Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale
Directed by Taika Waititi

Religion is of paramount importance in society, and civilizations have literally risen and fallen all in the name of one religion or another. While some religions are based in fact, others rely on faith and belief in things unseen, and it's those religions that are most difficult to pin down: we put our faith in an unseen deity in hopes that he (or they) will help us out of the situations we find ourselves in, but more often than not, our prayers go unheeded and therefore we become jaded and eventually give up (or renounce) our belief in that particular god (or gods), which is essentially called Atheism in most circles. In the MCU, Thor is the closest thing we can associate to a god, being the God of Thunder, but as the Phases of the cinematic universe progresses we begin to meet different gods that are both unique to the world and also have parallels to real life, and they clash in a mighty way in Thor's fourth solo outing. Here, the villain is essentially a man who lost his faith when his faith in his god resulted in the death of his daughter, and goes on a vengeance-fueled warpath to eliminate all gods from the equation - or in other words, he moves from a devoutness to a deity to a devoutness to self.

Gorr (Christian Bale) was once a devout believer in his particular god, who prayed to him to save his dying daughter in a desert world, but his prayers went unheeded and she died. When he confronted the god, he learned that the god never really cared about his plight, and has no interest in humanity as a whole. It's during this exchange that the Necrosword - a magical sword with the capability of killing gods - calls out to Gorr, and he slays his god, vowing to kill all gods for their lack of intervention.

Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is traveling with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but finds the zeal for fighting lacking because he has no one to share his victories with. After receiving a distress call, he separates from the Guardians and finds that Gorr is killing all the gods - and New Asgard is next. Arriving in New Asgard to assist King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to stop Gorr's attack, he finds a new ally in the form of an old flame: Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) now wields his once-shattered Mjonir, and has become the Mighty Thor. As they confront each other about their past relationship, they join forces with King Valkyrie and Thor's buddy Korg (Taika Waititi) to confront and stop Gorr from killing all the gods, and when they don't receive the help they need from Zeus (Russell Crowe), they decide to go it alone and along the way learn difficult truths, losing one's self, grief, and betrayal.

The fourth phase of the MCU is a mixed bag to say the least, and it has to do in large part to the insurmountable amounts of properties being thrown at us left and right. Since the theaters re-opened after the pandemic, we've had six major films and seven television miniseries that've saturated our minds with the vast world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, resulting in a sense of fatigue with some people (even I have found myself lacking, having only seen the first episode of "Ms. Marvel") and proving the adage "quality over quantity" also holds true for visual entertainment: for every "WandaVision" there's "Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and for every "Shang-Chi" there's an "Eternals." While the MCU seems to be turning into an avalanche after a snowball starts falling at the top of Mount Everest, there's bound to be hits and misses along the way - and "Love and Thunder" falls somewhere in-between, both due to it's own faults but also our own misgivings about yet another MCU film to add to our viewing history.

It's incredibly difficult to follow a film that most Marvel fans hail as one of the best, and Taika Waititi gave it his all with "Love and Thunder," and if you compare it to his stronger outing "Ragnarok," you're bound to be a bit disappointed. While I often say it's not fair to compare work, it's bound to happen, but it's also possible to compare the two without becoming sour to the other. "Love and Thunder" has all the benchmarks that Waititi is known for within the MCU - blending his offbeat humor with surprising twists of the knife to the heart all the while wrapped in a cinematic experience filled with lavish effects, beautiful set pieces, and top-notch performances, but essentially if you compare the two you'll find that this one is no "Ragnarok," and that'll leave the final interpretation up to your own preconceived notions about how important it is to compare the two.

On its own merits, "Love and Thunder" is a stronger outing for the fourth phase than other films, but surprisingly is hindered by its shorter run-time. While we as an audience groan more when we find that films are over two-hours long, sometimes it's really necessary, and "Love and Thunder" needed to be that. By cutting a good amount off the final product, some characters were lacking in their motivations and weren't as entirely flushed out as they should've been, instead offering "Rocky"-style montages that speed up the story to move it forward quickly, while other events occur entirely off-screen leaving us wondering what it would've looked like if we actually saw it. This also impedes on the script, which is a rather formulaic superhero skeleton: new bad guy wants to wreak havoc on a grand scale, heroes come together to stop them, they learn something important about themselves along the way. On paper, this looks to be a flop akin to other MCU films like "Iron Man 2" and, ironically, "Thor: The Dark World."

Yet that's not what happens here, and it's thanks to Waititi's ability to weave together a simple plot with strong character development, exciting action sequences, and spellbinding effects and set designs. "Love and Thunder" includes something that MCU fans have been pining for - the reunion of Thor and Jane Foster, his one true love. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman's chemistry remains intact and now blends with a sense of jealousy (as Thor is jealous Jane is now Mighty Thor and can wield his old hammer) and also long-requited love with a possible shot at a second chance. This was what Thor was waiting for, and while it might not have come the way he expected, it arrived nonetheless - not without its own tragic caveats.

For this film, Thor struggles with living life alone, until Jane returns to his life in an unexpected way, giving him a possible hope for a future, and Chris Hemsworth gives us a new look at the God of Thunder than we've seen him before: as a man struggling with his emotions while trying to find a way to inner peace. Natalie Portman's return is extremely welcomed, and the years have changed Jane Foster in tremendous ways, giving her the ability to wield Mjonir and become Mighty Thor while fighting her own battles, and she strengthens her performance from a passive love interest to leading warrior. Tessa Thompson and Waititi both return as King Valkyrie and Korg respectively, and while Thompson's role is more diminished than "Ragnarok," she still steals the show, as does Waititi's Korg, the ever-lovable rock creature with a heart of gold.

Adding to the cast is two Oscar winners: Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Bale's Gorr is a unique villain in that he wasn't always a bad guy, but allowed his grief to turn him into the serial god-killer that Thor must stop. Bale gives Gorr a sense of humanity but also makes him downright terrifying in moments, proving once again that a former DC superhero (along with Michael Keaton's turn as the Vulture) can also excel as a layered MCU villain - although it seems that most of Gorr's moments were left on the cutting room floor, making him a semi-stronger villain but also making us wish we had more of his story to lean on. Russell Crowe's basic cameo as the mighty god Zeus is filled with pathos and humor, showing that gods are more interested in orgys (seriously, he really wants an orgy) and decadent living than the needs of humanity - in a sense proving Gorr's point correct. He's no Jeff Goldblum, but he still gets the job done.

The action is fast and furious, as you'd expect from any Marvel movie, and seeing Thor and Mighty Thor fighting side-by-side is symmetry at its finest. The visual effects - while not always perfect - still manage to shine through in most moments, and the visual styling of the movie is fascinating, especially with the awe-inspiring look of Zeus's Omnipotent City and also the black-and-white (and off-blue) look of the Shadow Realm. Mix all this with Waititi's use of classic rock songs by the likes of Guns 'n Roses and Dio, and you've got a classic Waititi-inspired Thor film, even if it's not as rocking as "Ragnarok" was.

The Score: A