[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]
Only in theatres
All hail Taika Waititi. This dude might be the most balls-out, insane filmmaker working today on his way to legend status for both his filmmaking skills and his wild antics in his personal life. He’s dabbling in the MCU, he’s teeing up the next Star Wars movie, he’s got at least 3 kick ass shows on streaming right now (What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death, Reservation Dogs) and he’s winning Oscars (JoJo Rabbit).
His previous Marvel offering, Thor: Ragnarok was a shot of adrenaline for the franchise within a franchise and somehow helped give Chris Hemsworth something neither Robert Downey Jr. nor Chris Evans achieved, a fourth freaking solo movie. Seriously, I was for sure the third was going to be the last. Yeah. I know. Disney wasn’t going to turn their back on Thor now that he’s cool again and with out Evans and Downey Jr., he’s their last bankable (male) star.
Thor: Love and Thunder on the other hand is a giant heaping shovel of pretty much the same schtick that worked so well before. Yet, somehow lacks the energy that helped make Ragnarok so unique. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of good things going on in Love and Thunder. Unfortunately, it seems confined under this bizarre veil hovering over Marvel’s Phase 4, which at this point feels like a collection of movies and tv shows that aren’t quite sure what they want to be yet.
Maybe not so coincidentally, that’s one of the key themes at the heart of Love and Thunder which picks up sometime after Avengers: Endgame and finds our favorite wandering God, Thor is in search of himself, tagging along on adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy — remember those guys? But he’s bored, not sure who he is and how he fits into the universe now that his parents are dead, his brother his dead (doubting Thor is watching Disney+ so he doesn’t know about Loki), and of course his beloved home planet was destroyed, the refugees having made a new home on Earth, which has become a hot spot tourist destination.
But then the world of the Gods encounters a new threat, Gorr the God Butcher, which based on his name, I probably don’t need to give you any more details but I’ll give you this: he doesn’t like Gods and wants to kill them all. And you know who is a God? Yup, Thor. Christian Bale makes the transition from dark night DC hero guy to scary Marvel Cinematic Universe villain guy and the results are kinda terrifying, but to be honest he’s for the most part wasted in the role and isn’t given much to do. In fact, the characters talk about him doing stuff far more than you actually see him actually “killing gods”. So, Thor has to deal with this dude, try and find himself and come to terms that his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman is back, yay!) is now wielding Mjolnir. It’s all a bit of a stress test on the old God of Thunder’s ego and the movie spends far more time with awkward teen crush moments between Thor and Jane, err, “Mighty” Thor.
Plot-wise, Taika and company keep it pretty basic. Thor needs to get the band back together and stop Gorr before he does plot things that are apparently determined off screen and then communicated by other characters in scene later on. It’s always fun to watch even if the tonal shifts are a little jarring and you don’t care that the Thor franchise is quickly becoming slapstick. But the characters and what have you are constantly moving, never really giving you a chance to wonder if any of it is meshing. If you loved Ragnarok for it’s eye popping look, Love and Thunder serves up a feast for the eyeballs and ears — dig on the use of Guns N Roses, Abba and Michael Giacchino’s score — although I do feel Mark Mothersbaugh’s tripped out score fit the tone of Taika’s insanity. (but maybe he’s busy with the Divo farewell tour?).
Natalie Portman is fun in her return to the franchise after she bolted after the Dark World debacle, when Patty Jenkins was fired and Alan Taylor was brought in and the movie sucked. Unfortunately, her return gives King Brunnhilde/Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) considerably less to do, leaving her waiting around and hoping she gets a better character thread in Thor 5, perhaps? But she is freaking awesome when she is on screen. Korg (voiced by Waititi) is always fun but really doesn’t offer anything new except dropping one liners. Russell Crowe has a fun cameo that serves as another reminder that you aren’t supposed to be taking any of this seriously. And that’s a weird thing to say about Russell Crowe showing up.
At its heart, Love and Thunder is a romantic comedy, which on the surface is fine, but although the movie scratches and scratches, it barely gets under the skin until the “it’s too late to waste time on character” point of the third act when everyone starts fighting. Much like the rest of Phase 4 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, it feels like its getting by on previously established credit, while whisking you from one crazy location to another, hoping it figures out what wants to be before you realize that the MCU is in a bit of a creative downtick.
While Thor: Love and Thunder might be the best stand alone movie in the MCU since phase 4 Tony Stark snapped his fingers that doesn’t rely on the fan service of the Spider-Men, it’s starting to become more and more apparent that the longer this cinematic universe gets stretched out, the thinner and weaker it gets. So, if you’re looking for yet another game changer from Taikia and Thor, you’ll be disappointed. However if you’ll settle for a fast paced, quirky, colorful movie that’s kind of about being a superhero, then Love and Thunder is your rainbow connection to fun.
Stay after the movie for not one, but two post credits scenes.
Lover of movies and tacos. Ad man. Author. Member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Founder of the Terror on the Plains Horror Festival. Creator and voice of the Reel Hooligans podcast.
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