Some spoilers follow:
Both the Thor character and franchise have had their ups and downs during their time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kenneth Branagh’s original Thor from Phase 1 was not as spectacular as the first Iron Man movie or even Captain America: The First Avenger, but it did accomplish its main tasks by successfully introducing Marvel’s take on the Norse gods of Asgard, and casting Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, both virtual unknowns at the time, who have proven to be utterly perfect in their respective roles as Thor and Loki. Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World unfortunately proved to be one of the MCU’s dullest features, offering nice development for Loki but virtually none for Thor himself, who also received arguably the least attention among the superhero ensembles of the first two Avengers crossover movies. Despite his popularity among fans Hemsworth’s enthusiasm for the role was understandably waning after Avengers: Age of Ultron until director Taika Waititi delivered a fresh take on Thor with the character’s third solo film, Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi succeeded in rejuvenating the character by emphasizing both the zany cosmic silliness of Thor comics and Hemsworth’s considerable comedic skills while adding to the Asgardian family drama that was the highlight of the first two installments. The Russo brothers continued to bring Thor to even greater heights of complexity with strong roles in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame and the character now stands as one of the most popular in the MCU. For the character’s fourth solo film, Waititi (who also co-wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson) and Hemsworth attempt to recapture the magic of their first collaboration. But while Thor: Love and Thunder features a good arc for the character and strong performances from its all-star cast it falls short of both Ragnarok and those recent Avengers outings.
After Endgame, Thor is traveling the universe and fighting alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s doing so half-heartedly, distracted by questions about what he wants out of life. After receiving a distress call from an old friend he heads off with rock-skinned alien buddy Korg (Waititi) to investigate, discovering the destructive work of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), an alien warrior armed with the mystical Necrosword and hellbent on eliminating all deities from the universe. Returning to his people’s home of New Asgard in Norway to defend it from Gorr, Thor is shocked to see his beloved magic hammer Mjolnir, repaired and in the hands of his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), now a superhero herself, called The Mighty Thor. After receiving some devastating news in her personal life (comic fans know what it is) Jane had set out for Thor’s help, only for Mjolnir to call to her, finding her worthy of the powers of the Thunder God. Thor and Jane set out with Korg and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), now king of New Asgard, to defeat Gorr. Being reunited forces the former couple to confront their lingering feelings for one another, which complicate their already uncertain paths.
With Thor’s Asgardian family all dead (this is the first Thor solo movie that doesn’t feature Hiddleston or Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin, even though the former still appears as an alternate version of Loki on his own Disney Plus show) the film draws its drama from Thor’s complicated feelings on love, both romantic and otherwise. His reunion with Jane leads the first half of the film to lean into romantic comedy tropes, with the pair constantly arguing, flirting, and unsuccessfully attempting to hide that they’re both still head over heels in love with each other. There’s also a hilarious emphasis on the sentience of both Mjolnir and Thor’s current magical weapon, Stormbreaker the ax, and a lot of the best jokes come from him acting as if they are additional ex and current lovers. Portman and the rest of the cast draw plenty of good laughs but Hemsworth and Waititi continue to outshine all when it comes to the comedic bits. As always Hemsworth perfectly captures Thor’s knuckle-headed but lovable, earnest, but still occasionally naïve, personality and he and Waititi repeatedly deliver the most gloriously absurd pieces of dialogue perfectly, although the latter sometimes contradicts what he’s already established about Korg for the sake of a good joke.
But the film also has a serious emotional story to deliver and at a certain point it gracefully shifts from the constant antics of the early portions into a more tender, introspective form. As funny as he is in the part Hemsworth is also adept at emphasizing both the growth Thor has gone through and the painful effects the many tragedies that he’s experienced have on him. Thor and Jane’s storylines intertwine through their romance in ways that alternate between being heartbreaking and heartwarming and Hemsworth and Portman benefit from the strong material, crafting a more interesting dynamic between the two than the simple puppy dog love of the first two films. Jane’s role addresses a sensitive subject with impressive grace and Portman handles the complicated, realistic emotions it provokes expertly. Waititi and Robinson also deserve credit for rejuvenating Jane’s character while still building on what has come before. Jane’s obsessive, adorkable enthusiasm for science is still present, for example, and contributes to her awkward but endearing elation at becoming a superhero, which Portman uses to create quite a few strong comedic scenes herself.
Ten years after retiring as Batman (still the best one) in The Dark Knight Rises, Bale returns to comic book movies with a wonderfully over the top villain performance that instantly separates itself from his work as the Caped Crusader. Gorr is a legitimately scary but also fascinating creation, brought to life by Bale’s off-putting mannerisms and some exceptionally freaky makeup work. The influence of the Necrosword turns him into a ruthlessly cruel killer who derives twisted pleasure in his violent mission and Bale is at his most enthrallingly frightening in these moments of sadistic glee. But the character’s tragic backstory, which plays out in full in the harrowing opening sequence, while not especially surprising, is effective at generating sympathy for him and Bale also nails some terrifically emotional scenes throughout with tender vulnerability. The behavior of the gods in the movie other than Thor and his allies, especially Russel Crowe’s Zeus and his supporters at the celestial haven known as Omnipotence City, also provides justification for Gorr’s rage, though the film stops short of really digging into the serious meditations on faith and religion made in The God Butcher arc of Jason Aaron’s Thor comic book run.
But while most everything squarely focused on Thor, Jane, and Gorr is great the film’s other elements are of very mixed quality. With the exception of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) the Guardians are wasted in a role that is little more than a cameo, as is another returning character from the early Thor movies and one gets the feeling that Waititi only included them all out of a sense of obligation to fans. Similarly disappointing is the misuse of Valkyrie, who is hardly developed at all, despite receiving plenty of screen time. The film brings up some interesting ideas related to the character, such as her difficulty adjusting from the warrior lifestyle to her role as a leader and her lingering pain over the deaths of her lover and fellow Valkyries, because of which she still struggles to form meaningful relationships, but doesn’t ever indicate whether she’s making progress dealing with these issues or if they’re getting worse. It’s a shame to see a character with so much potential used in such a thin sidekick role, especially since Waititi did such a good job of introducing her in Ragnarok. It’s hard to know what to make of Crowe’s character. The actor’s clearly having a blast and again Zeus’ role is important to the themes of the Gorr storyline but some of the character’s jokes drag on longer than needed and Crowe’s hammy work, especially his (hopefully) intentionally ridiculous Greek accent can become grating. The film also suffers from some significant pacing issues. Like the recent Doctor Strange film Love and Thunder clocks in at under two hours and while Marvel’s efforts to make sure things aren’t dragged out longer than necessary is appreciated this installment could have used more time to breathe. The first half of the movie doesn’t really accomplish that much on either plot or emotional levels and other than Gorr and Jane’s intros is mostly a string of, admittedly funny, jokes. This makes the switch to the second half’s more dramatic tone more striking but it also means that the movie starts getting ready to end before the characters or the audience have had enough time to really develop their feelings on the situations at hand.
The awkward pacing is indicative of the movie’s overall quality. There’s a lot to like, even love about it and it is a meaningful experience but its also at war with itself over its very different stylistic impulses and it’s not nearly as balanced as Ragnarok, with the weak supporting material dragging it down.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder progresses the Asgardian Avenger's journey in some surprising and emotional ways and features excellent performances from Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and Natalie Portman, but it doesn't flow or balance its tones as well as Ragnarok and the supporting cast is let down.
-
Writing7
-
Acting8.5
-
Production7.5