing through the universe. The Jack Kirby-esque visual design is shown front and center for fans to enjoy.
Like in Ragnarok and in an episode of “What If,” Hemsworth continues to bring more energy and comedy to his famous character plus the emotional weight in some scenes in a very good performance. Portman also brings humor and emotion in a good performance, while Bale gives a good supervillain performance a bit far apart from his more famous Batman role. Crowe’s version of Zeus is the most questionable however with the Oscar-winning actor deciding on giving a faux-Russian accent to his performance like he’s Robbie Coltrane in “GoldenEye.” Weirder, he seems to be retaining his more obese figure after starring in the 2020 thriller Unhinged.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is a bit flawed, but it still has that free-for-all joy and hilarious fun we’d expect from this kind of summer entertainment. No matter what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fans will surely line up for more.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, some suggestive material, and partial nudity)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.25 Stars (Out of Four)
