Chris Hemsworth has returned for another “classic Thor adventure” in Marvel’s newest release, Thor: Love and Thunder. Having watched all the trailers and promos leading up to the release, I was pretty excited for this movie – it looked fun, bold, and gave similar vibes to Thor: Ragnarok (2017). For fans who also missed Natalie Portman in the previous film, you’ll be happy to see her return as Jane Foster, albeit a little different. I liked that the trailers didn’t really give too much away, so I didn’t know what to expect heading in. I decided to check the ratings before I went to theatres, and I was surprised to see that it received such a low Rotten Tomatoes score (it’s currently 65%). Of course, ratings never truly impact my own thoughts on a film so it didn’t affect my experience watching the movie for the first time. And I have to say, I disagree this time as I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. While it certainly wasn’t amazing, it was enjoyable and I don’t regret buying a ticket. Let’s get into it!
[Please note this review will be full of spoilers so read at your own discretion]
Following the rebirth of Thor, this movie would definitely be categorized as an action comedy. If you love Taika Waititi, you won’t be disappointed because it’s full of Taika flair. As you must’ve noticed, humour plays a big role in these new Thor movies, and in my opinion, it’s quite the gamble. It’s usually a hit or miss for audiences. I’ve seen some fans complain that they miss the mythology and seriousness from the original Thor films while others argue the change was a much needed breath of fresh air. Funnily enough, this new movie seems to have missed the mark for both these types of fans – one of the biggest criticisms I’ve read for Thor: Love and Thunder is that it felt too “kiddish” and that the jokes weren’t funny or went on for far too long. I personally didn’t have a problem with the comedy and I found it to be enjoyable overall. Sure, it was overdone in some scenes, but it didn’t take away from my experience. I think it helped that I expected a level of goofiness heading into the movie since Thor’s revamp has made his character a lot more relaxed and lighthearted. So if you’re yet to see the film, my advice is to go straight in without expecting too much. Just embrace the crazy.
While I wasn’t concerned about the “funniness” of the movie, I was initially concerned about how Marvel was going to reincorporate Jane back into the storyline. My biggest concerns before watching was the plot – how were they going to make this work? I had zero idea as to how Jane was going to become the Mighty Thor and I was genuinely worried that were going to overlook it and come up with a dumb reason that wasn’t cohesive or sensible. I personally didn’t like that their break up was summed up into a short funny moment in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) because she was such an important character in the first two films. Well, I’m glad to say that all my fears were thwarted because I truly loved what they did with Jane’s character in this movie. I was impressed by Portman’s take on the character and she really owned the superhero look. I felt like her story was a necessary addition to Thor’s overall arc and that it gave her character a proper send off. Although I’m sad that Jane’s character ultimately dies in the end and we won’t be able to see her with Thor anymore, I’m glad that they finally gave the audience closure to their journey together.
Seeing Thor and Jane back together was definitely a highlight for me in this film and their story was only made possible thanks to the incredible work of Christian Bale. After seeing him in the trailers, it got me really hyped – I was shocked to see Bale was joining the MCU, but I was moreso excited because he is absolutely incredible and I knew he was going to create an amazing villain. I guess you could say he lived long enough to become the villain, eh? But anyway, you won’t be surprised to hear that his performance as Gorr the God Butcher was stunning. He was so terrifying and my only wish is that they used more of him. I loved the visual design and I thought the CGI for his abilities looked great (the shadow monsters looked really good in my opinion!). He felt like a fresh villain with a set of unique skills, so I’m sad that once again, Marvel had to kill the villain off in the same movie. I feel like there could’ve been a lot of potential with his character, but I’m sure Bale didn’t want a multi-movie contract anyway. My only complaint is I wish they fleshed out his story even further, but overall he was incredible. With an actor like Bale playing the role, they really should’ve milked it even more!
All in all, the story itself wasn’t particularly innovative or fresh, but I did appreciate that it wasn’t just nonstop comedy after comedy. There were some pretty emotional and serious scenes (mostly between Thor and Jane) and I definitely sprouted a few tears throughout. This movie has a noticeably shorter runtime than most Marvel movies, about 1h 59m, so it did feel a lot more fast-paced. Despite this, I still feel that they did a decent job making most scenes important to the story and that they had a competent plot overall. (I do just want to say that the scene at the end with the kids fighting was pretty weird but uh, it’s fine…it’s fine) Valkyrie was a great sidekick as usual but I was disappointed to see that Korg was incredibly underwhelming this time around. I can never complain about the cast though because I love them all. They’re great partners for Thor and they manage to add a lot of flavour to the film while still making Thor the star. I do want to point out that I thought the reveal at the end where we discover Gorr’s daughter is named Love was a really clever way of giving the movie title a new meaning. I have no idea whether the Thor franchise will be having another installment and if so, what the movie will be like since he now is a father more or less, but I’m sure it’ll be another crazy adventure nonetheless.
From everything that I’ve been reading online, it seems like fans are pretty disappointed with this new movie. While I can understand where they’re coming from, if you’re just wanting to watch something that’s fun and full of adventure, I think this is a great watch. It’s visually stunning (the play on colours is amazing) and it’s got a great soundtrack too. With so many Marvel movies getting released nowadays, it’s hard for every single one to be amazing. With Thor being the only original Avenger left still making movies, I’d just say, appreciate it while you can. I’m going to give Thor: Love and Thunder a 7.5/10. I have similar thoughts about it as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – while it’s not bad, it definitely could’ve been better. But hey, I’d still recommend it and I’m sure you’ll have a good time watching it.
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