THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER: Lost In A Fantasy Storm

Thor: Love & Thunder is a film that falls back on the familiar amid its lofty themes. Embracing more of its wild fantasy leading to new worlds, Thor finds himself on an adventure all about love, loss, and an existential crisis. But just like the scene where Thor charges into a fight half-c*cked, there’s a desire for this narrative to slow down and explore more of its mythos rather than zooming through its two hours.

Classic Thor

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) once more bounds onto the screen with the same old boisterous nature he always seems to muster. Despite finding his life a tad empty, he still relishes jumping into battle with his magic ax, Stormbreaker, to cause all manner of chaos. It’s rather telling that after having endured so much pathos, his story this time around seems like smaller goals of conquering unfulfillment and getting over his ex-girlfriend.

That ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), pops back up in a big way. Reflecting the character’s arc in the recent comics, Jane finds herself taking on the mantle of Thor, wielding his old hammer. This makes for an awkward reunion in which Thor still hasn’t let go of his love for Jane… and his hammer. He’s not only struggling to get over Jane (which he can’t) but also accepting that she’s now a superhero. Maybe even a better superhero than him, considering how well Portman jumps into the role.

Thor’s reactions to processing loss and regret turn out to be more comical than perhaps they should be. Consider how Thor longs for his old hammer, now wielded much differently by its new owner. While this aspect does bring up Thor’s challenge of trying to not be as egotistical in his longing for the past, it’s an element that is mostly played up for laughs the way Stormbreaker displays jealously. As funny as it is to watch an ax show jealousy, it’s a bit that grows old by the time Thor feeds his ax a beer.

A Better Villain

A real highlight of the picture is the villain that Thor faces off against. Christian Bale drowns himself in the role of Gorr, an alien who once harbored spirituality. Upon losing his daughter and meeting his god, Gorr becomes disillusioned with showing faith toward such cruel deities and wages a war against them. And the gods certainly need to be fearful of him considering he’s armed with a god-killing sword, giving him the villain title of The God Butcher.

Gorr is one of the more compelling Marvel villains because his drive toward loss and love is incredibly relatable. He doesn’t want to cleanse the universe or establish a new world order. He’s simply tired of the bureaucracy of monolithic gods and plans to take them all out to seek the salvation he was promised and denied. Given how corrupt the many gods become in such a story, it becomes easier to side with him.

Bale’s performance is so top-notch that it’s a shame we don’t get more scenes with him. When faced with a denial of his eternal reward, he’s deeply crestfallen. When trying to intimidate Thor and his people of New Asgard, he’s devilishly creepy in his sinister cackles and hisses. Supposedly, there was a scene where Bale let out a scream so chilling it had to be cut from the film. That may be marketing talk but after witnessing his performance, it doesn’t seem all that impossible.

The Tagalongs

The aspects of Thor conquering his lost love and a god-killing menace seem like enough for this adventure. But what of the other Thor characters? Sadly, most of them get tossed aside in one way or another.

Consider what happens with the return of Valkerie (Tessa Thompson). She’s taken on an important role as the mayor of New Asgard on Earth, making sure her sanctuary for the Asgardian refugees is a thriving community. But it’s also a boring job where her duties seem mostly focused on tourism and opening such gimmicky stores as an ice cream shop dubbed with the pun Infinity Cones.

She longs for adventure and perhaps even a chance to get back into playing the game of love. What could’ve been an ample opportunity to explore Valkerie’s bisexuality seems to only pique with a lament about the past. For the most part, we’re just watching Valkerie kick butt once more, bringing her old pegasus out of the stables for more action.

Also present in the picture is Korg, the rock monster voiced by Waititi himself. Korg provides little more than a dry-witted commentary on this adventure when he’s not smashing bad guys. Much like Valkerie, there’s another chance to explore his own desire for romance but it clumsily stumbles over the finish line, rushing the character into a romance that doesn’t feel anywhere close as profound as the rekindled romance of Thor and Jane.

