This week Sam looks at the first Marvel character to get a fourth film instalment, Thor: Love and Thunder.
Directed by Taika Waititi, the story sees Thor the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) struggling to find inner peace and identity. He is swiftly returned to action with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who wields new power as the Mighty Thor. Together they face the threat of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) who seeks the destruction of all gods following his daughter's death.
This movie's Thor has a compelling journey. It's an interesting take on what do you do when you're the biggest gun in any battle but you want to do anything other than battle. On top of the fact you also want love and not just any, a past love. It's a strong emotional core but it's just overpowered by jokes.
I find that Taika doesn't do sentiment well - he can't do it without comedy. Almost no scene in this film is without it. On one hand there's nothing wrong with breaking the mould. It's good to shake up a genre or character, and that is the point of these last two Thor films, to break him away from the stiff Shakespearean thing.
I am personally not a huge fan of Taika's brand of comedy, and the sheer amount of it in this is immense. But if you like Taika's comedy you will adore this movie and there is nothing wrong with that.
And it's not to say that I hated the film by any means. As a Thor movie, I think it is good and a natural compelling progression for the character. Thor's search for identity, love and a purpose following the Avengers was the next logical step for him, and is wonderful to watch. Plus adding the threat of godly extinction certainly is a bomb under the table.
But the plot is a touch paint by numbers.
Chris Hemsworth is clearly still having a blast with this character and the opportunity to make big swings in terms of choices. As much as I don't love the material, Hemsworth's delivery of comedy is compelling. But it's his emotional side of Thor that is the more engaging to me. Ever since Ragnarok in 2017, and through Infinity War and Endgame, we've seen him gain and lose so much and the impact it's had on him. We find him here just looking for some peace and some love, and Hemsworth delivers that emotional punch the story calls for.
The return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/The Mighty Thor is so fun and a great intro for the character. Mighty Thor debuted in 2014, as a mysterious new female Thor wielding Mjolnir. The identity of this Thor was eventually revealed to be Jane Foster and she went on to become the mainstay Thor while original Thor (now called Odinson) was unworthy.
Portman brings a freshness to Jane Foster that was sorely needed following her diminished role in the previous instalments. Her stubbornness and want to continue to fight despite the consequences for her is compelling. Portman is having the time of her life and is super comfortable actually getting a bit to do because, you know, it's Natalie Portman and she's great.
Though the romance between Thor and Jane is hard to get into. It's been so long and not done well in the past that it relies on. And even breezes through their relationship in a montage.
There is definitely chemistry there and I like that it was leaning into the romance and doing something with it rather than just damsel in distress or the like. But just felt a little rushed to get to some payoff.
The tragedy of Christian Bale's Gorr is epic, and he is definitely making some big acting choices. Which is great, it makes for a creepy and unique villain that stands out. Gorr debuted in 2013, much to the same origin as in the film. A god hating alien who comes into the possession of the Necro-Sword. However, he obtains it from Knull, the creator of the Symbiotes like Venom and Carnage. Of course this origin isn't followed here, but to be fair, it would've made the story a little too bloated to introduce Knull because he's a whole thing in and of himself.
Bale's physicality and cadence in his voice are full of intention and effort. But he's barely in it. And I know the story is juggling quite a few balls but it just feels like he pulled the short straw and his progression a bit predictable.
Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie offers a wonderful jolt of impulsiveness in the story. Her wit and sharpness is just as good as it was in Ragnarok. Though again she suffers from being a bit sidelined, which is a shame because she's a fun character and Thompson is a great performer.
The marketing of the film suggested this was going to be another colourful Jack Kirby type aesthetic. But it wasn't as neon and sparkly as I wanted, or as much goofy dumb space stuff. But it was fun to see Thor's goats from the 70's, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. They're space goats, that's their comic origin.
The sound design particularly with Gorr is eery and impactful. The use of whispers and ominous sounds whenever he is onscreen makes it feel all the more immersive the way they creep around the cinema.
Where the story leaves Thor is fine but seems like it's just a gag. A lot of things just feel like a gag. Thor is my favourite Avenger and Chris Hemsworth is so good at playing him certainly more so now that he has room to be more playful. I'll be sad to see him leave the role whenever that does happen but I'm excited to continue to see him in it, despite the execution around him not being exactly what I'm after. And at least it's not Thor: The Dark World.
So overall, I enjoyed the movie just not as much as I'd like to. I wanted less comedy and it's just the way it goes that I'm not a big fan of the style of comedy used. The run time is basically two hours on the dot, so a lot of things feel like they don't get time to breathe. But it certainly isn't a bad movie on the whole and given the standard of Thor movies of old, it definitely isn't that.
Chris Hemsworth hasn't missed a beat keeping this character going through his arc, another solid Marvel entry for sure, so definitely a recommendation from me.
