A Review of “Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)”

 

Who would’ve thought that the only MCU character (so far) to get 4 solo films would be Thor? The first Thor movie was an okay introduction and the second one was quite bland. In came Taika Waititi with Thor Ragnarok (2017), who made Thor a charismatic and fun character. Thor Ragnarok was no doubt one of the funniest and most enjoyable movies in the Thor franchise so far. It was no wonder that I was looking forward to Thor Love and Thunder when it was revealed Taika was returning as director. So did Thor: Love and Thunder deliver more fun or was this a big thundering step backwards?

Firstly, Christian Bale was phenomenal as Gorr, the antagonist, in this film. He delivered an amazingly unsettling performance that made him incredibly creepy. He also delivers on the sorrowful moments as well that make him very sympathetic. Amazingly, he can be both frightening and yet kind of root for him. Natalie Portman finally returns to the Thor franchise as Jane Foster after being absent in Ragnarok. Her return is very “mighty” as she isn’t just a doctor that is around but now a hero in her own right. It was great seeing her return and it’s great to see that the chemistry between her and Thor (Chris) is still there. She has her struggles to deal with it and Natalie does an outstanding job of conveying the pain that she is going through. Chris and Tessa return as Thor and Valkyrie respectively and they are still great. Taika is still fun as the rock person Korg. Russell Crowe is pretty enjoyable to watch as Zeus as well. The whole cast did a great job in their performance.

I also like the themes that are explored in the film. The exploration of love is a running arc for Thor throughout and I liked seeing him try to find “himself”. There is also the theme of death in both Gorr and Jane’s arc. It is handled wonderfully in both and I liked the resolution to it all as well. Legendary composer, Michael Giacchino, gives a colourful and bombastic score that works well for the movie. He also incorporates some great use of songs, similar to Guardians of the Galaxy, such as “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses that just mesh well in the film. There are some pretty enjoyable action sequences but the most memorable is in the second act. There is a fight scene in the shadow realm that is just visually oozing with style.

Unfortunately, the comedy in this movie does not work. I just found the comedy in this movie to not be that funny. Ragnarok had some laugh-out-loud moments but Love and Thunder just never get those types of moments. Additionally, a lot of the humour comes from Thor being an idiot. In Ragnarok, he was a lot more comedic but he had an arc and an important decision near the end. Here he is just a comedic idiot throughout and he never gets that sort of big decision as he did in Ragnarok. He does have an arc but it’s very weak. It’s genuinely a shame that the titular character has been reduced to a joke in his film. On that note, the comedy isn’t as prevalent as it was in Ragnarok. Ragnarok was a comedy throughout with some strong serious moments sprinkled in. Love and Thunder mesh half a comedy and half serious and this tonal clash hurt the movie. The serious moments are when the movie is at its best but then a dumb gag happens and damages the moment.

Christian Bale is the standout in this film but his character Gorr is barely even in the film. There is a whole middle act where he just isn’t even there. He is also called the God butcherer but we don’t even see him on screen actually butchering a god which is such a shame. Gorr needed more screen time to flesh out his character and show why he is a threat to the gods. They also don’t show why Gorr killing gods is bad. There is one scene implying negative consequences but we don’t see it either. This creates a problem where it feels like there isn’t much at stake in the film even though there is supposed to be. The film just doesn’t have much weight to it. In Ragnarok, Odin’s death was meaningful, the brother’s conversation was meaningful, Valkyrie’s decision to help was meaningful, Thor embracing the God of Thunder was meaningful, and Thor letting Asgard blow up was meaningful. Love and Thunder just lacks a lot of these apart from one thing at the end that isn’t even Thor.

Overall, Love and Thunder is pretty disappointing. I expected something that was like Ragnarok but instead got something that felt like an attempt at Ragnarok. The comedy wasn’t as funny this time and there are a lot more serious moments this time that is great but makes the comedy feel more jarring as it interrupts the moment. However, it is not downright terrible as there is enjoyment to be had here. It’s just not a great Thor movie and definitely not as good as its predecessor. It’s just okay and after over 20 MCU movies, okay just isn’t good enough.