In 2017, “Thor Ragnarok” earned massive praise from critics, fans and movie goers calling it the best Thor film thanks to Taika Waititi (also provides the voice of Korg) giving Chris Hemsworth a comedic take on The God of Thunder. Set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame, Thor teams up with his ex-girlfriend, Jane, his friends Korg & Valkryie on a journey to battle Gorr the God Butcher, whose goal is to eradicate gods. The Premise I’m referring to is none other than “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The fourth solo Thor film and the 29th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU for short earned mixed to positive reviews from critics, fans and movie goers alike. It’s currently making revenue at the box office.
As you may know, Marvel Studios is working on several upcoming projects including Loki’s second season, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” & Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This August, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” will stream on Disney Plus.
This review contains crucial SPOILERS. If you haven’t seen Thor’s latest adventure, read at your own risk.
Mighty & Weak
Mighty: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Jamie Alexander & Stellan Skarsgård reprise their roles. They all did a decent job for their respective performances. Natalie actually gained muscle to prepare for her return in the MCU. Now that’s true dedication.
Newcomers to the MCU including Christian Bale & Russell Crowe both did a fantastic job for their respective performances.
Fun Fact: Both Christian & Russell both appeared in “3:10 to Yuma.” They appeared in separate DC films. The former played Batman in “The Dark Knight Trilogy” and the latter played Jor-El in “Man of Steel.” By the way, Natalie was also in a DC film known as “V for Vendetta.”
Visual Effects are gorgeous. They didn’t seem fake at all.
Cinematography didn’t succumb to Dutch Angles and excessive shaky cam.
Prosthetic Makeup transformed Christian into Gorr. I’m glad he didn’t resemble Gorr’s appearance from the comics. He looks like a cross between Squidward & Voldemort. Thankfully, Taiki made the right choice to change his looks. It would’ve been very difficult to take him seriously.
Some of the jokes are a hit and miss. Ones that made me chuckle is the stage play and Korg mistakenly called Jane, Jodie Foster. Possibly a jab towards Jodie for badmouthing Marvel movies.
Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth & Sam Neill makes cameo appearances as stage actors reenacting the events of Ragnarok. Melissa McCarthy joins the trio as Hela. Melissa is also a Marvel fan.
My favorite part is the Opening Scene with Thor teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. During a battle, Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” plays in the background. The song was also used in “Lean on Me,” “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” “Megamind” and last but not least, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.”
James “JG” Gunn consulted with Taika on the script in order to properly move Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 forward. JG was busy at the time working on “The Suicide Squad” & Peacemaker’s first season.
Besides Guns’ N Roses’ aforementioned song, their other hits “Paradise City” & “Sweet Child O’ Mine” are included.
A Mid-Credits Scene shows Brett Goldstien portraying Zeus’ son, Hercules. This version has nothing to do with Kevin Sorbo’s show or the animated movie from the 90s.
Idris Elba reprises his role as Heimdall in a Post-Credits Scene where he meets Jane in Valhalla.
Weak: Taiki didn’t do a good job crafting the story.
The Tone for the fourth solo movie felt difficult to adapt two of Thor’s serious storylines. One, Jane is dying from stage four cancer. She becomes worthy of the hammer, but at the cost of draining her life span. Second, Gorr has a tragic past of his loved ones and race making him the last of his kind. “Logan” told a darker and serious drama of an aging Wolverine protecting his daughter Laura & Professor X from mutant hunters. Unlike Love and Thunder, the jokes were used sparingly.
At first, I thought the screaming goats were funny. The gag gets old very quickly as in SpongeBob ripping his pants. In the words of Man-Ray. “Stop laughing, you fools!” This is my third “SpongeBob SquarePants” reference. I’ll put an end to my running gag of mentioning the show as part of the Rule of Three routine.
Thor & Jane’s pesky romance continues to make my eyes roll. I prefer them in a platonic relationship. Jane’s better off with Sam Wilson/Falcon. Because they have better chemistry in the comics.
I didn’t cry over Jane’s death from cancer. She was never given a compelling comeback in the MCU. I wanted to see Jane overcome a brutal battle using all her powers against Gorr mirroring the latter’s vicious showdown with Thor depicted in the comics.
The Final Verdict: C, FOR CONSTIPATION!
I hate to break it to ya, Thor: Love and Thunder is a disappointment. The cinematic equivalent to Alyson Stoner’s farts coming from her plant-based diet. Ms. Stoner disregard my comment, I have nothing against you. Anyway, as a longtime Marvel fan, I have to give the MCU tough love. Could’ve been worse, if Jared Leto reprised his role as Morbius, which is also a stinker. Although Taiki is a talented filmmaker, he made a boo boo. Hopefully, his upcoming “Star Wars” will do justice. All we can do is cross our fingers.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 