Whilst Thor: Love and Thunder has proven to once again be decisive between both fans and critics, I found myself to enjoy it a lot. Whilst I still believe Thor: Ragnarok to be the better film, Love and Thunder instantly became my favourite film in the Thor franchise. I adore Taika’s directing style and continuation of this style of the character. However, with the apparent decline in quality and increase in quantity going on with the MCU as of late, the film does also show some significant weaknesses.
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself on a quest for inner peace. However, his quest is interrupted upon the discovery that a new foe by the name of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) is on a mission to end the lives of all gods. To confuse matters even further, Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is back, and is welding Thor’s ex-hammer, Mjlonir. Along with King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (Taika Waititi), the team must work to stop Gorr before he can put an end to all gods.
I was not surprised to find that the performances were incredibly strong. Hemsworth was as good as he ever is, and it was great to see Thompson back as Valkyrie (even if she seemed to take a backseat this time). I really liked the reintroduction of Portman’s Jane Foster. I enjoyed the ‘catch-up’ with her character and the ABBA montage in which we got the filler between The Dark World and Ragnarok. However, she gained her powers far too quickly and very suddenly became the Mighty Thor. Considering the film’s short runtime, I don’t think it would’ve been too hard to include a short scene showcasing how she gained her costume, or even an introduction to her relationship with Valkyrie – since the two clearly had great chemistry. However, the clear standout of the film was Christian Bale’s Gorr. He very quickly gave the best performance in the film, and one of the best villains in the MCU. I loved the opening scene in which he renounces his God and his character design. The black and white design paired with the piercing yellow eyes really enhanced his performance. However, my only wish is that we saw more of him, especially on the action side of things. Having an actor like Bale in the film was huge, and I was shocked to find he never butchered any gods on-screen, contrary to his name. I also enjoyed Russell Crowe’s brief performance as Zeus, despite his odd, Borat-esque Greek accent.
I’ve seen a lot of internet conversation recently about the comedy of the film. Now, Taika is known for his comedy and in all of his films he nails it. I really enjoyed Korg’s constant narration and the characterisation of both Stormbreaker and Mjlonir. However, there is far too much humour. Whilst none of the jokes are bad in my opinion (remember, comedy is subjective!), there are points in the film where jokes weren’t needed, and ended up undermining other, more serious parts of the film. Without delving into spoilers, Jane’s storyline deserved a lot more serious moments and spotlight throughout the film.
Whilst it’s not controversial to say that the CGI and VFX weren’t always great throughout the film, I am a fan of the way the film looked in pretty much all other aspects. I loved the continuation of Taika’s colourful, flamboyant palette. This then made the black and white shadow realm even more eye-striking. A particular favourite part of this was the way the weapons and certain other objects emitted a small bit of light – almost like a torch shining a small amount of hope onto the situation.
Whilst this is a really small aspect of the film, I thought the title card introduction was brilliant. The music really stood out to me and shamelessly had me grinning cheek to cheek. I also enjoyed the soundtrack used throughout the film, and loved how we actually heard ‘Sweet child o mine’, since it had been used so effectively in the marketing.
Overall, whilst Thor: Love and Thunder may not be the best Thor film, it’s far from the worst. If you’re not a huge fan of the typical Marvel quips and humour, this may not be the film for you. However, it’s still an enjoyable, vibrant, “classic Thor adventure!”
My rating – 8/10
