Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace that he can’t seem to achieve. But his personal quest is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
Thor has come a long way from his simple and restricted beginnings to become one of the best characters in the MCU thanks to a much-needed revamp from energetic director Taika Waititi. Ragnarok has been my favorite MCU film for the longest time so I was eager to see what Taika would bring to this character and his story in this 4th solo installment following the events of Infinity War and Endgame. And despite all the odds and the doubts that people have had, Taika Waititi delivered another knockout of a Thor adventure. It’s an absolute bonkers blast of a comic book film that has Taika going full throttle, with great characters, a wild story with heart and humor, marvelous visuals, and over-the-top 80s-fueled action.
Much like what Sam Raimi had with Doctor Strange, Taika Waititi had full control over this film and was able to tell the story he wanted to tell in the style he chose. But this film is not Ragnarok 2.0 by any means nor is it attempting to recapture the magic of its predecessor. Instead, it is a perfect continuation of Thor’s revamped story that ends up focusing on having more heart than comedy. To be clear, the comedy is still present and it is very funny as you would expect from the mind of Taika Waititi, but this felt much more heartfelt and darker compared to its predecessor in many ways.
It has a similar blend of tones like Taika’s last film Jojo Rabbit, which while funny ended up being more powerful than expected. And the same can be said about this film. It is powerful. It gave me so many emotions that hit me in all the best ways possible and had me absolutely in deep love with it from start to finish. Obviously, due to the spoilers, I can’t discuss everything in great detail but I’ll do my best to describe what I loved about this film, starting with the characters.
Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor and once again is amazing as the character, absolutely nailing the performance with the perfect blend of humor, heart, and thunderous action we love. Thor has a very strong personal journey where, after losing so much, from his family to his friends to his home, has chosen to close himself off from all forms of attachment and love, becoming an aimless hero without a purpose. He feels a large emptiness inside him that can’t be filled no matter what distractions he indulges in, including countless cosmic missions with the Guardians of the Galaxy. But with the re-emergence of Jane Foster in his life, he begins to open himself back up again to the idea of love, not letting loss define his life, and being able to find his purpose again in order to be the hero he needs to be to stop his greatest threat yet.
This journey contains both hilarity but also emotionally effective moments, all of which are fantastically delivered by Hemsworth, making the character even more lovable than before. We also get to see him kick ass in this film in so many epic action sequences where he does what he does best, which is bring the fucking thunder in an insane cosmic adventure.
Joining with him of course is the always hilarious Korg voiced perfectly by Taika himself and the always lovely and fun Valkyrie reprised by Tessa Thompson. They are two of the bestest friends that Thor could ever ask for on his new adventure, getting their own moments to shine with both comedy and action.
They were expected to be great and they definitely are, but truly the biggest surprise for me was Natalie Portman’s return as Jane Foster. If Ragnarok was the much-needed redemption for Thor then Love and Thunder was the much-needed redemption of Jane Foster as a character. She is absolutely awesome, truly shining in this new take on the character that she obviously had way more fun with and enjoyed way more compared to her other times playing the character.
Jane has an incredible arc in this film that has both fun and heartbreak as we see her in a much different state than before, one that forces her to become the Mighty Thor just like in the comics. Taika adapted the Mighty Thor storyline beautifully in this film and managed to really flesh out the character in many ways, making her and her relationship with Thor feel more important and emotional than ever before. I was surprised at just how much I loved Jane in this, not just with her development but also with her being in action. Gone is the damsel in distress and hello to a new hero worthy of Mjolnir. Her interactions with Thor are easily some of the major highlights of the film, with moments of perfect banter like in a romantic comedy to beautiful heartfelt moments between them of true love reignited after many years apart.
But Natalie Portman’s fantastic return as Jane Foster wasn’t the only major stand-out this film offered, the other being our main villain Gorr, played by Christian Bale. Two Words: Fucking Phenomenal. Bale delivers easily the best and most terrifying villain Thor has ever had and truly is a force to be reckoned with as he brings in most of the dark and serious elements in the film. We get to witness Gorr’s tragic story from the beginning, making us understand why he hates gods so much and why he desires to kill them all despite the massive consequences that come with it. He was a truly investing villain with simple yet strong motives that give the character a lot of depth.
He is also god damn terrifying being, more like a horror film monster than a comic book villain, having an imposing presence and using shadows, nightmarish creatures, and a demonic sword capable of great carnage to fight against our heroes. As much as I enjoyed Hela in Ragnarok I think Gorr was a way more impactful villain in terms of motives, and Christian Bale’s dedicated performance stole the show.
