Thor: Love and Thunder is Marvel Studios latest film to release, and after Ragnarok, Taika Waititi is back to write and direct! This review will contain no spoilers, so you don’t have to worry about that from me! I’m going to give my honest thoughts and let you experience the film for yourself if interested!
Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, who in this movie also gains the mantle of The Mighty Thor! Christian Bale also makes his Marvel debut as Gor, a villain whose mission is to kill all the Gods! I want to preface the rest of this review with the fact that I was not a big fan of Thor: Ragnarok, and it hurts to say that I feel the same about Love and Thunder. Let’s get some expectations in order and try to make sure that you have the best time in the theater to see this movie!
First things first, Thor: Love and Thunder is a comedy, a full-blown comedy. That does not mean that all its jokes land, and it doesn’t mean that most of its jokes land, but its full of jokes. As my 12-year-old cousin put it as soon as the theater lights came on, “That was goofy!”
Taika Waititi’s interpretation of Thor isn’t my favorite, because although the character is 1500 years old, he’s about as dumb and clueless as a child. I will admit, for people showing up to just have a good time, this makes the character easy to laugh and smile with, but for someone like myself who enjoys the MCU and what it slowly builds to over many films, these previous 2 solo movies have really differed from what some people believe Thor should be.
Natalie Portman is fine in the movie, she struggles with the comedy as well, but I think it’s more of a script issue than a performance issue. Christian Bale is the best thing about the movie, but sadly he isn’t in it as much as he could be, and that’s just gut wrenching as well. His character is very dark and pretty scary, but for the movie to keep its comedy tone, I think they shied away from showing too much of Gor The God Butcher.
Love and Thunder really feels like a parody of what a Thor movie could/should be. When you’d expect a character to be strong and intimidating, they’re made out to be unintelligent and weak. The second act of this movie takes place on a brand-new world we’ve never seen before, with new and exciting characters we’ve never seen before, but it’s filled with gags and bad acting that just don’t work, and I can honestly say my near sold-out theater was silent throughout most of this movie. I laughed some, but nowhere near how often the filmmaker wanted me to, and I really wish that wasn’t the case because I am such a big Marvel fan.
I wish I could go into more detail, but I really think that people who want to see this movie should go in with their expectations in order, a very open mind, and the biggest bucket of popcorn you can find. This is truly the definition of “turn your brain off and enjoy” and for me, Marvel Studios has a higher bar that it should be striving to achieve. Last thing I will say is this; Where Spider-Man: No Way Home got applause, Thor: Love and Thunder got silence, and that means it isn’t hitting the mark.
Overall, I’m disappointed and would love to see the character and studio go in a different direction in the future, but many people in the general audience will enjoy this film, it will make great money, and Taika Waititi is a MASSIVE name that Marvel would love to keep around. I won’t be watching Love and Thunder again any time soon, but maybe you’ll love it more than anything previous! Only one way to find out!
'Thor: Love and Thunder' is in Theaters on July 8th, 2022.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Logan Wischmeier (Contributing Editor) is a Texas native and a massive fan of all genres of film. You can find him talking about movies on YouTube or in line for the latest Star Wars/Comic Book film.Click Here to check out Logan's Articles.