Rating: 8.9
It’s no secret that I loved what Taika Waititi did with “Thor: Ragnarok”; he made me fall in love with Thor again after really getting bored of the character in “Thor: The Dark World”. And I am so happy to report that he has done it again with “Thor: Love and Thunder”! I still love his comedic take on Thor so much, it still works so well for me, and I was thrilled to see that he finally was able to make the Jane Foster character, as well as her relationship to Thor, work so well and come off as so likable! I finally cared about the relationship between Thor and Jane as well (for the first time in the MCU); I was so happy to see that the elements that didn’t work for me in the past were able to become something so much more in this film, and I fully attribute that to Taika’s skills at writing great characters and great relationships! He is especially skilled at blending his signature style of silly comedy with some heartfelt emotion, and that is on full display here! There are moments where the film had me laughing so hard, and then in the next scene feeling like I was on the verge of tears… and it didn’t feel forced at all!
This movie just made me feel good! Throughout the whole film I was smiling, and by the end even despite the few flaws it has, I left the theatre feeling happy and much better than I did when I went in. It has such lighthearted fun, while also dealing with dark subject material, but the playful way Waititi tells his stories with so much heart and humour just makes you feel so good while watching… it truly is such a blast! I love this film to death, it feels like an 80s action sci-fi space opera crossed with a rom-com, with a little bit of rock ballad mixed in! And it felt like such a perfect tone for Thor! The movie is a beautifully told love story about finding meaning and living in the moment with a lot of emotion and catharsis focusing on themes of change, spirituality and religion, and as I mentioned, finding meaning in one’s self. I thought Taika wrote a wonderful story, brimming with so much great humour (if you liked the comedy style in Ragnarok…. you’ll love this!) and lots of awesome action and emotion. I just can’t get over how well it all worked together, I fell head over heels for it!
Like I continue to say, I love how Waititi blends comedy and emotion. Despite how silly the movie can be (and I love that), it never sacrifices the story for a joke. In fact, the jokes and silliness seem to have an underlying thematic exploration beneath them; we start to see Thor as someone who uses humour to hide behind his problems and insecurities. The film really did a good job at articulating Thor’s inner pain through the humour, it was brilliant. We see characters express themselves in deeper ways through comedy than they could normally. Plus, I just really like Waititi’s comedic style and tone, and find it’s unlike anything else we are used to seeing in comedy currently. It works so well for me… every joke and gag here had me laughing out loud. And the emotion of the film is so poignant too, from the incredible opening scene with Gorr, to small dialogue scenes between Thor and Jane (I loved those moments, they were quite well written). It hits so well and with so much impact, and doesn’t feel forced or tonally off in any way… Taika just has a gift for blending these tones!
It shouldn’t be a stretch to say that I felt this film was written so cleverly and with so much heart! I thought it told a great story with some impactful meaning and some awesome comedy. It could be cheesy at times, but I loved that, it felt like it matched that 80s rock ballad style perfectly! There were also so many storytelling decisions that I found to be quite bold for Marvel. Heck, the film opens with a scene discussing religion, faith, and the notion of gods in such an intelligent way, questioning whether gods are worth worshiping, while also establishing our fantastic villain, Gorr the God Butcher. I truly found him to be quite sympathetic, thanks to some great writing, especially in that first scene, as well as Christian Bale’s incredible performance. It’s not an understatement to say he delivered one of the best performances we have seen in the MCU, and he has become one of my favourite villains among Thanos, Killmonger, Loki and Wanda! Bale commands the screen, he was menacing and terrifying, and yet still had moments where he was really funny, on top of showing an emotional/sympathetic side! He had this Pennywise-like sort of cheesy, creepy vibe to him which I loved; I just couldn’t get enough of Gorr and Bale’s performance. He also looked phenomenal too! But I think that leads to my biggest complaint for the film… we only get a few Gorr scenes, and while Bale kills it every time, I could’ve used a little more! And that brings me to my next slight issue… structurally the movie does feel a little messy at times, and scenes feel very rushed at the beginning. You can tell it was really cut down, so much like with Gorr, I would’ve loved to see a few more scenes added in, the movie felt like it needed an extra 15 minutes at least. It still works quite well as a final product, but I found myself longing for more and feeling like we were missing scenes here or there at many times throughout the film. An extended cut honestly wouldn’t hurt the film, and because I loved literally every scene we got in the movie, I’d be so happy to see even more!
