Thor: Love And Thunder

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Thor: Love And Thunder is the fourth film in the Thor series and the 29th Marvel Cinematic Universe feature. In this adventure Thor gathers a ragtag team of heroes to combat Gorr, a corrupted individual who seeks to eradicate all gods in the universe. However, one of Thor's new teammates is his ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster, who also happens to now wield the power of Thor. The pair will have to work through their past feelings and new ones in order to prevent Gorr from bringing about a massacre. I like that this film really took a step back on the character of Thor and asked, 'what's next?' Thor's entire existence after Ragnarok was dedicated to stopping Thanos, and after this he is still the warrior god who helps those in need. But he has very little more than that in his life, he has left New Asgard in Valkyrie's hands and is failing to fit in alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy. This is where the film brings back one of the strongest elements of the original two Thor films: the relationship between Thor and Jane Foster. Watching this feature and seeing the pair try to reconcile after their breakup and Jane's new powers is brilliant to watch; and even more so when we see this pair fall in love all over again. I loved how Jane Foster's cancer story was told, her fear of dying to the disease after the death of her mother and the fight she gives against the disease by becoming Mighty Thor. Ultimately the sacrifice Jane makes in service of Thor and the Asgardian children is a very powerful moment, made all the more moving because this act causes a Gorr free of the Necrosword to choose a wish motivated by love instead of revenge. I couldn't stand the tonal departure Ragnarok was from what other Thor films had laid down but this film really marries the visions of all three prior entries into what may be my favourite one yet. On that note, Thor making the choice to continue to dedicate himself to being motivated by love by raising Gorr's child is such a wholesome choice and great character development.

The cinematography used throughout is fast-paced and often showing an incredible colour palette; the comedic and well-timed opening fight sequence is hilarious and inspired. The special effects hold fairly constant throughout, often crafting stunning settings or adding amazing flair to fight sequences. The way colour, CGI and lighting is balanced for the shadow realm scene was very admirable. Thor: Love and Thunder boasts some of my favourite blends of score and soundtrack in a Thor feature, with an exceptional use of some of Guns N' Rose's best tracks. Also an honourable mention to Mary J. Blige's 'Family Affairs' for one of the funniest scenes in the whole thing.

 

Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor, continues to lead these films with a tremendous amount of fun and energy; Hemsworth has found a way to balance his masculine space warrior role with his dry Aussie comedic delivery. Natalie Portman, who played Jane Foster, is welcomed back to the Thor features with open arms; only an actress of Portman's ability could portray such an emotional cancer storyline while also depicting the joys of becoming a new superhero. Tessa Thompson, who played King Valkyrie, has such stunning chemistry with both Hemsworth and Portman; Valkyrie is a fiercely loyal role who often steals the show here. Taika Waititi, who played Korg, slots into this film in his most convincing take as Thor's sidekick; watching Korg blunder his way through the adventure makes him the comedic backbone of the film. Russell Crowe, who played Zeus, had me in absolute fits; I don't know what I expected of Crowe as Zeus but this was above and beyond those expectations. Jaimie Alexander, who played Sif, is a great returning role to the Thor films; Alexander's more stoic manner is a nice contrast to Thor's more comedic turn. Stephen Curry, who played King Yakan, is such a funny minor role in the film that actually made the opening fight scene all the better; his complete reverence of Thor was brilliant and even funnier on the other side of the battle. Kieron L. Dyer, who played Axl, actually felt like a calm young leader of the Asgardian kid's group; I liked the way he spoke on behalf of his people and even had traits that hearkened back to Elba's portrayal of Heimdall. Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, Melissa McCarthy and Sam Neill, who played Actor Loki, Actor Thor, Actor Hela and Actor Odin respectively, continue the greatest gag to have come from Ragnarok in the melodramatic reenactment of past films; McCarthy coming in fresh as Hela was a really great addition to this ensemble. Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård, who played Darcy and Erik respectively, are nice cameos to include as supporting friends to Jane Foster; watching the immediate chemistry with Portman and Dennings after all these years was wonderful to watch. India Rose Hemsworth, who played Love, is truly one of the more exciting new additions to come to the MCU out of this film; watching Hemsworth manage to bring mannerisms of Bale to her portrayal while also being entirely charming and a bit of a hellion in battle is exceptional talent. 

However, the best performance came from Christian Bale, who played Gorr. This is an actor who always puts in a crazy amount of effort for whatever role he is in and that is no different even in a Thor feature. Bale opens the feature with an intense portrayal of grief over the loss of his daughter, as well as a much deeper betrayal over the loss of his faith in his god. Watching Gorr become twisted by the Necrosword into a vengeance driven madman is quite fascinating to watch. Bale is playing to something akin to horror throughout, wandering the set like a spectre and petrifying the children extras with horrific tales and displays. Seeing this role verbally twist at and try to break apart Thor, Valkyrie and Jane in the shadow realm scene is definitely one of my favourite scenes of the film. Bale really rounds out his performance in Gorr's last scene by reuniting with his on-screen daughter beautifully and turning his role back into the man motivated by love that we met at the start of the feature.

The thing that I'll always struggle with in a Taika Waititi led production is that the sense of humour is great but the joke doesn't always know when enough is enough. I watched scenes in this film like Thor treating his weapons like people or the screaming goats and I found they lost their charm with repetition. There was a lot of fresh comedy here and I'm extremely pleased with just how great a lot of that landed but not every scene called for a punchline and some squarely felt flat. I really didn't like the film opening with Thor riding Stormbreaker like a witch's broom and the way Thor and Jane's earlier relationship was depicted felt strongly out of character. I also think the film relied quite strongly on child performers which was a questionable choice, the scenes in which Thor relayed messages to the kids really felt like the moments in which Hemsworth struggled.

Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, who played Peter Quill, Drax, Nebula, Mantis, Kraglin, Groot and Rocket respectively, weren't really in this film for any reason but because Thor was in their ship at the end of Endgame; the guardians as a team felt like a wasted opportunity in this story.

Without a doubt my new favourite Thor film. I would give Thor: Love And Thunder an 8/10.