Thor: Love and Thunder – A Ridiculous Yet Entertaining Mess

Out of the original group of Avengers, many surely would not have guessed that Thor would get to be the first to four solo films. Nevertheless, cue Thor: Love and Thunder, the second collaboration between Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi following the departure for the character that was Thor: Ragnarok. That being said, the landscape of the MCU as a whole has changed since then, post Endgame. Now how does this version of Thor fit within this grand scheme of where the MCU is now going and does the more humorous take on the character still work moving forward? The film’s promotional material and subsequent promotional tour has been chaotic to say the least, retconning with the previous two films with the return of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster with a twist along with the various other reported claims used to hype up the film from the film being the first MCU romantic comedy, to one having everything a six-year-old would want in a movie. Whatever the film had on its plate, it will be getting a shorter amount of time to do it, clocking in at just under 2 hours. The end result is a colossal mess narratively and tonally that still delivers a thrilling enough adventure at the end of the day

It has been widely reported that Thor: Love and Thunder saw a lot of material left on the cutting room floor and it shows. The film seemingly opts for throwing everything on screen and hoping something stuck rather than opting for a more coherent story with actual character development. The film itself picks up from the last time audiences have seen Thor (Hemsworth) as he jettisoned off with the Guardians of the Galaxy near the end of Endgame. At this point, it was pretty clear that he was wearing out his welcome but his ego arguably made it hard for him to see it that way. For the sake of the latter, a more pressing issue arrived in the form of a new big bad in Gorr the God Butcher (Bale), a man whose role is self-explanatory. Leaving a trail of murdered Gods in his wake, it was up to Thor along with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and Thor’s ex Jane Foster (Portman), for reasons that will be explained later, to stop him. However, things were not that simple despite Korg’s unnecessary narration as Waititi further put his footprint on the film for better or worse.

While Foster and Thor’s backstory was clearly ripe for material in terms of character development, the final product was a cheesy, cobbled-together cliché romantic comedy storyline buried under more Korg narration. Essentially, the two were growing so far apart following the blossoming of their respective careers as an Avenger and an astrophysicist which rendered their relationship untenable. This clearly would not be the case for very long as they eventually found their way back to one another with Foster taking control of Mjolnir and showing up as the Mighty Thor, much to the surprise of Thor. Though their relationship may not have ended on the best of terms, there were still some feelings there as Hemsworth and Portman’s chemistry as Thor and Foster did not miss a beat as the film provided some much needed closure for both characters. Meanwhile the return of Mjolnir, his ex weapon now in the hands of another, also left Thor not so subtly longing for the past. Valkyrie, the king of New Asgard, had become bored of her bureaucratic role and longed for her glory days in battle. Fortunately, she would be given that chance against Gorr, a menacing yet blandly-written villain in terms of motivations. The film’s foray into the world of Gods made was an interesting direction that was ultimately squandered in favor of humor and sight gags. However, the film leaves that door open for the future.

Not only a narrative mess, Thor: Love and Thunder struggles with its tone at least early on. Seemingly pushing humor above all else, it just doesn’t work alongside some darker subject matter. Continuing what began in Ragnarok, there are a lot more jokes this time around which come fast and furious. That being said, more isn’t necessarily better especially when most fail to land and quickly become off-putting and inappropriate. The exception is a gag involving two screaming goats which surprisingly work despite how stupid it is. The film ultimately finds its groove later on but that rough start definitely did not do it any favors. Attempting to lure Thor by kidnapping the children of New Asgard, he, Foster, Korg, and Valkyrie set out to find and stop Gorr. Though that adventure may be incredibly silly and wacky and not always make the most sense, it is nonetheless fun to watch because of the chemistry between Hemsworth, Portman, Waititi, and Thompson in spite of the inconsistent material. The film boils down to essentially a series of scenes and sequences that fare better individually than as a whole. 

The VFX of Thor: Love and Thunder have also been getting plenty of flack through the sharing of out of context stills across social media. In reality, they were nowhere near as bad as they were made out to be. A step up from the universe created in Ragnarok, the film world is still something to behold. Some corners were perhaps cut because of the COVID-19 pandemic but those were barely noticeable or not enough to be a distraction. The classic rock needle drops return to pump up the ridiculous yet exciting action sequences in spite of the VFX. If only the rest of the film could match their level as they were merely one of the many parts that quite fit together in enough of a satisfying way. In the end, the film’s messy narrative and structure makes for a hollow experience therefore the impact of its emotional beats aren’t there thus doing a great disservice to its performances from Hemsworth, Bale, Portman, and Thompson which were the best part of the film for the sole fact that they make everything work enough in spite of its issues. Coming out above the others, however, was Bale as Gorr the God Butcher purely for elevating the character above the material and making him truly menacing to watch. It’s a shame that he takes a backseat for far too much of the film. 

Thor: Love and Thunder can be summed down as getting a product out there for the sake of getting a product out there. The MCU is a product at this point but if this product would have been shown some more care before being released, the end result could have been so much more.

 still courtesy of Marvel Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.