Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
The MCU has grown to a whopping 29 feature films featuring a variety of genres and styles. It is hard to argue that many of these projects were as well-realized and focused as Taika Waititi's 2017 effort, Thor: Ragnarok. Acting as a course corrector for the character of Thor who had two of the more widely criticized MCU efforts at the time, Thor: Ragnarok brought a color and vibrance to the character that played into the comedic sensibilities of Waititi. This change reinvented Thor and set up a new life for the character throughout his various appearances in the franchise. Due to this, it was exciting news when it was announced that Waititi would be the one to direct the sequel titled Thor: Love and Thunder. This outing Thor (Chris Hemsworth) part ways with the Guardians of the Galaxy and get sucked into an adventure with former flame Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and The King of New Asgard Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), to stop the evil Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) who is trying to eradicate the gods.
With expectations comes the threat of disappointment which sadly is the realization for Thor: Love and Thunder. Continuing a disappointing trend in the MCU of Phase 4 delivering the majority of its universe's weakest outings, minus that of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder is a messy and hollow feature that struggles to find much of success in terms of either comedy or emotion.
Perhaps the biggest shame of Thor: Love and Thunder is how unfunny it truly is. Throughout his career, Waititi has shown quite a strong voice in writing comedy yet for some reason, Thor: Love and Thunder strikes as one of his worst efforts. A mere shadow of the charisma that was Thor: Ragnarok, the comedy feels completely misguided with the characters seeing barely any evolution and an overreliance on tired jokes like screaming goats eating up far too much runtime. When a joke became dull 9-years ago, there is no reason why it should appear in a film today. The banter all feels rather dull and the overall style feels missing. Whether one loved or hated Thor: Ragnarok, it is a film that unmistakably is defined by a unique style, something that was incredibly refreshing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earlier this year. Thor: Love and Thunder largely abandons this style and feels like a filmmaker using the pieces of what made Thor: Ragnarok so enjoyable without any of the soul or larger inspiration for the overall puzzle.
The plot is not much better. Using an incredibly weak story of children being kidnapped to lure Thor and the gang into a confrontation with the big bad feels lifeless. To be fair, when major moments include a child's head badly CGIed to float in the air surrounded by a strange glowing outline, it is hard for a story to find too much investment. The return of Jane Foster was promising, but the actual use of her leaves much to be desired. There is no venom or poignance to her role that ultimately gets reduced similar to all the heroes.
Perhaps most disappointing is Valkyrie who was a main point in the marketing for the film. Expressed early on, Valkyrie's bisexuality was promised to be a focus of the film with Waititi even promising before a screening of the final cut of the feature that the film was "super gay". This is despite the fact that the film is far from being "super gay" and the obvious use of queerbaiting is so disappointing to see in 2022. It also should be noted that Thor: Love and Thunder features some rather poor CGI which is yet another disappointing trend to see in the MCU. For films that have millions of dollars poured into them, to accept work like this is simply embarrassing yet when one sees the demands Marvel is making from CGI artists, the results are really not that shocking.
When it comes to bright spots, it should be noted that the actors are trying with the material they are given. Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman do have chemistry and there is the occasional moment where that does get shine. While largely lifeless, the film also isn't quite as painful to sit through as other recent MCU outings like Eternals with a thankfully condensed, at least by MCU standards, 119-minute runtime.
Outside of these, it is hard to find much praise for the project. Thor: Love and Thunder is a dull and boring cinematic adventure that lacks any of the magic or heart of Waititi's previous MCU outing. Hopefully, these disappointing MCU entries are not a thing to stay and one day, this will be a simple dark spot on the franchise.
With expectations comes the threat of disappointment which sadly is the realization for Thor: Love and Thunder. Continuing a disappointing trend in the MCU of Phase 4 delivering the majority of its universe's weakest outings, minus that of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder is a messy and hollow feature that struggles to find much of success in terms of either comedy or emotion.
Perhaps the biggest shame of Thor: Love and Thunder is how unfunny it truly is. Throughout his career, Waititi has shown quite a strong voice in writing comedy yet for some reason, Thor: Love and Thunder strikes as one of his worst efforts. A mere shadow of the charisma that was Thor: Ragnarok, the comedy feels completely misguided with the characters seeing barely any evolution and an overreliance on tired jokes like screaming goats eating up far too much runtime. When a joke became dull 9-years ago, there is no reason why it should appear in a film today. The banter all feels rather dull and the overall style feels missing. Whether one loved or hated Thor: Ragnarok, it is a film that unmistakably is defined by a unique style, something that was incredibly refreshing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earlier this year. Thor: Love and Thunder largely abandons this style and feels like a filmmaker using the pieces of what made Thor: Ragnarok so enjoyable without any of the soul or larger inspiration for the overall puzzle.
The plot is not much better. Using an incredibly weak story of children being kidnapped to lure Thor and the gang into a confrontation with the big bad feels lifeless. To be fair, when major moments include a child's head badly CGIed to float in the air surrounded by a strange glowing outline, it is hard for a story to find too much investment. The return of Jane Foster was promising, but the actual use of her leaves much to be desired. There is no venom or poignance to her role that ultimately gets reduced similar to all the heroes.
Perhaps most disappointing is Valkyrie who was a main point in the marketing for the film. Expressed early on, Valkyrie's bisexuality was promised to be a focus of the film with Waititi even promising before a screening of the final cut of the feature that the film was "super gay". This is despite the fact that the film is far from being "super gay" and the obvious use of queerbaiting is so disappointing to see in 2022. It also should be noted that Thor: Love and Thunder features some rather poor CGI which is yet another disappointing trend to see in the MCU. For films that have millions of dollars poured into them, to accept work like this is simply embarrassing yet when one sees the demands Marvel is making from CGI artists, the results are really not that shocking.
When it comes to bright spots, it should be noted that the actors are trying with the material they are given. Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman do have chemistry and there is the occasional moment where that does get shine. While largely lifeless, the film also isn't quite as painful to sit through as other recent MCU outings like Eternals with a thankfully condensed, at least by MCU standards, 119-minute runtime.
Outside of these, it is hard to find much praise for the project. Thor: Love and Thunder is a dull and boring cinematic adventure that lacks any of the magic or heart of Waititi's previous MCU outing. Hopefully, these disappointing MCU entries are not a thing to stay and one day, this will be a simple dark spot on the franchise.