A Contained Sequel

The best and worst thing that can be said of Thor: Love & Thunder is that it exists in its own weird world mostly divorced from the MCU. We don’t get any multiverse madness to keep track of nor is there some foreshadowing of how Thor’s tale will tie into the next film for Doctor Strange or The Eternals. It mostly stays in its own lane and there’s something a bit refreshing about a Thor story that doesn’t have to retool much of its fantasy to fit into the cinematic universe.

That being said, it does disregard much of the compelling Thor developments post-Ragnarok. During the events of Infinity War and Endgame, Thor became a mess after losing everything and slipping into a depression. While those wounds would soon heal, they heal incredibly fast by the time we get to Love & Thunder.

Another development tossed aside is Thor’s team-up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. While this crossover would seem like a match made in heaven, we only get one mission with the gang of misfits. They’re not as present considering that this is more Thor than Guardians but quick dismal of the gang really does feel like Waititi tying up some loose threads he doesn’t want to use.

The Lightning Doesn’t Strike Twice

This sequel to Ragnarok certainly does rely on much from the previous film. Certain gags are repeated with not much retooling, attempting to recapture the energy of Ragnarok. Yet what made the third Thor film so brilliant was that it was a refreshing change of pace and a vibrant new world. This fourth Thor film, however, mostly feels like a retread of Ragnarok.

The reliance on the familiar leads to a lot of moments that just fall flat on their face. Kudos to Waiti for bringing some levity to the Thor universe, especially with how he poses the god Zeus (Russell Crowe) as a corrupt and out-of-shape bureaucrat in need of a lightning bolt through the chest. But this scene felt like it was funnier as an idea than the way it comes off as in the film. When the running gag with Zeus is that he can’t stop talking about scheduling an orgy, it seems like this film is resting too much on its repetition.

This goes double for the film’s mascot animals of giant goats that comically scream. It’s funny for the first scene but the extra three scenes they appear in where they continue to scream make them less funny and more annoying. The screams aren’t even timed to be funny; they’re just kinda there.

Good Looks and Little Time

Visually, the film does have its moments of charm. I particularly dug how Thor’s adventure across the cosmos to seek Gorr leads him to a planet devoid of all color. Not in the muted way that makes some of the lesser MCU films boring with bland lighting but bold for the stark contrast in light and shadow. It’s also neat that this black-and-white planet is small enough that you could imagine it existing in The Little Prince.

What left me wanting more out of this film was how little time we get to spend with the characters. While the petering out of plot lines for Valkerie and Korg seem somewhat expected, it’s surprising we don’t get much time to expand on Gorr. Rather than watch his rampage across the universe, we mostly get to hear it through reports and witnessing the aftermath. A golden opportunity was wasted here to showcase just how terrifying Gorr can be against an onslaught of gods.

It also would’ve been nice to get more tender moments with Jane and how she struggles to live another day. But the film is in such a rush with all its adventuring that there’s rarely a moment to enjoy it all, despite a rather pleasing sequence where Thor and Jane share a moment among the stars and space dolphins. Just when we think they’ll be some deeper emotions unearthed when Thor learns of Jane’s condition, it’s a brief exchange as he really needs to get back to hunting down Gorr.

Conclusion: Thor: Love & Thunder

While not the worst Thor film, Love & Thunder has a lot of potential in its fantasy adventure but rarely rises to become a worthy sequel to its superior predecessor. In bits and pieces, there are parts that are genuinely funny and heartfelt. There are even some visually stunning sequences that come close to mustering that 1980s fantasy rock angle the marketing so desperately touts this picture as being.

It’s these surprisingly strong aspects of the picture that make it all the more frustrating. I want to love a picture featuring a god-killing villain with good reason, a classic Thor adventure of fighting owl people, and Zeus being taken down a peg for not wanting to save children. But the whole package makes me long for additional scenes that give more time for it all. It’d be nice if Gorr’s carnage was shown rather than told and that Jane’s transformation was more dazzling than just an off-screen bit of magic. There’s some good stuff in this movie but it always felt like the great stuff was in between all of it.

Did you see Thor: Love & Thunder in the theater? How does it rank against the other Thor films? Let us know in the comments below.

Thor: Love & Thunder was released on July 8, 2022!

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