Film Review: Thor: Love and Thunder

Director: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson 
Running time: 118 minutes

I’m sitting in screen 3 of the Broadway cinema, waiting for the film to start, and I’m thinking what my expectations are for this, the fourth standalone Thor movie (the second under the helm of director Taika Waititi, after the thoroughly entertaining Thor: Ragnarok). Waititi’s style is far more humorous than his predecessors', Kenneth Branagh (Thor) and Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World), and I must admit that I am a fan of his work including the fantastic What We Do in the Shadows and JoJo Rabbit. So, I am expecting an off-the-wall, entertaining two hours. However, could the Marvel juggernaut be finally running out of gas? We are now fourteen years and 28 movies into the MCU (and 22 years since X-Men kickstarted the comic book movie phenomenon in 2000). 

With the mainstays of the series, Captain America and Iron Man, now gone, do the other members of the Marvel universe have enough to keep us interested?

Thor: Love and Thunder is very much like Thor: Ragnarok in its approach to comedy - but unlike the latter, the new Thor is a little disjointed and confused about what it wants to be. The plot revolves around Gorr, a highly religious man who denounces the gods when his daughter dies, as he becomes the owner of the Necrosword, a weapon with the power to kill said gods (which he proceeds to do with much enthusiasm). Cue Thor and his gang coming in to sort this latest threat to the universe.

Thor has been spending his time since his last appearance hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy, going through a mid-life crisis, and riding his weapon, Stormbreaker, like the wicked witch of the west’s broom. Meanwhile, Thor’s old flame Jane Foster is undergoing chemotherapy for stage four cancer, and it’s this plot point which jars with the tone of the rest of the movie. Jane becomes the wielder of Mjolnir and, with it, takes on the power of Thor (a nod to the original comic book origin of the Mighty Thor).  

So, Gorr decides to go all child-catcher and kidnap the children of Asgard to lure Thor to the shadow lands where he can obtain Stormbreaker and open a portal to the god Eternity, who has the power to grant Gorr’s wish to destroy all the gods of the universe. After plenty of Guns N' Roses-fuelled battle sequences, including an admittedly cool scene with a group of super-powered kids battling shadow monsters to the guitar solo from November Rain, Thor aims to become triumphant once again.

The film is, overall, an entertaining two hours, but the dramatic moments seem tacked on to the joke-filled story and don't land the way they should (Jane’s cancer revelation to Thor produced a snigger from the audience in the cinema, for example). Christian Bale’s villain is forgettable and seems little more than a plot device to lay Thor's path post-Love and Thunder. As always, the post-credit scenes set up the future of the franchise, however the calibre of characters being unveiled are weakening with every movie.

So, while Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t a terrible movie by any means, it certainly doesn’t stand up with the best the MCU has to offer. 

Thor: Love and Thunder is showing at Broadway Cinema until Wednesday 20 July 

Did you know? Gorr's daughter is played by Chris Hemsworth's daughter in real life, India Rose Hemsworth.