THOR - LOVE & THUNDER: NON-SPOILER REVIEW

PLEASE NOTE - THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF THE MOVIE. I WILL NOT REVEAL ANY MAJOR PLOT POINTS FROM THE MOVIE.

There are some who believe that phase 4 of the MCU has no proper direction, lacking the clear cut focus and end game (pun intended) of the original three phases. That may ultimately prove to be a mistake as our lord and saviour Kevin Feige recently announced that the direction of phase 4 and phase 5 shall soon be revealed, tying together everything we have seen in movies like Shang-Chi, Dr Strange 2, Eternals as well as the various MCU tv shows. However, before any of that happens, there is the small matter of expanding the MCU a little more, this time through the latest movie starring Thor. Will this new movie match the dizzying heights of Ragnarok? Will Gorr be the intimidating villain we have been promised? And will they actually de-pixelate Thor’s bottom for “that” seen?

THE STORY
After learning about Gorr the God Butcher’s killing spree Thor explores the cosmos alongside his allies, including, ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who is now wielding Mjolnir.

OVERALL OPINION
As much as I love comics, I must confess I haven’t been able to buy them as regularly in recent years as I would like, due to adulting (who knew how expensive owning a house would be, even before the cost of living crisis). I only bring this up as I never read the Gorr the God Butcher arc, although it sounds awesome and I will get around to it eventually. However, that means I was completely pure going into this movie, having nothing to compare it to. And, I was left a tiny bit disappointed.

I should be clear, this is an enjoyable, solid, mid-tier level entry into the MCU pantheon. My disappointment is that I felt they didn’t show us enough of the carnage wrought by Gorr so we can feel him to be the credible threat he is made out to be. In movie making terms, show not tell. Instead, we spend most of our time with Thor and Jane reconnecting. This is time well spent, but I feel it left the villain a little short-changed.

Take Waititi single-handedly reinvented Thor when he came onboard with Ragnarok. I know some people are not fans of the comedy in the movie, but I thought Ragnarok balanced the humour well with action, character development, threat and story. In Love & Thunder however, that balance feels off. I think it’s down to the edit. Some scenes just don’t flow naturally, which means everything seems a little rushed. The knock-on effect of this is that some of the humour doesn’t always land. There is definitely a lot more humour in this movie than in Ragnarok, but it is not an out-and-out comedy. It’s definitely on-brand with Waititi’s style for better or worse.

However, despite all of this, I was entertained. The CGI is truly spectacular and the fight scenes were entertaining. Although I am hoping in upcoming projects we see Thor’s powers grow and that whoever writes for him realises the he has a lot of powers in the comics that they have never used in any of the films.

I now believe there are four tiers of MCU movies; the top tier is where we will find movies like Infinity War, Shang-Chi and the Winter Solider. Mid-tier 1 is where we will find Antman and the first Thor film. Mid-tier 2 is where we will find Thor: The Dark World and the Incredible Hulk. Lower tier is where Ironman 3 lives. I would put Thor: Love and Thunder firmly in mid-tier 1, just above mid-tier 2.

THE PERFORMANCES
Chris Hemsworth - Thor
At this point it is well known that Chris Hemsworth was done with the Thor character before Taika Waititi came onboard to direct Ragnarok. That collaboration convinced Hemsworth to continue playing the character which is a good thing. He definitely embodies the character as well as RDJ did with Stark, Evans as Steve Rogers and Chadwick as Black Panther. This less serious, more quippy and comedic Thor may not be to everyone’s liking, but there are times in this movie where Hemsworth is called upon to get serious and deliver some really emotional lines. And he delivers in the same way as the scene in Infinity War on the spaceship with Rocket.

Christian Bale - Gorr the God Butcher
There is no denying the talent of Christian Bale as an actor, so hope were high that he would be able to deliver a convincing and terrifying villain worthy of the storyline from the comic. He was great and menacing in his scenes, however, there needed to be more visuals of his wake of destruction to truly make he feel like a threat to Thor and the rest of the pantheon of Gods. That is more down to editing rather than performance; with a little more screen time, Bale could have given us one of the more memorable villains in the MCU.

Tessa Thompson - King Valkyrie
Always reliable and still every inch Thor’s equal, Tessa Thompson brilliantly shows King Valkyire’s boredom at ruling and longing for the thrill of battle. And her back and forth with Natalie Portman in one scene in particular was delightful.

Natalie Portman - Dr Jane Foster
Jane Foster returns as we get flesh out story of her time together with Thor before the break up. Portman can always be relied on to deliver a nuanced performance balanced between grounded, humorous and believably heroic, all of which are on show from her here.

Russell Crowe - Zeus
Not a huge role in the film, but definitely memorable. You can tell Crowe is really enjoying every scene he is in.

Taika Waititi - Korg
The softly spoken big pile of rocks is back, this time with more of a narrator role. Still as insightful as ever too.

OTHER STUFF
The CGI
Marvel always does great CGI (in their films) and this is now different. There are some truly breathtaking shots that pull you into the story, without overpowering the senses. However, it would have been nicer to be able to see the shadow monsters a little clearer.

The Score
I’m not usually one to notice the score in films unless it is truly stand out and memorable. There was some nice usage of Guns n Roses in the film, although not as epic as Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song from Ragnarok.

The Action
For the most part the fight scenes were good. Although, due to not clearly being able to see the monsters, it lessened the visual impact sometimes. But, there was very creative uses of the newly reformed Mjolnir.

The Pacing
It’s rare to say this, but this is one of those times where a movie should have been a little longer. The pacing was fine, but sometimes things moved along too quickly without allowing time for what was seen to sit so we could take stock. Also, zipping along so quickly meant we lost a little bit of villain development (ie, a montage of him killing other Gods, to be seen to be a threat).

Other Stuff
There are the now traditional mid and end crest scenes. The mid-credit scene in particular is fantastic and gave me the biggest buzz I’ve had from these since honestly that shot of Coulson looking at Mjolnir in the desert.

FINAL VERDICT
This is an enjoyable movie, with some great easter eggs for keen eyed comic book fans. Time will tell how well it fits in to the wider narrative that is coming. It’s not as good as Ragnarok, but that does not make it bad; I would say it is a solid mid-tier MCU movie. Not one that will immediately spring to mind for a rewatch, but I’m glad I saw it as it made me smile.

Run time - 1h 59m
Rotten Tomatoes critics score (at time of writing) - 69%
My Score: 7/10

MY MOVIE RATING SYSTEM
10- Citizen F*%king Kane (A+)
9- Bloody Great (A)
8- Really rather good (A-)
7- Pretty decent (B+)
6- Definitely above average (B)
5- Middle of the road average (C)
4- Mediocre (D)
3- Meh (E)
2- Crap (F)
1- Why the hell did I waste my time and money on this abomination (Unrated)