Thor: Love And Thunder is the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fourth in the Thor franchise, and the second, following Thor: Ragnarok, to be helmed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the film with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) at a Crossroads, having experienced all kinds of loss and trauma over the years. He’s finally at a point when he can focus on himself, and his purpose. Unfortunately, duty calls when Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is doing exactly as his name implies, going across the universe, killing God’s, and it’s up to Thor to stop him.
Of course, when the task to stop Gore turns more personal and complicated, Thor has to be more careful and clever. He isn’t alone in this adventure though. He has the help of his good friend, Kong (Taika Waititi), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and the presence of the new Mighty Thor, who wields a reconstructed Mjolnir. This Mighty Thor turns out to be none other than Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who is simultaneously dealing with stage four cancer, a revelation that has Thor totally caught off guard, and looking at things in a whole new light.
While I think Ragnarok served as a strong reinvention of Thor as a character, as well as the aesthetics, I wasn’t as big on the film itself, I thought it was fine, perfectly fun, and with some neat – if not particularly deep – anti-colonial themes. I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say Waititi doubles down on his approach to the character, I’d say it’s equally as irreverent as Ragnarok, not more, not less. But like any great sequel, or at least with sequels that I often prefer to the original, it’s a little less straightforward, a bit more complex in its ideas, and takes bigger thematic, story, and emotional swings.
I feel folks will largely prefer Ragnarok for its light touch and consistent theming, but I found myself far more intrigued by the weirder and darker and emotional indulgences of Love And Thunder. However, it does feel a bit messier as a result of all its choices and story beats, which is basically a mash-up of two very popular Thor comic storylines. Let’s just say it very much feels like an awkward mash-up at times. It can feel unwieldy, but I was far more engaged on an emotional level than I was in Ragnarok.
It’s also a weird case where some of the biggest strengths of the film are also connected to its weaknesses. For example, in terms of pure performance, Christian Bale’s Gorr makes for one of the best villains in the MCU. However, as scary as his presence is, we never get to see him do anything truly terrifying at the peak of his villainy. We get his origin, showing him killing his first God, but the rest are off-screen. It kind of neuters his general vibe. Also, Foster’s inclusion here is exciting, and Portman is obviously having a blast. And when people say they wish an actor “had more to do,” they usually mean, “I wish this character was more involved in the action.” Foster certainly is more part of the action, but it’s ultimately about as substantive as her appearances in previous films.
This might be a weird comparison, but more than anything, this movie reminded me of Judd Apatow’s run of comedies through the 2000s – movies about man-children who are trying to find some purpose in their life, and often dealing with anxieties connected to a relationship, either one they’re entering or one they’re currently in. Thor runs to wherever he’s needed, just going through the motions, and having Jane back in his life forces him to reconsider what’s important to him, and where his priorities should be. I think Waititi takes this arc to a really fascinating place, and I’m genuinely curious to see where Thor goes from here.
Visually, I think the film looks fine. It’s hard to go back to something like this after seeing something so radically idiosyncratic and playful like Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, but then again, Waititi’s strength has often been in his writing, not necessarily his direction. The bright colors and wild costumes are certainly a great touch. The action is serviceable, if not particularly inventive. Although, there are certain sequences where the environment is dark, and there’s characters fighting shadow monsters, which makes it hard to see what’s happening, but I’m open to the possibility that it was more the fault of the projection at my theater.
Overall, Thor: Love And Thunder can be a bit of a mixed bag depending on what exactly you’re looking for with these movies, similarly to the recent Doctor Strange. If you’re the kind of person who is really invested in these as comic book adaptations, and wanting to soak up all the lore that comes with these movies, then this might feel like total meandering fluff. But if you just want to experience a fun spectacle with charming performances, killer supporting players like Gorr or Zeus (Russell Crowe), plus some delightful cameos, some killer gags, cool Guns N’ Roses needledrops, and a sweet love story in the center of it all, then I think you’ll have a good time like I did. I’m at a point where I really don’t care about “the bigger picture” with this universe, the Thanos stuff was fine, but I just want good movies regardless of how they connect to the overall plan. I appreciated the direction this story was going, even if the gear shifts the film had to make in order to get there were less than graceful. The emotional payoff was worth it for me, and I was really moved by it, which is more than I can say about Ragnarok, which – while a tighter film – didn’t ultimately add up to all that much for me. I was pleasantly surprised by this, and considering where Thor ends up, I’m looking forward to see how he progresses from here.
Thor: Love And Thunder is now out in theaters.