What is it with “Thor” solo films? 2011’s “Thor,” while entertaining, wasn’t anything to write home about, and “Thor: The Dark World” was one of the few forgettable entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The closest we’ve come to a great Thor story is Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” which turned up the visual flair, comedy and introduced memorable new characters. It’s no wonder that Marvel Studios invited him back to write and direct Thor: Love and Thunder, but if you’ll pardon the pun, lightning doesn’t strike twice.
Following the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” Thor (Chris Hemsworth, “Ghostbusters”) is wandering the universe with the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista and Karen Gillen), trying to find his way. When a new enemy called Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale, “Batman Begins”) starts a vendetta against all the gods in the universe, Thor must team up with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, “Men in Black International”) and his ex girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”), who is now infused with the power of Thor’s old hammer Mjolnir.
Much like its title character, Thor: Love and Thunder has an identity crisis. Is it the next great epic in the MCU, or is it Waititi’s unique vision of a comedic fantasy adventure film? The balance between the two is nonexistent and it’s here that the film falls down. It doesn’t escalate the stakes from past Marvel films and the plot loses its way more than once for detour after detour, most of which are simply Waititi enjoying the sweet smell of excessive comedy and visual stylings that would make Wes Anderson blush.
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Most upsettingly, it repeats past mistakes from other Thor films. The 2011 film was far from perfect, but Thor went through a massive arc as a character that was earned by the time “The Avengers” hit. Thor doesn’t really learn a lesson here, aside from kicking lots of ass, and that drags the core storyline down substantially.
The rest of the cast elevates the film, however. Portman is clearly having the time of her life retuning to the MCU after a long absence in a key and heroic role and the film does not waste the opportunity of having her as Mighty Thor. Thompson once again steals the movie and her rapport with Portman is a highlight, but Bale is the standout as Gorr.
Following tragedy, Gorr feels betrayed by the gods and goes on a murderous rampage that could be a compelling storyline in and of itself, and Bale is not only a true threat to our heroes, but a fully realized character himself. His supremely creepy, Guillermo del Toro-inspired look doesn’t hurt either and full props to the film’s makeup team for making him look as realistic as possible.
While by no means a disaster, Thor: Love and Thunder is the first real Phase Four entry not up to par with what came before. It’s a fun time, don’t get me wrong, and will have a lot of people talking, but it’s not the greatest epic in Marvel’s arsenal and as such, feels a little out of place among the films from the last few months.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.