05 Jul Thor: Love and Thunder Review

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

dir. Taika Waititi, starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Tessa Thompson

Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder finds the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a search for self-discovery. But Thor’s retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Returning to the franchise after helming 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi has once again put his unique stamp on the connected universe, creating a film that only he could. With Ragnarok, Waititi debuted a madcap rock-infused adventure romp with a far less serious Thor, creating a break from the previous two films that while, with moments of brilliance, didn’t quite live up to the character’s potential. Here in Love and Thunder, Waititi brings the same manic energy but slightly tempered, choosing instead to deepen the relationship between Thor and Jane Foster. The result is a film that is true to its name: love and thunder, bringing plenty of humor, action scenes, and a generous helping of character development.

While there’s plenty to like in Love and Thunder, the film is not without its problems, namely in its villain and its pacing. The first act is a jumbled mess of scenes, hopping all around the galaxy without giving the audience time to settle and orient themselves. The opening scenes lack the emotional gut punch of the original Guardians of the Galaxy; where James Gunn made us immediately care about young Peter Quill and his relationship with his mother, here in Love and Thunder, Waititi doesn’t take the effort to fully develop the relationship between Gorr and his daughter. That, plus the subsequent scene after as Gorr meets his god, make for a rocky start to the film that takes a while to recover from. Speaking of The Guardians of the Galaxy, the team appears more as a reminder that they exist and a nice treat to hold us over for Volume Three than for any real plot specific reason, outside of them receiving the initial distress call. Each member, with the exception of Star Lord, gets one or two lines before they take off, making their inclusion for the most part unnecessary. Once the film settles, which unfortunately isn’t well into the second act, the ride becomes smoother and more enjoyable.

Thor: Love and Thunder doesn’t do much to further the overall development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; much like Ragnarok only has a scene of two that props up Infinity War, any longstanding ramification of Love and Thunder are either unclear or nonexistent. Not that that’s a problem; the main focus should always be on the film at hand and not the tie in possibilities (looking at you, Age of Ultron). Still, while the fourth phase of the MCU continues to remain murky after the events of Love and Thunder, there are hints of future antagonists for the God of Thunder to clash with down the road.

Starring Chris Hemsworth in his eighth outing as the Thor Odinson, Love and Thunder brings a return to form for the chiseled Australian actor. Gone is the flabby dad bod of Avengers: Endgame as the character emerges from his slump and continues to find his purpose in the galaxy. With director Taika Waititi choosing to tap into the previously unharnessed comedic abilities of Hemsworth, Thor as a character has become immensely more charming, if not a bit dumber for the sake of the jokes. This dumbing down of a person who was initially presented with the Shakespearean gravitas of a demigod wrestling with becoming king has ultimately suffered for the drastic change of tone. While Hemsworth seems to enjoy this lighter, campier version, the silliness of his nature juxtaposed against the seriousness of events can at times create a tonal imbalance that was present in Ragnarok and is again present here in Love and Thunder. Still, Hemsworth is never more loveable or dashing then when he’s playing Thor and if it’s a role he wants to continue to revisit, then it’s a role that’s guaranteed to keep the audience returning.

As for returning, Natalie Portman makes her way back into the MCU as astrophysicist Jane Foster, the first character Thor meets while banished on Earth back in the franchise’s first film. Initially unsatisfied with the direction of Thor: The Dark World, Portman departed and has only reappeared through cut footage in Avengers: Endgame during the time heist. Fortunately, lured back by the promise of becoming The Mighty Thor, Portman’s grand reentry into the franchise is a bittersweet one: years have passed and when we pick up with Jane Foster, time has not been kind to her. As Jane suffers her battles, Portman once again proves that she’s a top-notch actress, delivering the gravity, the humor, and holds her own in action scenes with Hemsworth. The chemistry between the pair is better here in Love and Thunder than it ever was in the first two Thor films; whether that’s due in part to having new writers and directors that understand the source material or due to the time the characters have spent apart is inconsequential, it’s great to see Thor and Jane mix it up again in both action scenes and in the classic will-they-won’t-they trope that only works as good as the actors’ commitment to it. Thankfully, in this film, both Portman and Hemsworth commit fully and almost all of their best scenes together over three films are collected in this one outing.

Unfortunately, the restoration of Jane Foster’s character comes with certain sacrifices, namely by way of Valkyrie, our favorite scrapper from Sakar. King of Asgard, thanks to the denouement of Avengers: Endgame, Tessa Thompson’s presence is almost completely overshadowed by the return of Jane Foster. Thompson, equally as charming and charismatic as Hemsworth, doesn’t have much to do in the film; a good bit of her time is spent observing Thor and Jane from the sidelines as the pair attempt to figure their relationship out. What little screentime she gets is mostly as a background character with a handful of lines. There’s no development to her whatsoever beyond being a beleaguered ruler of her tiny fiefdom who longs to still mix it up in a good fight. Thompson’s talents are mostly wasted in this film, which is a shame since she’s featured so prominently in Ragnarok.

Possibly the most underserved character in the film is its villain, Gorr the God Butcher. Played by Christian Bale of Batman fame, the actor jumped universes to embody one of the most menacing and problematic villains of recent Thor history. With a moniker like ‘the God Butcher’ and the means to do so, Gorr could easily have joined the ranks of Thanos or Killmonger in terms of threat level and sympathy, but the end result is instead a weak performance backed by weak writing. Far from Bale’s best work, Gorr the God Butcher goes missing from the film for entire swaths of time as the heroes traverse the galaxy looking for help in defeating him. He comes alive far too late in the film’s third act in a brilliant black and white set piece but by then the damage is done. Instead of a fascinating and complex antagonist, we get something akin to a Phase 1 villain with decent motivation but little development. Bale suffers for it and the film itself suffers for it.

Written and directed by Taika Waititi, his second entry into the MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder once again has his fingerprints all over it. Waititi’s trademark humor and oddball characters are on full display throughout, delivering a movie unlike any other in the cinematic universe. Where the filmmaker has stepped his game up, however, is in the cinematography department; he, director of photography Barry Idoine, and the visual effects team have managed to create some of the most visually stunning interstellar scenes the audience has been privy to within the MCU so far. While the Phase Four films continue to suffer from some spotty CGI, and Love and Thunder is no exception to this, it’s clear that Waititi has thoughtfully crafted a movie that, while less colorful than Ragnarok, is still full of Walt Simonson-inspired treats.

Overall, Thor: Love and Thunder takes the zaniness and camp of Thor: Ragnarok and doubles down. Taika Waititi’s love of classic rock shines through again as the audience is treated to a number of well placed needle drops and cheer worthy moments. With a visual palette that completely differentiates itself from the rest of the MCU, Waititi has created a film that manages to stand out as one of the more distinct looking films in the oeuvre. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman’s chemistry is undeniable, and after almost a decade apart, it’s a delight to see the pair together again. Even with its botched first act and underdeveloped villain, the film is still a fun ride in theaters.

Review by Darryl Mansel