Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan and Russell Crowe
The fourth solo adventure for the Asgardian God Thor, this time going up against a God slayer and questioning his own place in the realm with that expected Waititi tongue-in-cheek wit...
God of Thunder, Thor (Hemsworth) ends his time with the Guardians Of The Galaxy when it becomes clear his powers are needed for a much larger battle. There is a new threat emerging, forged from the dark seed of betrayal, loss and grief.
Gorr the God Butcher (Bale) is a demonic slayer with his eyes set on destruction and revenge and his latest target is New Asgard. Thor can't take on Gorr alone, and calls upon former allies Korg (Waititi) and Valkyrie (Thomspon) to help him in battle.
But Thor has a new ally to fight beside him - Jane Foster (Portman), now known as Mighty Thor. These two former lovers unite to traverse the realm in search of Gorr and put an end to his scheme that threatens everything - and everyone - Thor holds dear.
Film 29 in the behemoth of what is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fourth overall in the Thor series. Falling in between Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the growing comedic style of Thor has no doubt set it aside from the more action packed offerings. Yet it has also driven a wedge between the consistency between Thor's world and the others. Director Taiki Waititi returns for the second time to continue the Norse God's adventure, but seems to have less restraint than before in making Thor a quirky, fantastical, pop-culture fest of gags, action and bumbling heroes. Something feels shallow and rather weak this time around, with the balance between engrossing story and silly comedy way off.
Chris Hemsworth does no wrong as Thor, God of Thunder. The "Dad bod" soon gives way to his "God bod" and he's filling out the shiny armour in style with his golden locks and trimmed beard. It's a shame the script makes him a bit too goofy and, dare I say, slightly useless at times? Thor seems to lose his original might and myth with each film; the more he's around humanity and immersed in pop culture he becomes just another goofy character cut from the same cloth as Chris Pratt's Star Lord (who also pops up with the Guardians for a cheeky wage). It's not that funny seeing Thor talk to Stormbreaker as if he was a jilted lover, for example.
Our new Marvel villain is played with evil relish (seemingly out of place among the colourful nonsense) by Christian Bale; a near skeletal, orange-eyed God hunter Gorr, out for revenge against the powerful beings who took everything from him. Gorr should have been something sinister, but he's just not present enough to BE sinister, even with his swirling demons and crooked frame as the Marvel answer to the Child Catcher. And he does it well!
While Natalie Portman returns as love interest Jane, she's glossed over fighting for screentime with many other characters when she should have had more focus. She's a core character for the series, and especially Thor, but here she jumps from one situation to another with no true explanation why she is - or does - what she does. Its safe to say she does look the part of Mighty Thor, but there's no real meat behind the transformation and it all comes out too little, too late.
Portman is a welcome return, and she walks the most important journey in 'Love & Thunder', but isn't given half of what she needs to really make it a powerful one.
Familiar faces return to the franchise such as Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings and Tessa Thompson, all fan pleasing but still without real meat, feeling wasted. Thompson spends more time chatting exposition or wearing a 'Phantom Of The Opera' jumper. This story belongs to Thor, and everyone else is just here to get him to the next plot point, or forced comical skit.
Yet it's not all bad, when the minor hits land. There are moments when the emotional beats resonate, and help to solidify character relationships. There is a smattering of swashbuckling action and daring-do heroics that are also entertaining, even if this is few and far between. Visually, it's a dreamy, psychedelic rainbow-road ride across inter-dimensional worlds that doesn't break the Marvel CGI palette, but ticks the box for what you now expect. A short battle climax only works due to previous films and established relationships, albeit not something this films builds on, but only wraps up.
It's hard to fathom out just how much control the Marvel execs have over their individual films now, because Waititi seems to be playing unobserved in a big playground full of silly, back-slapping cameos, lazy gags that roll off the script like a student wrote them, and tons of sloppy CGI and, well, stupid pop culture nods. There was a time when Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" popped up in Thor: Ragnarok and helped bring the old Norse God back to life for a tongue-in-cheek adventure that took its foot off the brakes.
Now, with the numerous injections of 1980s Guns n' Roses hits and even Abba, Waititi is just doing what he wants for a comical science-fiction romp that quickly loses it's original appeal. And he can't help but write himself in for as much comedy as possible. It's easy to see why Marvel fans have lost patience with his style after this offering.
Full of silly gags, goofy humour and a weak story overall. There is a little of what made Thor great somewhere under this fantastical Taika Waititi fluff, but it's certainly a very weak entry into the MCU. And no stupid, screaming goats can help save this.
'Thor: Love And Thunder' is a Marvel Studios production
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