As for the supporting cast, a number of faces both old and new show up, including our newest inclusion Zeus, played fantastically by Russell Crowe, who is an incredibly pompous dickhead of a god who was really entertaining. I can’t say much about him due to spoilers but his role in the story certainly expands the MCU in terms of showing the existence of other mythologies and deities that may potentially impact future stories and introduce many new characters.
As for the Guardians, they are all perfect as one would expect but they are only in the first act of the film, primarily as extended cameos similar to Doctor Strange in Ragnarok so don’t expect them to be in the whole film. This is a Thor-focused story so it makes sense that they are not in it for that long and are instead left to continue their own path in their upcoming installments.
The story of Love and Thunder can be best described as a truly fun 80s comic book space adventure comedy from the mind of Taika but with more emotional heart, impactful themes, and darker elements at its center.
This film gave me joy, laughs, and cheers but it also provided heartwarming and sad moments that really made me feel emotionally invested. Some may say Ragnarok had the better comedy in comparison to this film and to an extent I agree, but at the same time I thought the comedy in this film was also really strong as many jokes and slapstick humor landed really well for me personally and got me laughing hard.
There are several running gags the film has that were very funny but the biggest thing that made me laugh the most was the goats. The god damn goats. Taika found my weakness and exploited the shit out of it with these goats and I literally could not stop laughing every time they were screaming. People can say I have a bad taste in humor but I don’t care because goats that scream like humans never gets old and will forever be funny to me. Obviously for some people not all the jokes will land and others I could see going over people’s heads, but I personally enjoyed them all and had a great time.
With that being said I felt the heartfelt and serious parts of the story are where the film was at its strongest, not only with the development of characters but also with how impactful it is in comparison to Ragnarok. Many scenes unexpectedly manage to hit hard where you least expect it and manage to stay with you as they’re balanced out with everything else, never allowing one tone to undermine the other. And I also really liked how the themes of love and loss are very much interwoven within the story and play a major part with the main characters and their development. Some very bold choices are made in this film that easily could have been done improperly but Taika somehow made it work, leading to scenes that are either extremely thrilling or emotionally engaging.
There is something in here for everyone, whether you’re in it for a comedic adventure or a heartfelt story, all culminating in an honestly beautiful ending that I consider to be one of my new favorite endings in the MCU for just how satisfying it is and how it gives the title of Love and Thunder a more special meaning.
Two post-credit scenes do come after as one would expect. One sets up something major and exciting for the MCU and the other is a very wholesome epilogue piece for the film and may just be my favorite end credit scene.
The action is exhilarating, featuring some spectacular fights involving magic, monsters, space tech, and cosmic chaos that is all fun and very imaginative. Combined with colorfully popping visual effects there are a lot of gorgeous and stand-out sequences littered throughout this film that matches the film’s energetic style and pacing. There are a lot of action scenes I loved in this film but my top favorites would have to be Thor’s first fight in the film alongside the Guardians, the duel with Gorr in a monochrome realm completely devoid of color, and the third act battle that really caught me by surprise. The practical and CGI effects throughout the film looked damn good overall, but easily the most perfect effects were the beautiful cosmic backgrounds that were a result of “The Volume” technology that was used for The Mandalorian and parts of The Batman. The cinematography was absolutely out of this world and with the benefit of IMAX I felt absorbed into the beauty that was displayed on screen.
Now when it comes to the music of this film, this is where things got very personal for me. Michael Giacchino once again delivers another fantastic score that enhances the film as well as stays true to the 80s-heavy theme, but that’s not what impacted me the most. What impacted me the most was the heavy use and influence of Guns N Roses songs throughout the whole film. Guns N Roses is one of my top favorite bands of all time, with many songs that I hold very near and dear to my heart including Sweet Child O Mine, which happens to be my favorite song of all time. The usage of that song along with many other GNR greatest hits made me feel like the happiest person alive in the theater. I loved every song they used for every scene in this film. It got me both excited and emotional, striking a very personal chord in me that made me feel strongly attached to this film. This might be a controversial take but I feel this is my favorite soundtrack of all the MCU films due to my personal connection with the band and their songs.
Love and Thunder is another amazing film for Thor and one that is surprisingly powerful in unexpected ways. Taika Waititi delivered more than I could ever ask for and I look forward to seeing this film multiple times over just like with Ragnarok. I encourage everyone to go and see it and ignore the negative nancies. I’m going to give Thor: Love and Thunder an A+ = 99.
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