Thor: Love and Thunder, directed and co-written by the innovative Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/The Mighty Thor, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Christian Bale as the menacing Gorr the God Butcher, and features numerous cameos. We are introduced to Gorr in the opening scene, immediately learning what drives him to become Gorr the God Butcher and work tirelessly to cause the extinction of all gods. The film follows Thor and his team as they try to stop Gorr from accomplishing his goal, which could put the universe in peril. The film has surpassed the opening weekend box office numbers of its predecessor Thor: Ragnarok, with $143 million domestically and $302 million globally. It is a fun romantic comedy and action/adventure flick that never really finds its footing in either genre. It jumps around constantly, we never stay in one location for long, and characters don’t have much time to develop. Nevertheless, there aren’t any boring moments. Waititi told Steven Colbert a few weeks ago, “It’s like we asked a bunch of six-year-olds what they wanted in a movie and we just said yes to everything.” He touts how ridiculous the film is, citing Thor’s mode of transportation (a Viking ship pulled along the Bifrost shot out of Stormbreaker by two screaming goats). Yeah, you read that right, two screaming goats. Waititi points out in the interview that this is actually taken straight out of the mythology, and it does work to create some laughs and an exciting new way for Thor to travel the universe.
Full disclosure: Thor is one of my favorite Marvel characters (still around in the MCU), Thor: Ragnarok is one of my favorite MCU movies, Waititi is one of my favorite directors, and Chris Hemsworth has become one of my favorite actors. So to say I was excited to see Thor: Love and Thunder on opening night is the understatement of the year. My initial reaction leaving the theatre: disappointment. At first, I felt the story did little to add substance to Thor as a character, and the jokes, at times, seemed forced. Overall, I felt let down by the nature of the film being almost exclusively a comedy with no substantive development for the MCU as a whole. However, after sleeping on it, and trying to set my sky-high expectations aside, I found myself defending most of the film’s shortcomings in discussions with the friends I saw it with. We all agreed the film is visually stunning. The CGI is some of the best in the MCU. Waititi takes the colorful scenery and imaginative style that made Ragnarok such a standout and turns it up to 11. The depiction and exploration of new locations within the MCU was exciting, albeit a bit jumbled or rushed at times. The movie comes in just under two hours, which for a blockbuster these days is pretty short. At times, it felt like they were trying to fit too much in without spending the time to develop new and exciting environments before jumping right into the next. The costume design draws on what has come before while incorporating new elements that add to the grandiose, outlandish characters. Much of the criticism I have pertains to the amount of jokes throughout. There are very few serious scenes in the whole movie. It is almost a straight comedy as opposed to Ragnarok, which I think had the perfect balance of levity and sincerity. While not all comedy is insincere, we don’t really get many moments in Love and Thunder to digest a joke before hearing another, thus diminishing some of the humor by overloading the audience.
The highlight of the film is Christian Bale’s performance as Gorr the God Butcher. Bale is no stranger to the superhero genre. As the star of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, he excelled. In Love and Thunder, he plays the villain determined to wipe out all of the gods after losing his daughter. Something the film does extremely well, that some other superhero movies don’t, is clearly defining the antagonist’s motivations. We know right away why Gorr is the way he is and why he seeks to kill the gods. His introduction is excellent and concise. This framework for Gorr set the stage for Bale to play a fantastic villain. Bale does an excellent job conveying the corruption he’s endured and the ruthless nature of his character. But the movie jumps around a lot, never really allowing us to soak in any particular scene that could add suspense around Gorr before being bombarded with another joke. Adding 10 or 15 more minutes of screen time for Gorr could have really helped develop his character even more and would have greatly improved the film as a whole.
The jokes that worked best for me were all about Thor’s old hammer, Mjolnir, and his new weapon, Stormbreaker. For reference, Mjolnir was destroyed in Ragnarok by Thor’s sister Hela (Cate Blanchett), the Goddess of Death. Stormbreaker was forged from the heart of a dying star in Avengers: Infinity War as Thor’s new weapon. As Korg (Waititi) eloquently states in Ragnarok when Thor tells him he lost his hammer, “It sounds like you had a pretty special and intimate relationship with this hammer, and that losing it was almost comparable to losing a loved one.” That line perfectly sums up Thor’s feelings towards Mjolnir. So, when it reappears in this film wielded by Jane/The Mighty Thor instead of Thor himself, Thor is elated to see it. The jokes quickly start flying. The hammer jokes mainly play off of the fact that Mjolnir is no longer Thor’s weapon. When Thor first sees Mjolnir back in action he believes it has returned to him and he almost starts to cry with joy as he reaches for it. He quickly realizes that it now belongs to someone else, none other than his ex-girlfriend Jane. I found Hemsworth’s delivery charming each time and they all got a laugh out of me, along with those around me in the theatre. The weapons are sentient and Waititi does an excellent job — especially with Stormbreaker — at giving them some personality. The best jokes here come from Stormbreaker’s apparent jealousy that Thor wants Mjolnir back. Waititi does an excellent job of showing Stormbreaker’s emotions through its actions instead of words or facial expressions. Hemsworth adds to this by speaking to Stormbreaker, giving us some insight into how their relationship differs from Thor’s relationship with Mjolnir.
There were a number of jokes, however, not pertaining to Mjolnir or Stormbreaker, that took away from what could have been more serious lines or scenes to move the story forward and develop relationships between the characters. Most notably the goats. When they first appear and let out distinctive screams, it’s hilarious. However, this schtick is repeated ad nauseam throughout the movie. It reminded me of those Family Guy jokes that go on far longer than they should and become unfunny or even annoying. Thor: Love and Thunder is a childish movie, but then again that’s what it’s trying to be. There were plenty of audible laughs in my theatre, including my own. King Valkyrie could have been utilized much better, and the cameos, while fun, didn’t add much to the overall story. They seemed there mostly for laughs instead of plot. In all, the film is well worth seeing for its incredibly vibrant aesthetic and the excellent performances turned in by Hemsworth, Portman, and most notably Bale.