The soundtrack in this movie was phenomenal. I loved Giacchino’s score, and the heavy metal version of the Marvel fanfare was also really cool! But my absolute favourite element of it was the Guns ’n Roses focus! Waititi made great use of classic songs such as “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City”. I thought it was really cool to have to focus on one band, as it made the movie sound more cohesive rather than jumping around to different sounding music. It did however use a few other songs, and I love the use of Enya’s “Only Time” and ABBA’s “Our Last Summer” over some really fun montages, the latter of which is what really made me care about Thor and Jane’s relationship. I love how we got to look back at a time when they were in love, and see all the mundane activities they got up to instead of just the superhero conflict stuff we saw in the last movies. The stripped down approach helped to make me finally understand why the relationship was so important to Thor, and seeing him reconnect with and come to terms with his current relationship status with Jane was quite perfect. I also loved how they compared this relationship to Thor’s relationships with his ex-hammer, Mjolnir, and his current axe, Stormbreaker, and the way they personified the weapons was so funny to me! Chris Hemsworth really sold those scenes so well too! In fact, he sold everything Thor did in this movie perfectly, from the great action to the hilarious comedic moments. I really felt Thor’s pain as he was looking for purpose in the universe. And did he ever look the part here… his muscles are HUGE. He is just perfect in this role and I love how he has evolved the character over the years! His chemistry with Natalie Portman here was phenomenal too, again, this is the best they’ve ever been together. I loved Jane’s story, and while it was so cool to see her wield Mjolnir and take up the Mighty Thor mantle, it was the underlying emotional elements that worked best for me! And Portman was fantastic as Jane here, and really sold the emotional and heroic elements perfectly! I also adored Russell Crowe as Zeus, and of course Taika Waititi as Korg was my favourite once again!
Just a couple other points before I wrap this up: I loved the cinematography and how colourful everything looked. There were so many great stylistic choices from Waititi, from the use of shadows and how Gorr’s shadow powers were visually realized, to the fantastic black and white sequence with flashes of colour in the shadow realm, it just looked really cool and really unique for the MCU. I also loved the Easter eggs hidden around the movie, from a few surprise appearances (Team Thor fans will be pleased!) to some fantastic end credit scenes that make me want a Thor 5 right now! I also loved how it told a very “standalone” Thor story in the MCU, as aside from the Guardians appearance this really is Thor’s story. And I can’t end this without mentioning the screaming goats! They killed me! I thought the joke would wear off eventually, but every time they screamed I couldn’t help but laugh! And the ending… It was so unexpected for me, yet I couldn’t believe how perfect it was. I was so overjoyed and overcome with happiness when the realization hit of what the title “Love and Thunder” means, it landed perfectly!
Now, putting aside everything else, I truly enjoyed this film purely for how it made me feel. Because it made me feel good! I went in expecting a good time, and not only did I get that, but it actually improved how I was feeling as I watched the movie; I left feeling better than I did before I saw it! It just made me happy, it made me smile and laugh so much, and even the emotion found a way to touch me in really profound ways. So yes, I may be more forgiving of this movie than some, but for me it just worked so well and really made me feel good! So if you want a fun time at the movies that makes you feel good, I’d highly recommend “Thor: Love and Thunder”. I love it to death, and honestly I have no specific reason why, I just felt so good after watching it and find it so unashamedly loveable! It may not be for everyone as it does use a niche style of comedy, but it sure worked so well for me! I just loved how happy it made me. It’s unlike anything else in the MCU and really treads some new ground, so thank you, Taika Waititi, for this movie that brought a little extra light into my life! And genuinely, can we get Thor 5 like right now? I need to see it so badly! Loved every second of this and laughed so much, plus that end credit scene is bonkers exciting… so I can’t wait for more!
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IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%
RT Audience Score: 86%
Metacritic Score: 62
CinemaScore: B+
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Marvel Studios
Directed by Taika Waititi
Written by Taika Waititi & Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper
Runtime: 1hr 59min
Rating: PG
Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
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Thor embarks on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced -- a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods.
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Fun Fact: This is based on Jason Aaron's Thor comics, where Thor encounters Gorr the God Butcher and suffers a crisis of faith, and where Jane Foster claims the Mjolnir hammer and takes the title of Thor. Both plotlines are separate in the comics, but are combined/linked in this film.
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