Thor: Love and Thunder review: Selling Thor(s) out for a joke

There are two very funny things about Taika Waititi’s Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Thor: Love and Thunder. First is deliberate, second less so.

They are first the goats. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), receives a pair mythical giant goats called Toothgrinder, and Toothgnasher. They are aggressive, wild, and messy. As real goats they are able to scream a lot just like us. They do this all the time throughout the movie, and it’s meant to be hilarious. If you’re like me, you will laugh every time they shriek. If you’re not like me, please let me know.

Gorr, the God Butcher (Christian Bale), is unintentionally hilarious. As the movie’s antagonist, Gorr is introduced in the movie’s opening sequence and given a clear motivation: He wants to kill all gods. The Necrosword (lol) is attracted to Gorr’s desire. This magical, black blade gives him all kinds of abilities including the ability to control shadows and transform them into monsters. Gorr — loosely inspired by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic’s Thor comics — isn’t It can be quite funny. In fact, he’s fairly frightening, often drenched in shadow and made to appear like the Grim Reaper. Bale is an enthusiastic actor who loves to be a boogeyman. Bale can be seen showing children his giggling and fearsome smiles. It feels like the notoriously committed actor may have approached the role without his signature intensity, and it’s all the better for it.

He is the most hilarious thing about himself. Thor: Love and Thunder seems quite committed to the idea that Gorr’s “kill the gods” quest is somehow misguided. The script takes it for granted that Gorr’s goals are evil, so much so that it never pauses to consider the ways that just about every character in the film confirms that the gods are terrible. The victims he’s chasing all make his point better than he ever could.

[Ed. note: Setup spoilers ahead for Thor: Love and Thunder.]

Photo: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios

Taika Waititi directed the series, while Waititi wrote the script. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, creator of the short-lived, excellent series, also contributed to the script. Sweet/Vicious), Thor: Love and ThunderThor is reunited with him after the events of Avengers: Endgame. He’s spent the time traipsing around space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, getting his body back into frankly insane muscular form, but also neglecting to get his heart as fit as his bod. Even though Thor helped save the universe, he never entirely figured out how to get over his ex, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who broke up with him in the nebulous time period between 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and Waititi’s first MCU film, Thor: Ragnarok.

Thor must quickly figure this out, as Gorr is focusing on Asgardians that settled in Earth after Hela had destroyed it. RagnarokThor’s return to Thor finds that Mjolnir his magic hammer has now reconstructed itself. Jane can now use it as the Mighty Thor. Unfortunately, two Thors are not enough to stop Gorr’s rampage, and Love and ThunderIt soon becomes a cosmic journey between two Thors from an awkward past, and their buddies, Korg (voiced primarily by Waititi), and Valkyrie (“Tessa Thompson”) who are bored kings of New Asgard and long to get back to destroying dudes in battle.

Unfortunately, what might have been a terrific road-trip film is undercut by characters who somehow lost their entire personalities after Thanos’ snap. Thor is strangely inconsistent throughout the film — the Thor at the beginning of the movie is different from the Thor who appears 20 minutes later, who is also different from the Thor we say goodbye to again when the credits roll. Jane Foster, largely absent from the franchise for the better part of a decade, has a lot of fun relishing her new godlike powers, but there’s a tension between her newfound superhuman life and her dire normal one, and the film is too glib to sustain the tonal whiplash between the two.

Photo: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios

It is because of the following: Thor: Love and Thunderis built to be a joke delivery system. Taika Waititi is known for his rambly and deadpan humor. In it, bumbling men compete with capable but ostracized ladies. Scenes last a lot longer than people are willing to let them, turning dramatic moments into laughable laughter. Why? This was in large part due to the fact that Thor 2 had a strong tonal pivot. RagnarokOne of the most memorable MCU movies. But that film also tempered its big comedy with other, equally big emotions: its villain’s rage, the frustration of loving a brother who will never quit his deceitful ways, and the simple yet powerful idea of home being people, not a place.

Love and Thunder has nothing to offer that’s as compelling or attentively crafted as its jokes. The characters appear in ways that make them seem more funny than truthful. It cannot be stressed enough how right Gorr is: The MCU’s gods suck. They suck in the beginning of the film, when Gorr’s daughter dies and his god doesn’t care, dismissing him in a fit of arrogance. The middle part of the movie is where they suck when Thor asks gods from different folklores to help him stop Gorr. The film ends with them sucking because they are the last one to be likable. Love and Thunder’s two-hour run time is Thor himself. Given how much of a blithe, garrulous oaf he is, that’s It is reallyPush it.

Given the real-world reasons the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to exist — namely, the nigh-monopolistic status Disney enjoys in Hollywood as the corporate owner of multiple billion-dollar franchises — it’s easy to receive each new MCU outing with a cynical remove. The modern fandom should be like team sport, and you can engage with all the flaws and nuances of MCU films like a serious or sincere sportsperson. Thor: Love and Thunder can feel like a fool’s errand, especially if all anyone wants to know is whether you’re for or against their preferred team. This isn’t a great state of affairs, but it’s the one we have.

Photo: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios

But one of the MCU’s small miracles is that, even with all of the corporate machinery that often indicates otherwise, the latest show or movie rarely It feels good cynical while you’re actually watching it. There’s usually something genuine to latch on to, whether it’s an effort at better and more authentic representation (in Moon KnightOder Ms. Marvel), a shot at widening the megafranchise’s genre palette (She-Hulk: An Attorney at LawOder Shang-ChiThis is an experiment to put Marvel characters under the control of directors far removed from blockbuster movies (Eternals). These attempts don’t always succeed — in fact, they often underline the limits of what’s possible in the MCU’s shared narrative playground, in a way that can feel like a bucket of ice water on the grandiose vision Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has for a limitless blockbuster frontier.

Thor: Love and ThunderThis movie is different. In a normal, stand-alone blockbuster, the script’s dogged insistence on undermining every emotional beat with jokes, underserved characters, and a lack of sincere stakes would merely make it a passable, intermittently fun way to kill a couple hours. But cinematic universes don’t just add to the strengths of a film, they also amplify its shortcomings. A film that presents a whole new universe of possibilities is the next chapter about the character audiences have known for over a decade. Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t just a misfire, it’s a scam. They only make the most artificial moves. It is not more interesting at the end than at the beginning. It’s the worst thing a film in this mode can be: inconsequential.

Marvel Cinematic Universe filmmakers must deal with a different burden than the Hollywood expectations. As creators of the latest installment in an astounding moneymaking machine, they must labor to make a film that doesn’t appear to be solelyYou are interested in helping to further that machine. It has a lot of talented performers and a few good jokes. Thor: Love and ThunderIt is too glib and suffocates all its strengths as well as those of the viewers. It is, surprisingly, a cynical film — one that’s equally unworthy of its noble heroes lifting magic weapons and the regular people lifting their wallets to buy tickets.

Thor: Love and ThunderOn July 8, the movie will debut in theatres